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Engaging Employers in Tobacco Control

Workplace tobacco control efforts – including tobacco free policies and tobacco use treatment support – not only improve employee health, but also are highly cost-effective.  Tobacco use has both direct and indirect costs.  Smoking-related illnesses lead to substantial health care costs and tobacco use decreases employee productivity.  Individuals who quit using tobacco experience significant health benefits and the organizations that they work for yield positive returns.

Why Should You, as an Employer, Encourage Smoking Cessation?

• The majority of secondhand smoke exposure occurs not only in homes, but also in workplaces. 
• Employees who smoke have much higher rates of absenteeism.  
• Tobacco use is the leading contributor to worker lost production time. 
• Smoking has serious health consequences. 
• Pregnant smokers are at an increased risk for miscarriage, premature birth, and low birth weight – all of which impact medical costs.  Smoking during pregnancy also increases the risk of stillbirth.

For more facts please click here to download a full version of this information.

The Bottom Line:

Investing in proven strategies to improve employee health is beneficial to an organization:

Tobacco use treatment improves health, increases productivity and reduces costs.

So now that you know about the benefits, it’s time to start doing something.  Below you will find tools and resources to help you get started.

Workplace Tobacco Control Interventions and Initiatives:
Here you will find a flowchart of various initiatives you can use to help reduce disease, death, lost productivity, and health care costs in your workplace.

Employer Case-Studies: The Implementation of Tobacco Control Practices:
Find out what other employers like you are doing to implement tobacco control policies.  These case studies will give you a brief overview of a company’s program background, program delivery, program monitoring, and other lessons learned.

Resources:

We have compiled a list of resources to help you get started.

Partnership for Prevention Resources

• Smoke-Free Policies: Establishing a Smoke-Free Ordinance to Reduce Exposure to Secondhand Smoke in Indoor Worksites and Public Places
• Investing in a Tobacco Free Future: How it Benefits Your Bottom-line and Community
• Investing in Health: Proven Health Promotion Practices for Workplaces
• Healthy Workforce 2010 and Beyond
• Why Invest: Recommendations for Improving Your Prevention Investment
• Leading by Example: Leading Practices for Employee Health Management
• Employer Tobacco Control Strategies Video Series (Jan. 30th – Feb. 1st 2008)
  • Smoking Cessation Programs
  • Effective Tobacco Control Strategies

Federal Government Resources

• CDC – Save Lives, Save Money: Make Your Business Smoke-Free
• CDC – Healthier Worksite Initiative: Tobacco Free Workplace Toolkit

Featured Resources

• How to help staff stop smoking
• Mayo Clinic - Research Findings Show Smoke-Free Workplaces Reduce Heart Attacks
• Health Education Council – Tobacco Cessation and Policy in The Workforce Development Setting
• "Take Advantage" from the Office of Personal Management



• Milliman Report – Covering Smoking Cessation as a Health Benefit: A Case for Employers
• NBGH – A Purchaser’s Guide to Clinical Preventive Services: Moving Science into Coverage (pg. 415-25)
• NBGH – Tobacco: The Business of Quitting, An Employer’s Website for Tobacco Cessation
• NBGH – Tobacco and Tobacco Cessation 
• Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids – Toolkit for Implementing Smoke-Free Laws
• Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids – Model Tobacco Use Treatment Benefit Language
• AHIP –  Making the Business Case for Smoking Cessation (ROI Calculator)
• ANR – Going Smokefree in Your Workplace
• WELCOA – Employer’s Smoking Cessation Guide: Practical Approaches to a Costly Workplace Problem
• TOFCO – Make it Your Business Toolkit
• The Community Guide: Decreasing Tobacco Use in Worksite Settings 

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