White collar employees were more than one and a half times as likely as service industry workers, and almost twice as likely as blue-collar workers, to be covered by a smokefree policy where they worked. Secondhand smoke is a serious health hazard, not a nuisance. Considered over a working lifetime, this translates into an excess lung cancer rate in the workplace of 1 per 1,000 and between 7 and 16 cases of heart disease per 1,000. Smoking in the workplace is expensive in dollars as well as human health and quality of life. Smoking cost the U.S. 97.2 billion dollars in health care costs and lost productivity in 1993.
Tobacco takes a tremendous toll on the workforce.
Smoking slows the mending of bones, and is associated with a higher incidence of lower back pain, the number one cause of worker's compensation costs. Health care costs and direct costs to employers find their way back to individual Americans in the costs of products, services and insurance. Smoking causes excessive housecleaning costs from tobacco litter and the accumulation of film from tobacco smoke pollution. Computer equipment, furniture, carpets and other office furnishings last longer in a smokefree environment. Worksite smoking is a fire risk.