In case you haven’t heard, cigarette smoking is out and vaping is in — at least among young people.
But the rise in popularity of e-cigarettes and vaping pens has raised new concerns about workplace smoking that most businesses though had already been resolved.
Indoor smoking is now banned in nearly every state, thanks to concerns about the dangers of second-hand smoke. But many local legislative bodies are struggling to catch up with this new technology, which releases supposedly harmless steam instead of smoke into the atmosphere.
That leaves individual workplaces to make decisions about whether or not to allow vaping in the workplace.
Popularity of Vaping
The good news is that cigarette smoking is down among nearly every demographic and age group in the US. People finally seem to be getting the message that smoking kills.
The bad news, however, is that vaping is hugely popular among teens and young adults. And while some of the negative health effects of smoking are avoided, it still delivers a whopping dose of the highly addictive drug nicotine directly to the bloodstream. The long-term effects of vaping are still being studied by the US Food and Drug Administration.
To Vape or Not to Vape
So should businesses that already have banned smoking on their premises allow workers, customers, and others to use vape pens? It depends on who you ask.
Right now, Wal-mart, CVS Caremark, Starbucks, and many other high-profile companies have banned employees from vaping at work. But others — most notably ExxonMobile and McDonald’s — allow employees and customers to use vaping devices on their properties.
How to Decide
If your business hasn’t already determined a vaping policy, here are some things to consider:
- The FDA has designated vaping devices as tobacco products. So if your policy is to ban the use of tobacco products in the workplace, it could already cover vaping.
- Some businesses are reluctant to hire applicants who admit to being smokers, due to the higher risk of long-term insurance costs. Be aware, however, that not all vaping devices are used to deliver nicotine.
- Most e-cigarettes are designed to look like the real thing. So if your business bans cigarettes but allows vaping, it might be hard to make a distinction in real-world situations.
Most importantly, once your business determines its vaping policy, it needs to be communicated and acknowledged by all employees then consistently enforced.
Whether you allow vaping in designated areas or ban it altogether, it’s important for every worker to be held to the same standard.
*Photo credit: Lindsay Fox at ecigarette reviewed.