Smoking Workers May Work Much More Because of Smoking Breaks

Published on June 28, 2010 10:05 AM

Employers who take smoking breaks may work as much as eight days' extra leave every year, a meeting in Dublin decided recently. Miriam Gunning, health promotion officer on tobacco in the Health Service Executive (HSE), declared that she was given the idea by a human resource officer from outside the sector.

She was talking as it was informed that all hospitals campuses would unlawful smoking in the next five years for patients and even for staff. So, only St. Vincent's Hospital and Connolly Hospital in Dublin have enforced the new smoking ban, although Cork University Hospital will enforce the ban later. Ms. Gunning featured that a lot of hospitals that permitted smoking on their campuses were giving mixed messages to their patients. Patients who were outside lighting up their cigarette could miss a doctor's rings, medication times and even scans, she added. Hospitals are also combating a problem of refuse from cigarette butts, Ms Gunning argued that the meeting titled Working Together towards a Tobacco Free Society.

So, a patient's stay in hospital was a main key time to act to try to help them to quit their smoking habit. But staff had manifested concerns about having to turn patients outside to permit them to smoke. It was also very necessary to replace the term smoking with tobacco to assure that people didn't get all over the ban by using oral tobacco. Talking at the meeting, respiratory consultant Dr Luke Clancy criticized the Government for delaying plans to introduce graphic images on cigarette packs. He added that he had recently written to Health Minister Mary Harney and obliged her to press ahead with the promised new measures, which are being examined by the EU.

Statistics show also even the incidence of smoking in Irish bars and restaurants was now lowest in the EU because smoking bans. Researchers observed that in spite of the progress achieved, approximately a third of Europeans continued to light their cigarettes. The highest percentage was in Greece, at 42pc, and the lowest was in Sweden, at 16pc. In general in the EU, the number of smokers has dropped