The Pros and Cons of a Regular Nicotine Test in the Workplace
Even if the World Health Organization has published studies that state that smoking cigarettes kills up to 5 million people a year, a lot of people still continue to smoke tobacco and don’t even think of quitting. In response to the rising health expenses and productivity losses incurred because of smoking in the workplace, several smoking bans have been implemented in offices. In addition, some companies have even started to conduct a regular nicotine test for their employees. Although this is a good way to discourage smoking cigarettes in offices and to coax smokers to quit, many employees find nicotine testing wrong and improper or even illegal. Is a nicotine test in the workplace as immoral as these people think? You be the judge. Below are the different pros and cons for nicotine testing in your offices.
The Pros.
1. A regular nicotine test can protect the health of non-smokers. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. National Toxicology Program and U.S. Surgeon General have identified secondhand smoke as a carcinogen, or a cancer-causing agent. Secondhand smoke contains all the chemicals found in cigarettes and cigarette smoke and can cause lung cancer and other respiratory diseases in non-smokers. A nicotine test can be the gateway to effective implementation of smoking bans in the workplace.
2. A nicotine test can help increase productivity in the workplace. Nicotine testing can potentially discourage smoking cigarettes in the office or during breaks. This increases the time workers and staff can spend on tasks and responsibilities. It takes about 3 to 5 minutes to go from your desk to a smoking area and another 5 to 10 minutes to finish a stick of cigarette. That’s about 15 minutes wasted each time you go out for a smoke. Multiply that by the number of times you have to light up and you can waste about an hour of your time just smoking cigarettes.
3. A nicotine test can help smokers quit. Sometimes it takes an iron fist to make you stop nasty habits. A regular nicotine test and proper consequences for smokers can help people decide to quit smoking. Companies can accompany this nicotine test with the right support groups and consultation to help staff and workers ease out of the habit of cigarette smoking.
The Cons.
1. Nicotine testing is an invasion of privacy. Staff and workers think that this kind of testing is an invasion of their personal lives, since they see cigarette smoking as a personal habit that shouldn’t affect or be related to their working environment.
2. Some states in the U.S. deem nicotine testing as illegal. There are some states in the U.S. (and even other countries) that have “smokers’ laws” or “smokers’ rights.” These laws prohibit testing for cigarette smoking and bias against smokers in the workplace.
3. Regular nicotine testing can be expensive. Some nicotine test kits can be very affordable per set. But if you have a company with over 100 employees in your payroll, nicotine testing can prove to be quite costly, especially if you decide to do this regularly.
There are many different advantages and disadvantages to having regular nicotine tests for cigarette smoking in your workplace. You have to weigh both the pros and the cons and decide which are ultimately the most important things for you and your workforce. But it shouldn’t go without saying that your health and the health of the people around you should always come first.
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February 4th, 2010 at 10:35 am
uhmmm dhats deyy shiyddd baybeeee dont smoke it killllsss
March 12th, 2010 at 12:12 pm
Nicotine testing in the workplace does not have to be blatant or offensive. Given the proven health hazards associated with secondhand smoke would be more than reasonable to make nicotine testing optional for non-smokers who want to determine their level of exposure to secondhand smoke in the. If non-smoking employees have urine cotinine levels based on quantitative testing consistent with significant secondhand smoke exposure on the job and they can vouche to the fact that secondhand smoke exposure does not occur at home or places other than work it would be reasonable to ban smoking in the area(s) where the employee works.
June 27th, 2010 at 10:52 pm
Why should second-hand smoke be a concern if the smokers are properly segregated? More and more outdoor smoking is being more tightly regulated so that smokers are away from common outdoor areas. It seems that moving the smoker’s area out an extra 20 feet is much easier and cheaper than implementing a nicotine test.
Also, a lot of employers designate a specific amount of time for breaks, what should it matter if an employee spends that time smoking or doing anything else?
Finally, who are employers to decide when a smoker should quit? Plus the mere fact that smoking is unhealthy to the individual (sometimes it takes an iron fist to make you stop a nasty habit) is no reason to ban it. By that logic employers should test for unhealthy eating habits or regulate their hobbies by how safe they are (you ride a motorcycle on the weekend? No, no, no, you might get hurt and cost us productivity. From now on you enjoy crochet).