Office managers are including electronic cigarettes in their tobacco smoking ban policies
Does your office have a case of the vapers?googleoff: allgoogleon: all
The popularity of vape devices, which use a small battery and heating coil to turn a flavored, nicotine-infused liquid into a puff of steam for the user, has gained significant popularity in recent years.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
There is no flame ignition, and the output often contains less nicotine and other airborne substances associated with cigarettes.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
But businesses would be wise to add vaping to the general office ban on smoking, two experts advise.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
Vape pens are “one more thing to add to the HR plate,” said Marina A. Galatro, a senior human resources consultant for Willis Human Capital Practice in La Jolla.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
Some local governments and the University of California system have banned use of electronic cigarettes on premises they control, and California this year declared them a public health threat.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
But the devices are still under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for possible regulation. In other words, there are no rules regarding electronic cigarettes an office manager can point to, other than the company’s.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
“My recommendation to companies is to be proactive and amend their smoking policy now,” to include a ban on e-cigarettes, Galatro said.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
There are loads of issues associated with electronic cigarettes, said Galatro and Todd R. Wulffson, a business and labor expert with the Irvine office of Carothers, DiSante and Freudenberger.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
Among them:googleoff: allgoogleon: all
• Many use the devices to quit cigarette smoking by using liquids with decreasing amounts of nicotine. So should a vape pen user be in the same designated place as cigarette smokers for a permissible break?googleoff: allgoogleon: all
• What’s in that vape pen tank? “It could be anything. ... We don’t want to police every puff on the e-cig,” Wulffson said.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
• And not everyone in the office may be comfortable with the residual odor of flavored e-cigarette liquids, possibly raising allergy complaints.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
Wulffson said his clients have already added electronic cigarettes to their tobacco smoking restrictions. “There are still too many problems” with vaping devices to differentiate them from tobacco use, he said.