Overview
Ready to level up your workplace?
Every employer struggles with the same question: “How can we balance the needs of our smoking employees with the health and safety of our entire team?” The reality is, smoking policies in the workplace require a delicate approach. You need to provide for your employees’ needs and protect everyone’s health and safety.
Here’s the issue:
It’s not easy to develop and implement effective smoking policies. You have to think about legal obligations, employee satisfaction, insurance costs, and productivity impacts all at once.
Without effective smoking area policies, you’re opening yourself up for a world of headaches.
This article will show you exactly how to build smoking area policies that work for everyone. Whether your employees choose traditional cigarettes or select smokes with different flavors and health effects, smart policies will protect your team and provide for individual preferences.
Let’s do this!
What you’ll learn:
- Why Smart Smoking Policies Matter More Than You Think
- The Real Cost of Poor Smoking Area Management
- How to Design Safe Smoking Areas That Actually Work
- Best Practices for Policy Implementation
Why Smart Smoking Policies Matter More Than You Think
Smart smoking policies can provide a ton of value for your workplace. If you haven’t developed an approach already, here are three reasons you should.
Protect Your Bottom Line
Did you know…
Employee smoking costs companies $3,077 per year in lost productivity. This includes smoke breaks alone!
Why is this the case?
Unmanaged smoking policies have a direct impact on operational efficiency. If employees are always looking for places to smoke during the day, productivity drops.
Here’s the kicker…
Smokers take 31% more sick days compared to non-smokers. Without the right policies, this number only increases.
Smart smoking policies increase:
- Operational efficiency
- Employee satisfaction
- Legal compliance
Build Safety & Compliance
Think of smoking policies as safety procedures for your workplace.
Compliant smoking policies improve workplace safety and help avoid legal problems. If your workplace has vague smoking rules and employees get injured or non-smokers are exposed to secondhand smoke — this creates liability issues.
Tip: 74.2% of Americans are protected by smoke-free workplace policies. Compliant policies are required to meet these standards.
Reduce Insurance and Operational Costs
Lowered insurance and operational costs are underrated benefits of effective smoking area policies.
Smoke-free policies save 25-30% on fire insurance premiums. This is because smoking areas are well-managed and fire risks are minimized.
This leads to:
- Reduced liability exposure
- Lower cleanup costs
- Better air quality maintenance
Win, win, win.
Properly designated and managed smoking areas reduce facility maintenance costs. Ventilation, designated areas, and clear policies mean less damage to your property.
What Makes Workplace Smoking Policies Unique?
Workplace smoking policies are unique. You need policies that address various aspects of your business.
This includes:
- Indoor air quality protection
- Outdoor designated areas
- Break time management
- Legal compliance
Policy development is challenging on its own… But with workplace policies, it increases when you have to balance the needs of employees with safety and health regulations, insurance and legal requirements, and productivity and liability issues. The key to success with smoking policies is having comprehensive coverage for all areas of the workplace.
This is different from basic no-smoking signs, where you simply prohibit without providing an alternative. Workplace policies have to be more strategic.
Smart Smoking Area Strategies
Now, let’s get to the smoking area strategies. Many teams use the exact approaches listed below to generate improved compliance, reduced costs, and higher employee satisfaction.
If they can do it… So can you. Scroll through all the strategies, pick a few that sound good and start using them until you see results. It’s really as simple as that!
Create Designated Safe Areas
Location is still king when it comes to workplace smoking policies.
Why? The most effective way to control smoking in your workplace is to provide clear alternatives. Designated smoking areas allow you to manage smoking behavior with no additional compliance costs or legal risk.
Many workplaces designate outdoor areas at least 25 feet away from building entrances and air intake systems. It’s a clear guideline that provides an example of where employees can go to smoke.
You should provide areas that:
- Are properly ventilated
- Meet the distance requirements for building entrances
- Include proper disposal facilities
- Include weather protection where possible
Make sure the designated areas have clear signage so they’re easy to find, understand, and show the boundaries clearly.
Ideally, your designated smoking areas should receive regular cleaning and management of disposal so that it remains a safe and compliant place.
Implement Time Management Policies
Looking for an easier way to control smoking breaks? Time management policies might be your new go-to strategy.
Break policies are typically informal. The challenge is obvious — employees should take breaks without affecting productivity or group dynamics.
Time management policies differ in that you’re creating a clear expectation about the total time and frequency of breaks without being overly restrictive.
Two of the best ways to implement time management policies are:
- Structured break schedules
- Self-managed break tracking
Structured Break Schedules
Structured break schedules are exactly what they sound like. You coordinate smoking breaks with general workplace flow.
Simple, right? It works because you’re helping employees plan out their breaks and maintain productivity standards at the same time.
It’s fully scalable. Check out examples of companies that have used structured break schedules and see how it’s worked in different business sizes.
Self-Managed Break Tracking
Self-managed break tracking is easily one of the easiest (and most flexible) ways to handle smoking break policies. It’s common for employees to lose track of break time without realizing how it affects their work responsibilities.
The key to making this work is providing clear expectations about the total time for breaks and setting expectations. When employees know the limits, they can self-manage their time.
Support Cessation Programs
Want to reduce smoking-related costs in your workplace long-term? Offering cessation support programs could be your secret weapon to helping employees get healthier while also cutting operating expenses.
Here’s how it works: Support employees in quitting smoking if they choose. This includes providing information about cessation programs and connecting them to healthcare resources.
The types of support that work best include:
- Information on cessation resources
- Flexible policies for those that are attempting to quit
- Healthcare benefit information
Employee support from leadership increases the effectiveness of cessation programs.
Wrapping It Up
Now you have actionable strategies you can use to build effective smoking area policies. Smoking policies in the workplace require continuous attention. You need to allocate the time and resources to having comprehensive approaches in place if you want to see long-term results.
Need help?
Many companies work with workplace policy consultants to develop smoking policies for their workplace. The benefit of professional guidance is that they can help you navigate the legal requirements while also providing smoking policies that suit your unique workplace needs.
The best results come from action. Implement clear, comprehensive policies that will protect everyone in your workplace while also respecting individual choices.
