Out of sight, out of mind: workplace smoking bans and the relocation of smoking at work

As the cultural climate coward smoking changes restrictive workplace smokin g policies are becoming widely accepted by both employers and employees. Th ere is, however, a crucial difference between those policies which accommod ate reserved areas for smoking and those which do not. Smokers at work tend to prefer the former especially when the alternative is a total ban. An ev aluation of a smoking ban implemented at a Scottish University in October 1 997 suggests that the total ban is not only unpopular with smokers but also among non-smokers who experience unintended consequences of the new policy . The greatest complaint from non-smokers stems from the relocation of smok ing to outside and particularly around the entrances to University building s. This relocation has increased environmental pollution for those entering and leaving work, presents a poor image to outsiders and visitors, creates unsightly smoking debris and heightens the risk of fire. Furthermore, empl oyees who smoke outside, in all weathers, have aroused the sympathies of a large number of their non-smoking colleagues. These unintended consequences have prompted many non-smoking staff to favour the reinstatement of reserv ed smoking areas inside work. In this article we argue, however, that this is not a sensible solution and that there may indeed be some advantage in i ncreasing the visibility of smokers at work. In the short term non-smoking staff become more aware of the problems faced by smokers. In the longer ter m, this raised awareness may have implications for changing organizational attitudes to the provision of health intervention programmes at the Univers ity. Certainly continuing organizational-based cessation support might demo nstrate, alongside a restrictive smoking policy, a less punitive and more c aring approach to the promotion of health-related behavioural change at wor k.