LETTER TO THE EDITOR |
Time cost associated with smoking at work highlighted by baseline survey of employees participating in a workplace smoking cessation programme
GlaxoSmithKline – Employee Health Management, GSK House, 980 Great West Road, Brentford TW8 9GS, UK
1 Present address: Capita Health Solutions, 52 Horseferry Road, London SW1P 2AF, UK
e-mail: Padraic.Ryan{at}capita.co.uk
Dear Sir,
In addition to the potential legal ramifications for businesses that fail to protect their workers from exposure to second-hand smoke, the health and economic benefits of introducing smoke-free policies in the workplace have been discussed [1]. Recognizing the need to address smoking at work, we run an occupational health-led smoking cessation programme called Space to Breathe, which provides support to employees who wish to quit smoking. This voluntary initiative is ongoing at 23 of our UK sites, encompassing manufacturing, R&D and office-based employees.
A baseline evaluation of 646 smokers taking part in the programme was carried out by questionnaire. The number of tobacco products smoked per day and the number smoked during working hours were investigated. The survey was voluntary and the data anonymous.
In common with many companies, workers are permitted to take smoking breaks in addition to usually permitted breaks. To assess the loss in productivity caused by smoking, we used an estimate of 10 working minutes lost per tobacco product, based on anecdotal evidence. This is greater than the 6-min estimate used by Parrott et al. [2], but takes into account the fact that company sites are non-smoking and employees must travel to and from designated external smoking areas.
Our baseline survey revealed that 646 participants smoked a total of 9896 tobacco products per day (not including weekends). Thirteen per cent of participants (86) said they did not smoke during work, while 558 participants smoked a total of 3585 tobacco products while at work (data were unavailable for two participants). This gives an average of 6.4 products smoked per employee.
Using the estimate of 10 working minutes lost per tobacco product, this equates to an estimated total of 597.5 h spent smoking at work and an estimated loss in productivity of 64 min per smoking employee per day. Interestingly, although participants who smoked ten or more tobacco products a day constituted only 23% of the total number of employees who smoked at work, they accounted for 42% of total working hours lost.
The success of an earlier occupational health-led smoking cessation programme at GlaxoSmithKline (n = 123) has been reported [3]. At 12 months, 15% of participants had not smoked at all, while an additional 5% relapsed during the 12-month period, but subsequently quit successfully.
Clearly, a 15% reduction in total smokers could represent a considerable fiscal saving, and provides compelling support for the active promotion of smoking cessation in the workplace. Helping heavier smokers to quit is likely to be more challenging than helping lighter smokers, but our findings show it would have a much greater impact on productivity.
Our recent evaluation survey of company employees participating in the Space to Breathe programme highlights the considerable time cost associated with smoking at work. We suggest that in-house, occupational health-led smoking cessation initiatives have the potential to make a positive impact in terms of company productivity as well as employee health.
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References |
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 Top References |
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- Ford JA. Protecting workers in licensed premises from the effects of secondhand smoke. Occup Med (Lond) 2005;55:583–585.
- Parrott S, Godfrey C, Raw M. Costs of employee smoking in the workplace in Scotland. Tob Control 2000;9:187–192.
[Abstract/Free Full Text] - Cruse SM, Forster NJ, Thurgood G, Sys L. Smoking cessation in the workplace: results of an intervention programme using nicotine patches. Occup Med (Lond) 2001;51:501–506.
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