Economic Impact Of Smoke-free Environments
It follows from the finding that SHS exposure carries economic costs that smoke-free policies carry economic benefits. These include:
• lower direct medical costs to care for conditions attributable to SHS exposure and reduced insurance costs (the higher insurance cost for smokers includes health, fire,accident and life insurance);
• increased productivity among those who quit smoking and among workers no longer exposed to second-hand smoke (time saved on smoking breaks and absenteeism due to illness);
• reduced hiring costs as less labour is lost to tobacco-related morbidity and mortality;
• lower building maintenance costs; and
• reduced employer liability for SHS exposure’s effect on workers and for SHS’s compounding effects on workers exposed to other toxins in the workplace.
These economic benefits can be substantial. It is estimated that smoke-free environments would save employers the equivalent of 0.515% to 0.77% of the GDP in Scotland104 and between 1.1% and 1.7% of GDP in Ireland.105 The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has estimated that clean air increases productivity by 3%.106 There are some modest costs associated with the administrative capacity of governments to implement and enforce smoke-free laws (primarilydirect contradiction to tobacco industry claims, 108 worldwide studies of sales and employment data before and after smoke-free policies are implemented have found either no impact or a positive impact within the hospitality sector. 109, 110 Smoke-free policies do not drive away existing clientele in this sector; they, in fact, attract new clientele. They also appear to result in reduced maintenance111, 112 and insurance costs as well as decreased employee absenteeism both for this sector 113, 114 and others.115, 116 Thus, the tobacco industry has a powerful incentive to oppose robust smoke-free laws since their impact on the workplace results in a major reduction in cigarette consumption .
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