tobacco spitting on the floor & drains

dsm

hello,
this is my first time posting on the site, i am a hr professional in an auto collision repair facility of 19 employees. i am encountering a problem with employees who chew tobacco. they are spitting on the floors and in the drains. at first this was very rare to see in the shop areas. now, it is becoming a problem. you now have to watch where your step. the drains are for water to flow through. i have a non smoking policy inside the shop area because of the hazardous and flammable conditions that can exist within a repair facility. other employees are now complaining about the situation. please, i need help on handling this situation in a tractful and legal manner.

dchr9203

I would revise the non-smoking policy to include tobacco use, avise all employees of the change and effective date, "ask" for their support in keeping the shop area nice for everyone. Include in your policy consequences for non-compliance then follow through.

Shadowfax

YUCCHK!! I wouldn't worry about being tactful - I'd just plain ban use of all tobacco products in the workplace (which we have done) And the first few violators would get immediate discipline. Disgusting!

Crout

You could build them a dugout to spit into, but seriously, I would do as the posts above advised and simply ban all tobacco products. It's not a right to chew tobacco, and your other consideration is safety. It's a flat-out biohazard to throw saliva all over a work environment.

SMace

I agree to ban smokeless tobacco. You are going to have to live with the effects, though. To make it easier you could give them a little time to quit and if you have a tobacco cessation program through your health insurance, I would remind them of that. If not, you could get some info from your local health dept about quitting.

HRQ

That is just plain icky, and does not present a professional image.

Once you post your revised policy, watch out for employees wandering around with a soda can all the time, if you allow them to drink beverages while working.

I happened to notice a restaurant employee's soda can had crusty brown residue around the opening. Turns out that was his "spit" can and he had a wad of chew in his mouth all the time, even when serving customers. He'd been doing it "forever" he said, I just happened to notice it. He argued with me that if I couldn't tell, then neither could the guests. I told him now that I DO know, he needs to stop.

Either he DID stop or was savvy enough to get rid of it when I was around. x;-)

HRCalico

We went to a "no chew" policy and I'm pretty sure it just went underground. One of these days I may do a random check . . .

Don D

If this were an office environment I would agree that you should have a 'no tobacco products' policy. But, it may be unreasonable to require that none of your mechanics and body repair guys chew. That may result in a higher turnover rate than you can accommodate. I think I would tell them that if they do not immediately clean up their act you WILL have a 'no tobacco products' policy in place. Then if they continue to spit and honk and drag their finger through the crack of their jeans, do it.