Clearing the air - enforcing no smoking policies in the work place - includes related article - Special Report

HR Magazine, Feb, 1993 by Jeffrey S. Harris

Advice from Smoke-free Employers

* Communicate early and often; educate all managers and employees.

* Work with the union.

* Treat the issue and smokers with dignity and seriousness; don't make examples.

* Do not use designated smoking areas.

* Offer help for smokers.

* Clearly define the implementation schedule; do not depart from it.

Notes

1. Action on Smoking and Health Review, 21 (1991):3.

2. D.C. Walsh and V. McDougall, "Current Policies Regarding Smoking in the Workplace," American Journal of Industrial Medicine 13 (1988):18-21.

3. Office of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, National Survey of Worksite Health Promotion Activities: A Summary (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, 1987).

4. R.M. Davis, G.M. Boyd and C.A. Schoenborn, "'Common Courtesy' and the Elimination of Passive Smoking," Journal of the American Medical Association 2673 (1990):2208-2210.

5. "Environmental Tobacco Smoke in the Workplace: Lung Cancer and Other Health Effects," Center Intelligence Bulletin 54 D.H.H.S. (NIOSH) Publication No. 91-108 (Cincinnati: National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, 1991).

"Environmental Tobacco Smoke," Indoor Air Facts 5, ANR Publication 445 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air and Radiation, 1989).

6. F.C. Davenport, "The Legal Aspects of a Smoking Policy in the Workplace," Industrial Management (May/June, 1988):25-31.

7. F. Speer, "Tobacco and the Non Smoker: A Study of Subjective Symptoms," Archives of Environmental Health 16 (1988):443-446.

8. M. Penner and S. Penner, "Excess Insured Health Care Costs from Tobacco Using Employees in a Large Group Plan," Journal of Occupational Medicine 32 (1990):521-523.

9. F.A. Stillman, D.M. Becker, R.T. Swank et al., "Ending Smoking at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions: An Evaluation of Smoking Prevalence and Indoor Air Pollution," Journal of the American Medical Association, 264 (1990):1565-1569.

10. N.H. Gottlieb, M.P. Ericksen, C.Y. Lovato, R.P. Weinstein and L.W. Green, "Impact of a Restrictive Worksite Smoking Policy on Smoking Behavior, Attitudes and Norms," Journal of Occupational Medicine 32 (1990):16-23.

11. B. Hocking, R. Borland, N. Owen and G.A. Kemp, "A Total Ban on Workplace Smoking is Acceptable and Effective," Journal of Occupational Medicine 33 (1991):163-167.

Jeffrey S. Harris, M.D., is a principal and Western regional practice leader for health strategies, Alexander & Alexander Consulting Group, San Francisco, Calif.