The month of October is also known as Stoptober, the NHS-backed campaign to encourage people to quit smoking and take up a healthier, smoke-free lifestyle.
Smoking is one of the largest causes of illness in the U.K. Currently, 14% of adults in the U.K. smoke, while 15% of cancer patients were caused by smoking, the largest cause in the country. This is a high number and is alone a good reason to get behind Stoptober this year.
When is Stoptober?
Stoptober takes place during the whole month of October. A campaign by the NHS, Stoptober is a month-long push to try and help people who smoke to quit, saving both their health and money.
Why Should I Take Notice?
As a small business and employer of people, there are numerous reasons why Stoptober should be your business. In this informative piece, we will give you the 5 ways that participating in Stoptober could benefit your business moving forward.
4 Ways That Stoptober Could Benefit Your Business
Smokers Take More Sick Days
According to researched produced by the University of Nottingham, smokers take on average 2.7 more sick days per year than non-smokers. While this may not seem much, it equates to over £1.4 billion in lost productivity across the entire economy. In essence, encouraging employees to kick the habit could be worth, to a business of 100 employees, approx. 37.8 sick days a year. That’s over an entire weeks’ worth of time.
Businesses That Care Will Reap the Benefits
Customers and employees alike are becoming more aware of businesses that care. Companies that show an attitude of awareness are becoming more popular and retaining customers and employees for longer. While an employer can’t force their employees to quit smoking outside of work, helping smokers become more aware of the negative impact of smoking could give them food for thought.
Your Employees Will Be Healthier
This one is harder to properly predict, but the stats are there to suggest that those who stop smoking are healthier for it. According to the NHS Stoptober webpage:
After 8 hours: Your oxygen levels are recovering, and the harmful carbon monoxide level in your blood will have reduced by half.
After 72 hours: If you notice that breathing feels easier, it’s because your bronchial tubes have started to relax. Also your energy will be increasing.
After 2-12 weeks: Blood will be pumping through to your heart and muscles much better because your circulation will have improved.
After a year: Great news! Your risk of heart attack will have halved compared with a smoker’s.
After 10 years: More great news! Your risk of death from lung cancer will have halved compared with a smoker’s.
These factors alone clearly show how physically rewarding it is to quit smoking. Gently encouraging your employees to put the cigarette down will be good for them.
Less Smoking Breaks!
According to an article in 2016, smoking breaks cost the U.K economy £5 billion a year in lost productivity. This cost, broken down on average, is around £1800 per employee that smokes a year. While breaks are of course allowed in work time, smoking breaks are often taken as extra. The more that these are reduced, the better.
As you can see, Stoptober could see multiple benefits to your business. While there’s little you can do to stop your employees smoking outside of work hours, there are no laws that require you to allow workers to smoke, or to give them an outdoor space to smoke in.
Each business will have their own particular views on this but helping to reduce the number of employees who smoke in your business can only be beneficial for you and them.
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