Smoking E-Cigarettes At Your Desk? Could It Be An Option In the Foreseeable Future?
February 6, 2010
Allowing electronic cigarettes in the office might be an acceptable business practice in years to come. Time was, almost every desk in every office contained an ashtray for the use of employees and customers alike. Ten years ago a business might display a \”non smoking\” sign but the manager would pull an ashtray from his desk drawer after closing the door or at the request of a visitor. Smoking is now considered an embarrassing habit and seems to be prohibited everywhere you go. These days, no smoking signs really do mean no smoking.
Break rooms may be provided and often divided into sections for smokers and non-smokers. If you work in any government building you will go outside to indulge your habit. Many businesses have followed the same path. It\’s not uncommon to notice small groups of people huddled outside the entrance to a business as they get their nicotine \”fix\”. As a result, offices are cleaner and smell better. Businesses have reduced the risk of fire posed by burning cigarettes.
Most smokers no longer complain when they are required to leave the building to smoke. They often find the need to defend themselves against non-smokers who complain even when workers are smoking out of doors. This has led businesses to establish outdoor smoking areas with seating and protection from the sun. These areas are often a feature of businesses with sufficient outdoor space to permit separating the smoking area from the business entrance.
Employees who frequently leave their desk to smoke are detrimental to the bottom line of their employer. Even a 10 minute absence requires the employee to lose more work time as he re-focuses on the work he was doing before the break. Phones aren\’t answered and non-smoking co-workers often resent breaks taken by smokers. Offers to provide help for employees who want to quit smoking have been creatively used by businesses. Offers pf cash awards, free counseling and free nicotine replacement products to encourage smokers to quit were well received. CEO\’s with less compassion simply instituted strict policies that prohibit smoking at work.
The tens of thousands of dollars spend by businesses to help employees stop smoking was effective in the beginning. Workers jumped at the chance for free counseling and free nicotine replacement products to help them quit. As time went on, the only smokers left were those who were highly addicted or who had no desire to quit their tobacco habit. Allowing the use of electronic cigarettes at the workplace could be an answer to the problems posed for employers by determined cigarette smokers.
People nearby are not harmed by the vapor produced by e-cigarettes. This alternative smoking product fills the need for nicotine while avoiding the release of chemical compounds created by tobacco when it burns. Walls and ceilings in offices are not coated with tar from tobacco smoke and there is no disgusting odor of stale smoke. Unlike other nicotine replacement products, e-cigarettes are not invisible. If you use a patch, gum or a lozenge to replace cigarettes no one knows you are doing so.
E-cigarettes often look like the tobacco version. Just the appearance of a cigarette is enough to cause a negative reaction in non-smokers even though no tobacco is involved. Some e-cigs are shaped like a ball point pen and many are now chosen because they don\’t look like a standard cigarette but have unusual and interesting logos and colors. Proposals to add electronic cigarettes in the workplace will need to overcome negative attitudes of committed non-smokers.
As the popularity of the best electronic cigarettes grows and benefits are more widely understood and accepted, e-cigarettes in the workplace may become an accepted practice for both employers and employees. It may be commonplace in five years to see vapor trails in the offices of businesses everywhere.
Mary Kay Rivers has become a true expert on all aspects of e-cigs. Her articles about what would happen, if all smokers switched to electronic cigarettes or about the best electronic cigarette are very famous.
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