A community health centre within Nottingham city council has sent a petition to business owners, hoping they can make a clear distinction between smoking and vaping , and allow vaping staff some time off to use their vaping devices when necessary.
It is “important that organisations take some time to consider the differences and how they impact on the health of their staff”, said censorship expert John Wilcox at a meeting of Nottingham City Health and the Wellbeing Board on Wednesday, stressing that organisations should also review their policies on smoking and vaping.
Earlier this year, Public Health England (PHE) issued a call for employers to encourage employees who use e-cigarettes to quit smoking. The organisation argued that forcing vapers to use the devices in smoking areas not only exposes them to harmful second-hand smoke, but also discourages them from quitting.
Most councils have not really paid attention to this issue yet.
Yet despite these words of encouragement, a study published by The Freedom Association found that 87% of councils still have tobacco policies that cover vaping, and another 29% still require vapers to use their devices in areas designated for smokers. The study’s author, Andrew Allison, said it was “disturbing” to see such hostility toward a product that has been shown to be the most effective smoking cessation tool in a country that fully supports it.
Initiatives like the one Nottingham council is taking are therefore a positive thought. “Policy could change and there could be consideration of giving staff some time off to help them quit smoking, consideration of allowing them to use e-cigarettes and creating a segregated area in the workplace,” says John Wilcox. “Most organisations are only doing some of it, I don’t know if they’re doing it all.”
And he was right… research carried out by the Nottingham Post by interviewing a number of local business owners found that, while many were supportive of smokers wanting to quit, some still thought e-cigarettes were harmful and put vaping in the same category as cigarettes.
The need to bring scientific data to the public
This once again shows the damage caused by publicizing errors and misinformation about vape products, not only discouraging people from using them but also making them look unfavorably at vapers who are using safe alternative products to quit smoking.
We need more initiatives like the one mentioned above, it is essential to communicate trustworthy information to people, and most importantly it is imperative to find ways to spread this scientific data as much as possible to prevent tobacco-related health crises.
This article was published on Vapingpost by Diane Caruana and translated by The Vape Club
