Why employers should offer stop smoking programs

The Social Burden:

According to The World Health Organization, over 500 million people currently alive will die as a result of smoking. It is also predicted that by 2020 tobacco use will cause over 12% of all deaths globally. This is more deaths worldwide than caused by HIV, tuberculosis, maternal mortality, motor vehicle accidents, suicide and homicide combined.

An overview of tobacco use in Australia reveals that:

• Tobacco smoking is the largest single preventable cause of death and disease in the country
• Every year 23,000 Australians die from smoking-related illness
• 142,000 annual Australian hospitalisations are smoking-related

The Corporate Burden:  

• A conservative estimate indicates that smoking costs Australian businesses at least $1.5 billion per annum or $4.3 million a day
• The probability of a male smoker being absent from work is estimated to be 66% greater than that for a male who has never smoked
• For females, the corresponding figure is 23%
• Workplace related legal action on passive smoke is on the increase and lawyers predict more such claims (A Guide to Passive Smoking and the Law, The Cancer Council NSW, updated 2005).

The Benefits:

Ongoing Australian and international research confirms that workplaces which introduce a stop smoking intervention for employees:

• Increase productivity
• Reduce absenteeism
• Decrease staff turnover
• Lower workers compensation costs
• Slash insurance premiums
• Comply with OH&S legislation
• Protect non-smokers from second hand smoke
• Improve employee health status & resilience to stress
• Promote better employee relations
• Enhance corporate culture
• Elevate their standing as "Employer of Choice"

Measurable Financial Returns:

Although seemingly apparent, the financial benefits flowing from workplace wellness programs are often difficult to measure. Our stop smoking programs, however, can be directly measured through workplace productivity.

For example, as outlined in Hypnotic Dollars and Sense if the average smoker takes 4 "smoko"  breaks a day on work time, at approx 10 minutes per break, it equates to 159 hours or 4 weeks per year of down time on the job; a measurable outcome (see).