It is common knowledge that smoking is bad for your health. In fact, smoking costs the Ontario economy about $2 billion in health care costs each year. Workers who smoke are also at higher risk of contracting diseases from exposure to various substances in the workplace.

Hazards

Hazards that are typically encountered in smoking include the following.

• When combined with tobacco smoke other chemicals in the workplace can become even more hazardous
• When exposed to asbestos alone, your risk of cancer is more than five times higher than that of the general public; When exposed to asbestos and smoke your risk of cancer is more than 50 times higher than the general public
• Fire
• Lost productivity.

Resources

Ottawa Public Health, with the assistance of the Ottawa Regional Labour-Management Health and Safety Committee has created a series of resources in an effort to support workers and workplaces that want to quit smoking.

• Safety Talk – Quit the smoke break
• Quit Smoking (P054)
• Don't Quit Quitting (Poster)
• Video on a successful smoking cessation pilot program at an Ottawa construction firm

Articles

Employees who smoke: Helping them quit – IHSA.ca Magazine Volume 11, issue 4