F E AT U R E
Don’t Force Workers To Vape
In Smoking Zones Says Public
Health England Report
There are few things that are bad about
vaping but being lumped in with smokers
because of a ‘one-size-fits-all’ smoking
and vaping policy in the workplace is
right up there.
Do employees not realise how wrong it
is that having managed to quit smoking
through vaping, the now smoke-free
employee is forced to join tobacco
smokers to enjoy a vape during
work hours?
It is exactly the same when we have the
same rules for smokers applied to vapers
in public spaces, but now help may be
at hand.
Public Health England has published
a 15-page report called “Use of
e-cigarettes in public places and
workplaces - Advice to inform evidencebased policy making,” and it sets out
ways to tackle this very issue.
The main thrust of the report is that
vaping is not synonymous with smoking
and therefore that policies for smoking
90 ISSUE 06 VAPOUROUND MAGAZINE
and vaping should not be exactly the
same. It is particularly critical of the
idea that vapers should be forced to
share the same space as smokers
when they want to vape.
The report describes smoking as
“a uniquely harmful activity” which it
says “remains the leading cause of
preventable illness and premature death
in England, with the damage spreading
far beyond smokers, to their families and
others around them, to their communities
and to wider society.”
In contrast, the health body says of
vaping: “E-cigarettes do not burn
tobacco and do not create smoke.
While debate continues about their
absolute level of safety, the consensus
across England’s public health
community is that e-cigarettes are
significantly safer for users than
smoked tobacco.
“There is also no evidence of harm to
bystanders from exposure to e-cigarette
vapour and the risks to their health
are likely to be extremely low.
“E-cigarettes have rapidly become
the most popular stop smoking aid
in England and a developing body
of evidence shows that they can
be effective. We need to foster an
environment in which e-cigarettes
can provide a route out of smoking
for England’s eight million smokers,
without providing a route into smoking
for children or non-smokers.”
The report says that policies and practice
on e-cigarette use in public places and
workplaces are evolving and need to
continue to do so in the light of the
emerging evidence. It says that no onesize-fits-all answer exists to the issue
of e-cigarette use in public places
and workplaces.
Instead it sets out five key principles to
guide decision makers when it comes
to setting policies for vaping in the
workspace and public spaces.