www.lungusa.org has some interesting stats
Workplaces nationwide are going smoke-free to provide clean indoor air and protect employees from the harmful, life-threatening effects of secondhand smoke. According to a Gallup poll, 95 percent of Americans, smokers and nonsmokers, now believe companies should either ban smoking totally in the workplace or restrict it to separately ventilated areas.1
Employers have a legal right to restrict smoking in the workplace or to implement a totally smoke-free workplace policy. Exceptions may arise in the case of collective bargaining agreements with unions.2
A smoking employee costs the employer at least 1,000 dollars per year in total excess direct and indirect health care costs, compared with a similar nonsmoking employee.3
Some employers have been forcing smoking employees to pay higher premiums for medical coverage. However, no organization appears to keep statistics on those criteria.4
Employers that hire smokers bear indirect costs, including more employee absenteeism, decreased productivity on the job and increased early retirement due to ill health.5
Workers have been awarded unemployment, disability and worker's compensation benefits for illness and loss of work due to exposure to secondhand smoke.6
Tobacco smoke is a major source of pollution in most indoor air environments, particularly office work sites, and has been classified as a Group A carcinogen by the U.S. EPA. Tobacco smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals, both gas and particulate matter.7
The toxins in tobacco smoke kill over 440,000 people per year in the United States. Secondhand smoke causes over 3,000 lung cancer deaths annually, as well as exacerbation of lung disease in nonsmoking adults and respiratory problems in children. Secondhand smoke also causes 35,000 heart disease deaths in nonsmokers each year.8
A recent study found that people who were exposed to smoke in the workplace were 17 percent more likely to develop lung cancer than those who were not exposed.9
Involuntary smoking has many non-fatal but serious effects; breathing secondhand smoke makes the eyes and nose burn, and can cause headaches and nausea in nonsmokers. These irritants can have a major impact on employees' morale, productivity and sense of well being.10
Forty-nine states and the District of Columbia have some restriction on smoking in public places. Of these states, 45 restrict smoking in government workplaces, and 25 have extended those limitations to private sector workplaces.11
In August 1997, President Clinton signed an executive order requiring federal buildings to become smoke-free.
Nearly 70 percent of the United States workforce worked under a smoke-free policy in 1999.12
Prohibiting smoking in the workplace can have an immediate and dramatic impact on the health of workers and patrons. A study conducted in Helena, MT, found that the number of heart attacks fell by 40 percent during a six-month period in 2002 when the city's comprehensive smokefree air law was in effect.13
Bans on indoor smoking have not had a negative effect on the economy. In Florida, the statewide smoke-free law, which took effect July 1, 2003, has not hurt sales or employment in the hotel, restaurant and tourism industries.14
In Delaware, there has been an increase in the number of restaurants and taproom licenses since the smoking ban took effect.15
In New York City, a study found that business receipts for restaurants and bars has increased 8.7 percent, employment has risen (2,800 seasonally adjusted jobs), and cotinine levels (a marker for smoke exposure) in non-smoking workers decreased by 85 percent since the smoking ban was put in place.16
For more information on tobacco, please review the Tobacco Morbidity and Mortality Trend Report in the Data and Statistics section of our website or call the American Lung Association at 1-800-LUNG-USA (1-800-586-4872).
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