E-cigarettes at work: Vaping while waiting for the FDA’s decision

E-cigarettes, a relatively new entrant in the commercial nicotine industry have the government, manufacturers, and employers all in a fix. While manufacturers are anxiously waiting for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to decide how it will choose to regulate e-cigarettes, companies are wondering how to react to its growing use among employees. Should we adjust to a reality that includes e-cigarettes at work?

Vapor Loft, an e-cigarette chain sells vaping accessories. From E-Cigarette Reviewed.

Increased use of e-cigarettes after over two decades of smoking bans has forced employers to rethink their smoking policies. A few giant corporations like Kraft Foods Group Inc. and Walgreens are following decentralized policies on “e-smoking” or “vaping”, allowing managers to make their own rules while complying with local and state laws. Smaller firms, particularly creative agencies and web startups are opting for the non-interventionist route. And on the opposite end, several federal employers have completely banned e-cigarettes in the workplace.

E-smoking policies largely depend on the employer…for now

Current dissimilarities in office e-cigarette regulations reflect the behavior management and employees expect from each other. E-cigarettes “may detract from employee productivity and create a distraction, or they could prevent smoke breaks that cause employees to leave the workplace,” reports TheModernWorkplace.com.

Paul Hanson, COO of TrackIF LLC talks about an employee who is permitted to use e-cigs at work. He said, “It makes him more productive and sets him on a path for better health.”

However, some employers deem smoking e-cigarettes the same as smoking tobacco since e-cigs are not FDA-approved cessation devices. Until that happens, vapers are treated like smokers. Paula Anderson, a registered nurse at Buck Consultants says, “We recommend that if companies do have a tobacco-free policy that they call electronic cigarettes out as well.”

Some co-workers in a culture shock, others embrace e-cigs at work

Although, most co-workers (who do not smoke or vape) have made no objection to peers e-smoking, others are reluctant to embrace the practice completely. “It is all new to us,” said  president of Sales Factory, Ged King, who was surprised to see an employee vaping at a staff meeting but now understands that it helps kick the smoking habit

According to Bill Godshall, executive director of Smokefree Pennsylvania, e-cigarettes have helped people kick their smoking habit much better than traditional forms of cessation. “It’s pretty clear to me that e-cigarettes have helped more people quit smoking than the 2009 Tobacco Control Act, all the FDA-approved smoking cessation drugs and all the government anti-tobacco propaganda programs combined,” he told Atlantic Cities.

Others worry that e-cigarettes may give way to traditional smoking. E-cig “keeps up the need for nicotine and it’s clear from talking to people who use it that if they ran out of capsules, or hadn’t charged up their unit, they would buy a pack of regular cigarettes,” reports Leicester Mercury

As the country awaits the FDA’s ruling on e-cigarettes, some states have taken preemptive measures such as prohibiting vaping indoors and banning online advertising for e-cigs. Some have gone as far as  labeling the nicotine device as a tobacco product.

Tags: e-cigs, e-smoking, FDA, remzem, Smokefree Pennsylvania, vaping

Category: Smoking Rules