Bosses need to tackle new habit

Monday 05 January 2015

It’s a new habit that according to fresh research can help smokers quit or reduce the amount they smoke by as much as half - but what’s your work’s policy on e-smoking?

At the moment e-cigarettes don’t come under any smoking at work regulations but do you want to see your colleagues puffing away on liquid nicotine at their desks? – probably not says one local HR Consultant.

Sian Phillips says e-smoking is a smoky grey area that bosses need to start tackling and has brought the issue under fire in HR Now – a newsletter for others working in the profession.

She said: “There needs to be a policy that’s fair for everybody, is it fair for someone to smoke an e-cigarette and not an ordinary cigarette?

“It’s one of those grey areas. They won’t be committing an offence but is it acceptable or not acceptable to smoke in the office?

“There’s no known risk yet of the vapour itself, it’s still too early to tell, but there could be a risk.”

The number of people puffing away on battery-powered e-cigarettes has grown considerably and new stats show that more teens are picking up an e-cigarette habit in the US than a tobacco one because they think they are cool and better for you.

The atomisers mimic cigarettes and some even light up to look like the real thing. They have a heating coil inside that heats up the liquid nicotine stored in a cartridge. Smokers inhale the vapour but the smoke that comes off them is mainly water vapour.