By Staff
After reading about the Surgeon General's findings on second-hand smoke, we feel that it would be appropriate for businesses to take a strong look at their workplace smoking policies.
Government officials have already mandated many smoking policies, but those are intended to regulate public establishments.
That leaves private businesses with the responsibility of coming up with their own plan.
Many businesses have already addressed the original problem of smoking in the work place by creating separate areas for smokers.
However, since the Surgeon General has announced that second-hand smoke is more dangerous than originally thought and that simply separating the two groups will not take care of the problem, now is the time to take action.
Surgeon General Richard Carmona said that the evidence is now indisputable and non-smokers need protection by restricting smoking – both in public places and the workplace.
We couldn't agree more.
But as of now only 15 states have passed laws banning smoking statewide – in bars and restaurants. Another two states, Florida and Idaho, have passed 100-percent bans in restaurants, but not bars.
It will probably take the federal government some time to react to this report, so we would like to encourage local business owners to take the initiative and ban smoking from their workplace – both inside and outside.
We have known for years that smoking is not healthy and that second-hand smoke can cause lung cancer in non-smokers as well. In fact, in 1964, the Surgeon General's report made that claim, which led to warning labels being mandatory on cigarette packaging and advertising.
So why are we still discussing this topic more than 20 years later?