To smoke or not to smoke
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Good morning,
I work for a City government. I have been tasked with instituting a tobacco policy. As all of our buildings are public, we of course, don't allow smoking in any of our facilities.
However, we have many City owned vehicles and equipment that are not covered under the Alaska statues because they are not used for public transportation.
We want to put a policy in place that prohibits smoking in any City vechicle or equipment. I know this is going to cause an uproar as we have many people who currently smoke in City owned vehicles. Although, this won't stop us from instituting the policy, I want to be prepared.
- What I'm wondering is if other employers have policies that prohibit smoking in vehicles, if so, what kinds of problems have there been, if any, because of it?
- I also would like to know if your policies include smokeless tobacco? I'm really struggeling with this because there isn't really a health risk to anyone but the tobacco user, because there is no second hand smoke. Although, spitting on the ground or in cups could create an unhealth environment. Does anyone have thoughts on this?
I appreciate any thoughts or comments.
Thanks
I work for a City government. I have been tasked with instituting a tobacco policy. As all of our buildings are public, we of course, don't allow smoking in any of our facilities.
However, we have many City owned vehicles and equipment that are not covered under the Alaska statues because they are not used for public transportation.
We want to put a policy in place that prohibits smoking in any City vechicle or equipment. I know this is going to cause an uproar as we have many people who currently smoke in City owned vehicles. Although, this won't stop us from instituting the policy, I want to be prepared.
- What I'm wondering is if other employers have policies that prohibit smoking in vehicles, if so, what kinds of problems have there been, if any, because of it?
- I also would like to know if your policies include smokeless tobacco? I'm really struggeling with this because there isn't really a health risk to anyone but the tobacco user, because there is no second hand smoke. Although, spitting on the ground or in cups could create an unhealth environment. Does anyone have thoughts on this?
I appreciate any thoughts or comments.
Thanks
Comments
Just curious though, how cold has it been up North in Alaska and how much daylight do you have this time of year?
Thanks again for your comments.
In CA smoking in any "enclosed" workplace has been prohibited for many years. This includes company vehicles and personal vehicles used for business purposes. We instituted a policy banning smoking in vehicles used for business purposes, including personal vehicles where there are passengers besides the driver (ie. several people going to a seminar or meeting off site and car pooling). There was some grumbling at first, but most of the smokers affected by this recognized that simple courtesy considerations re. second hand smoke, would overrule their feelings that they had a "right" to smoke in their own vehicle. We have had no real problems with this and now everyone is on board.
Uncas