FAQ - Tobacco Use in the Workplace
Q. Â My Company has a smoking policy, but it does
not include chewing tobacco. Â Â One of
our employee´s chews tobacco in the office, spits it into a cup and leaves it
lying around. Â Â Can we broaden our
smoking policy to include chewing tobacco? Can we chance the policy to state
that all tobacco use must be outside of the building because of health issues
for others?
A. Â Your inquiry is very interesting and has the
potential of becoming a more serious problem if not handled properly. Â Including chewing tobacco in your current
smoking policy is completely acceptable as long as you take the time to inform
your employees about this change and the reasons behind it. The fact that this
employee is leaving his tobacco spit in a cup around the office, which is being
exposed to other employees, is a health and safety issue for the company. As
the employer, it is your obligation to provide a safe and healthy working
environment for all employees.
This
modification to the smoking/tobacco policy should be enacted as soon as
possible to prevent the individual who is chewing tobacco on company premises
from potentially causing any other health hazards to other employees and from
exposing your company to potential legal liabilities from other employees (what
if this employee has tuberculosis and passes it on to another employee who
should be unfortunate enough to make contact with the cup?). Â
The change
in your smoking policy might only need to be one or two words. Â For example, one modification could be to
change the phrase from "cigarettes are prohibited on company property
except in designated areas" to "all tobacco products are prohibited
on company property except in designated areas".
As always,
you should consult your states department of labor or the OSHA (http://www.osha.gov) to ensure compliance with
all legislation.