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Tool can help improve employee health, cut tobacco-related illnesses
A new toolkit can help employers improve the health of their workers by reducing tobacco-related illnesses, officials said.
The kit, Investing in a Tobacco-Free Future: How it Benefits Your Bottom Line & Community, shows employers how to establish a model workplace tobacco control strategy. It includes a set of policies, benefits and programs to encourage employees not to use tobacco in the workplace and to quit using tobacco altogether. It also lays out how businesses can support efforts to reduce tobacco use in the community. According to the National Cancer Institute, it costs employers at least $1,000 per year for every employee who smokes. These costs include direct medical expenses associated with workers' compensation claims, as well as costs associated with absenteeism and building maintenance. Researchers also estimate that smokers are absent from work 50 percent more often than nonsmokers, have twice as many on-the-job accidents, and are 50 percent more likely to be hospitalized than workers who do not smoke.
May 11, 2009 Copyright 2009© LRP Publications |
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