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Dr. Nilgün Birgören Premium Member Group moderatorThe company name is only visible to registered members.Smoking
A year ago, it wasn’t unusual to see workers at Franke Kitchen Systems lighting up at their desks or puffing away in the lunchroom, much to the chagrin of the non-smokers who shared the manufacturer’s Sixth of October offices.
All this changed when upper management banned smoking and put a limit on the number of cigarette breaks employees could take.
The changes were not popular, particularly for supervisors who were forced to get their fix outside, admits Maha Philip, Franke’s human resources manager.
“At the beginning it was difficult and we kept having to stress that [smoking] is not allowed and that it is harmful to everybody, not only the smokers,” she says.
“It took almost a year to get everybody’s commitment not to smoke in the office.”
Though some smokers still grumble from time to time, most of the company’s 235 workers are happier and healthier, which has translated to a rise in productivity.
It’s a formula that is starting to catch on. Though most companies in Egypt still allow workers to light up in the office, experts say a growing number are encouraging employees to kick the habit — or at least take it outside — by banning cigarettes, forcing smokers into restricted areas and holding seminars on the evils of lighting up.
Many companies say the push has transformed their offices. And while experts say it will likely be years before at-your-desk smoke breaks are wiped out, as they have been in many Western countries, that time could eventually come.
The non-smoking policies are backed up by some stark numbers. Smokers take about two weeks worth of cigarette breaks per year, and they claim 50% more sick days than non-smokers, says pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. The cost of extra sick days and smoke breaks total LE 9,000 per employee, says the company, which sells some of the world’s most popular drugs to help smokers quit.
The fight against tobacco, though, remains an uphill battle in a country where smoking is deeply woven into the social fabric. The World Health Organization (WHO) says 13 million adults here smoke or chew tobacco, one of the highest rates in the Arab world.
Other studies suggest the numbers could be higher; anti-smoking groups believe young adults and female smokers are undercounted due to the social stigma attached to the habit, and the Egyptian Smoking Prevention Research Institute claims over half of men 18 and older smoke.
People here aren’t just social smokers either; according to the WHO, men go through about a pack a day and women half a pack.
Experts say just telling companies about the financial cost of smoking is only half the battle. Firms need to commit to de-normalizing the act, something that is hard because cigarettes are cheap, easy to carry around and available almost everywhere, says Dr. Amr Nashaat, a product manager at Pfizer.
“Sixty percent see smoking as a habit [instead of an addiction] and are not embarrassed to smoke,” he says.
But increasingly, companies are willing to take up the challenge through in-office anti-smoking campaigns.
The Egyptian Canadian Business Council banned smoking three years ago. The council’s executive director, Rasha Kamal, says there was an immediate effect. Many of her staff members quit smoking and productivity increased.
“If you don’t smoke, you have more time to concentrate on paperwork,” she says. “Employees who smoke need more breaks and waste a lot of time.”
But not everyone agrees with this sentiment. Mona Daoud, a freelance writer and editor, smokes around 10 cigarettes a day. She believes that smokers should be allowed to take breaks as long as their work gets done.
“I don’t think smoking affects productivity at all. Sometimes when I’m working on something and I really need a cigarette, it actually helps my productivity. [A smoke break] gives me the chance to re-energize,” she says.
Yet Daoud, 28, sees the benefits of having smoke-free areas in the workplace or no-smoking offices.
“I used to work for a magazine where everyone smoked at least a pack a day and the boss used to smoke two to three packs a day. The whole office had this foul stench. I felt really in danger and it was one of the reasons I quit.”
The WHO survey shows that 61% of employees that work indoors are exposed to second-hand smoke, while 72% of workers in offices that restrict smoking in some areas are affected.
Corporate Egypt’s push has mirrored a country-wide realization that cigarettes are bad for the bottom line. While the state-owned Eastern Tobacco, the country’s only cigarette maker, made LE 850 million in 2008-2009, the country spends LE 5 billion annually treating smoking-related diseases like lung cancer and heart disease, says Nashaat.
“It’s a very costly habit,” he says.
The state recently banned lighting up in government buildings, though the prohibition is rarely enforced and the law has little teeth: Fines range between LE 50 and LE 100. (That could change this year. The health ministry is working on a bylaw that would fine property managers LE 10,000 if smokers light up inside, says Sahar Labid, director of the ministry’s tobacco control department.)
The government is also mulling over increased cigarettes taxes to boost Ministry of Health coffers, but whether or not this will reduce smoking is anyone’s guess.
While there are several anti-smoking initiatives in Egypt, none directly target companies. Pfizer, seeing an opportunity, unveiled a plan in March in concert with the Ministry of Health and Project Hope, an international healthcare support organization, to create mobile health units that can provide on-site medical advice and counseling for smokers interested in quitting.
Pfizer also canvases companies, offering seminars on how to quit smoking. (The sessions also highlight the firm’s products that help stave off cravings.)
Omar Shoukry, the pharmaceutical’s public affairs manager, says the program has been implemented in several companies, including Americana Group and Xceed Contact Center, as well as government offices and hospitals. Pfizer has had so much success that there is a long waiting list of firms interested in becoming part of the program.
“We’re overwhelmed with the response and are trying to prioritize the size of the companies and their willingness to become smoke-free,” says Shoukry, adding that the new project is set to have three mobile units in Alexandria and another three in the capital operational before Ramadan begins in August.
However, not all companies are interested in pursuing aggressive anti-smoking campaigns. For Franke, the kitchen wares maker, it was enough to prohibit smoking in the office. “Last year, Pfizer launched a product to help people quit smoking and they came to our company to give a session, but it didn’t work out because people spotted that they wanted to sell a product,” says the company’s human resource manager, Philip.
“People know smoking is not good and that they shouldn’t smoke in the office, but the problem is that they can’t help it. Whatever the company says or does will likely not help you to quit smoking. It has to be something deep inside you.”
For others, company-wide health initiatives go beyond helping their employees quit smoking. Engineering Consultants Group (ECG) began implementing a smoke-free environment at the beginning of the year.
With 2,000 employees overall, ECG’s Smart Village office and smaller satellite offices are smoke-free, while two buildings in Nasr City have restricted smoking to designated areas. Its two main offices in Nasr City have designated no smoking zones. Though not everyone has welcomed the changes, Nevine Abdel Khalek, vice president of human resources and organizational development, believes she can see a difference in how people feel about coming to work.
“[The smoking ban] makes a huge difference, even just in the quality of the air,” she says. Khalek is also working on ECG’s Wellness Initiative, which could include special employee rates at fitness centers on top of the company’s annual football tournament.
“I’m not sure when we’ll be totally smoke-free, but I hope we can. It’s a tough thing to push forward, it takes time,” she says.
Source: The Economist
- 28 May 2010, 9:17 pm
