Vaping inside the office is an issue that is becoming more and more of a concern for employers. According to the president of a Human Resource consulting firm, employers need to tackle this issue and establish clear guideline on how electronic cigarette must be used in the workplace.
Jim Evans is the president of the JK Evans & Associates LLC, a company on human resource consultation. He said that electronic cigarettes use is not just increasingly becoming popular outside the office. One reason that smokers are turning to vaping is because the use of electronic cigarette is generally more accepted than tobacco. Smokers who work in the office basically need to take their cigarettes outside the workplace or the building; but vaping is allowed in almost all offices.
Will Be Testing Workplace Smoking Policy Limits
Evans said that if these devices are not yet used in an office, they will soon be adopted there and will certainly test how tolerable the smoking policies are. There are employers and human resource professionals who like to be ahead of things and as more establishments and local government bodies impose their rules on these devices; they too would be compelled to consider the company’s stand on the issue.
There were some companies and employers that have already decided to regard electronic cigarette use just like traditional smoking. Yet, majority of employers still have no particular restrictions.
Some employers who have taken steps in restricting electronic cigarette use in the office said that they decided to do so because customers seem to think that it is unprofessional and/or vaping gets in the way of finishing works.
Electronic cigarette is not like a conventional cigarette. There are no proven health risks from using the devices, based on the studies that were previously done about it. While the device produces smoke-like vapor, this mist does not contain tar, toxins and carcinogens from tobacco. Thus, smokers switch to these electronic smoking alternatives because they eliminate the need for smoking breaks outside.
Why Employers Must Consider And Decide On The Issue
The challenge of weighing up the drawbacks and benefits of electronic cigarette use will be upon the shoulders of employers. Whatever the position of an employer would be reflected on the policy that will be enforced in the company. Nonetheless, just like regulations from government bodies and any other agencies with authorities in the community, these workplace policies will surely be favoring or satisfying some, but not everyone.
Vaping In The Workplace Can Increase Workers’ Productivity
Electronic cigarette use, although opposed by some employers, may actually help to eliminate poor performance and productivity of smoking workers.
Last month, in the story published on the business magazine, Next Woman, it was lamented that in the UK, a mean 100 hours of productivity is lost by each smoker due to regular smoke breaks.
Rather than contest and disallow electronic cigarette use in the office, perhaps employers also need to be more open-minded about these smoking alternatives. It is the business that will also suffer if these vaping employees are still forced to puff outside.
While it may take just a few minutes to take a smoking break, it will still affect the worker’s performance since he/she needs to leave the desk and get away momentarily from work. Oftentimes, it takes some time to get one’s mind and mood back to what he/she was doing before taking a break.
Opponents of vaping claim that not because the electronic cigarette devices are safer than tobacco cigarette, it does not mean that they are completely safe. These opposing party claims that electronic smoking devices are still so new that their long term effects are still not fully known or studied. Yet, long time users of the device do not report any serious harm from using these products. Even those smokers who have used the smoking instruments say that they have felt better and healthier since they used the electronic cigarette.
Allowing vaping in the workplace is believed to pose no serious threats unlike tobacco smoking. Non-smoking employees will not be offended by the vapor because they are virtually odorless and dissipate very quickly. If ever other people would smell something out of the vapor, it would most likely be the delicious flavorings added to the liquid nicotine solution.
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