Smoke-Free Worksites Save More Money

The Wellness Coalition is offering free support to local businesses who are interested in implementing or enhancing smoke-free policies at their worksites.

Cost Savings for Smoke-Free Worksites

Smoke-free businesses have opportunities to greatly reduce expenses via:

  • Reduced insurance premiums on buildings
  • Reduced health insurance premiums, employee medical costs, and sick day usage
  • Decreased risk of fires and accidents
  • Reduced employee turnover
  • Increased employee productivity and job satisfaction
  • Improved company appeal to quality applicants

Economic Cost Associated With Cigarette Smoking

Cigarette smoking cost the U.S. more than $600 billion in 2018, including:

  • Nearly $185 billion in lost productivity from smoking-related illnesses and health conditions
  • Nearly $180 billion in lost productivity from smoking-related premature death
  • $7 billion in lost productivity from premature death from secondhand smoke exposure
  • More than $240 billion in healthcare spending

Most Alabama Worksites Have Tobacco Policies

More than three out of four people in Alabama are already protected by tobacco-free policies where they work. This trend continues to grow and it’s no surprise as to why. Alabama lawmakers continue to seek to provide more comprehensive protections from secondhand smoke. In addition to the Alabama Clean Indoor Air Act, many municipalities have passed local ordinances to protect citizens from secondhand smoke as well.

Additionally, the federal government is:

  • Monitoring secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure, educating the public about the dangers, conducting research, funding programs that work to reduce tobacco use and exposure to SHS in public places, and regulating tobacco products.
  • Funding and promoting tobacco education campaigns, such as CDC’s Tips From Former Smokers, that teach people how smoking and SHS exposure can harm them.
  • Encouraging smoke-free policies in subsidized and public housing.
  • Creating tobacco- and smoke-free environments for employees, customers, and partners.

Furthermore, most cigarette smokers want to quit:

  • In 2015, nearly 7 in 10 (68.0%) adult cigarette smokers wanted to stop smoking.
  • In 2018, more than half (55.1%) adult cigarette smokers had made a quit attempt in the past year.
  • In 2018, more than 7 out of every 100 (7.5%) people who tried to quit succeeded.
  • From 2012–2018, the Tips From Former Smokers® campaign has motivated approximately one million tobacco smokers to quit for good.

Don’t wait. Protect your workforce and increase your profits by creating a smoke-free policy for your business today.