Soldato
- Joined
- 8 Mar 2007
- Posts
- 10,938
Whilst in an ideal world we shouldn't need unions and I am not currently part of one, I may need to join after being told by the Union Rep who sits near me that plans are in place to ban the use of electronic cigarettes at work. Or rather treat them as tobacco and shun vapers to the outside.
Here is the e-mail forwarded to me by the Union Rep...
Luckily, despite being a lifelong non-smoker, our Union rep says he will fight this and asked me (a long term vaper) to help support his case. Here is my response to the above e-mail which I sent to the rep...
The rationale seems to be "it looks like smoking" written three different ways. It's unusual for me to feel a militant urge to fight a management change but here I go!
Here is the e-mail forwarded to me by the Union Rep...
There is a proposed change to the Smoking Policy (see Intranet) which takes into account the use of Vapour E-Cigs. This is though currently still in draft and needs to go through the relevant processes, including consultation with the Unions, before it can be implemented. Within that policy it’s proposed that use of Vapour E-Cigs by staff in the workplace will be prohibited (see extract below).
E Cigarettes
The Council acknowledges that some employees may wish to make use of electronic cigarettes ("e-cigarettes") in the workplace, particularly as an aid to giving up smoking. E-cigarettes are battery-powered products that release a visible vapour that contains liquid nicotine that is inhaled by the user.
Although they fall outside the scope of smoke-free legislation, this document applies to the use of electronic cigarettes and prohibits the use of e-cigarettes in the workplace. The Council's rationale for a ban on e-cigarettes is that:
· some e-cigarette models can, from a distance look like real cigarettes, making a smoking ban difficult to police and creating an impression the Council considers it acceptable to smoke;
· the public may perceive that employees of the Council are smoking;
· although they do not produce smoke, e-cigarettes produce a vapour that could provide a distraction to other employees
Employees wishing to use e cigarettes during work time must do so in line with the Working Hours Policy.
Assistance for employees to give up smoking
The Council will take steps to encourage and support employees who wish to give up smoking, primarily by enabling access to Oxfordshire Smoking Advice Service.
For further clarification, is this not something that you could put on the agenda for the next Stewards meeting.
Steph
Luckily, despite being a lifelong non-smoker, our Union rep says he will fight this and asked me (a long term vaper) to help support his case. Here is my response to the above e-mail which I sent to the rep...
As a long term electronic cigarette users and member of a thriving e-cig community which keeps abreast of all the political, technological and scientific advances in the electronic cigarette sector, I feel the need to comment on this.
First of all, let me start by making it clear I would be totally opposed to any ban or restriction of the use of electronic cigarettes, and would suggest that the health of our workforce could be put at jeopardy for what seems spurious reasons. Let me start by rebutting the points made in the new policy below.
· some e-cigarette models can, from a distance look like real cigarettes, making a smoking ban difficult to police and creating an impression the Council considers it acceptable to smoke;
There are what we vapers call “cig-a-likes” (an electronic cigarette designed to look like a traditional cigarette) but these almost always have a green or blue tip which lights up when vaped, clearly distinguishing it from a real cigarette. Furthermore there are numerous things that could be confused with a cigarette from a distance; like someone with a white pen in their mouth, or even the Nicorette Inhalator which I assume isn’t covered by the new rules.
Finally though, why not just ban cig-a-likes and let people use other ones that clearly look nothing like real cigarettes? You can’t justify a blanket ban because of an issue with a small minority of models. That is throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
· the public may perceive that employees of the Council are smoking;
And? Is smoking now an illegal or immoral activity? People smoke, and I have witnessed plenty of council employees smoking whilst working outside. I deal with resident complaints everyday as part of my job and I have never had a single complaint about an operative smoking. The idea that general public would be shocked by seeing a council employee smoke is asinine.
· although they do not produce smoke, e-cigarettes produce a vapour that could provide a distraction to other employees
What kind of distraction? There is nothing hypnotic within the vapour released by an e-cig. Employees are far more likely to get distracted by others’ mobile phones, tablets and, dare I say, the bowel movements by some operatives than by someone using an e-cig, none of which are banned by the council.
The fallout from implementing this policy would be a reduction in people switching from harmful tobacco products and more lost working time due to current vapers having to remove themselves from their work to go to the smoking area. With that in mind it would also be putting the health of vaping employees at risk who would now be forced to stand amongst smokers and suffer any effects of passive smoking (thus belittling the efforts they’ve made by choosing a much healthier lifestyle).
In my opinion, this proposed policy states that the Council are more concerned with perceptions (often ill-informed) than the health of their employees. E-cigarettes have a proven track record of stopping people smoking that the likes of traditional NRT (patches, gum etc) are envious of. Traditional NRT products have been shown to have a success rate of 12%, studies of electronic cigarettes have shown a success rate of over 70%.
Whilst I applaud the efforts of the NHS and Smoke Free Oxford to get people to stop smoking, the sad fact is the vast majority of people who try the traditional methods they suggest fail. In that regard, e-cigs are revolutionary in that they work for most people (including myself, a former 20-a-day smoker who has been a smoke free vaper for over 2 years now). Furthermore, not everyone wants to quit, some people just want to continue enjoying their habit without the early death that comes from tobacco.
Electronic Cigarettes should be encouraged and promoted, not penalised and its users shunned, by any progressive council.
The rationale seems to be "it looks like smoking" written three different ways. It's unusual for me to feel a militant urge to fight a management change but here I go!
