EU-OSHA campaign educates on dangers of tobacco smoke in the workplace

by Shane Henson — June 4, 2012—The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) has launched a Smoke-Free Workplaces awareness-raising campaign that calls on employers and workers to eliminate environmental tobacco smoke in workplaces all around Europe

In the European Union (EU), over half of a million deaths per year are estimated to relate to smoking, about 79,000 of which are thought to relate to environmental tobacco smoke alone, says EU-OSHA. Currently, most EU countries already have in place smoke-free laws or a total ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces, although their scope differs from country to country. This means there are still premises where employees are exposed to environmental tobacco smoke. According to EU-OSHA estimates, 9,000 workers died in EU-27 in 2008 because of lung cancer caused by environmental tobacco smoke at work.

EU-OSHA’s Smoke-Free Workplaces campaign aims to support employers and employees in creating smoke-free workplaces, regardless of the existing national regulation in each member state. Three leaflets in 24 languages, a video clip featuring the cartoon character Napo, “Lungs at work,” and other information materials have been created to reach this goal.

Launching the campaign, EU-OSHA sheds light on “false truths” on smoking in the workplace. Contrary to popular belief, there is no ventilation system capable of completely eliminating smoke, and indoor smoking areas always pollute the air of non-smoking rooms, warns EU-OSHA. Moreover, locating smoking areas around doorways, windows or vents of buildings often leads to environmental tobacco smoke exposure due to draft effect. EU-OSHA stresses that smoking rooms do not prevent the exposure of workers to smoke, because cleaning staff working in these premises breathe the polluted air.

To help employers and employees make their work environments truly smoke-free, EU-OSHA has published two leaflets and other related resources, available on the organization’s Web site.