e 15% higher disability rates.

•Smoking causes millions of dollars of damage each year, due to fires. Between 1993 and 1996 the National Fire Protection Association reported $391 million in direct damage caused by smoking-related fires. While many of these fires occur in the home, some do occur in the workplace. Moreover, an employee who has just set his house afire is not going to be in

Does your company have employees who smoke? Smokers not only endanger their own health; they can also cost businesses big bucks! Some corporations have responded via policies that forbid their employees to smoke at all, at the risk of getting fired. Short of that, there are other things business owners and managers can do to reduce the number of smokers in the workplace. This article provides information on the costs of smoking to employers and to employees, and gives advice on how businesses can encourage employees to quit. The statistics in this article come from the American Cancer Society, the American Lung Association, the Centers for Disease Control of the National Institutes of Health, and the World Health Organization.

While you may think that an employee’s choice to smoke is a strictly private matter, perhaps you’ll reconsider when you know what smokers can cost their employers. Here’s a few U.S. statistics that may surprise you.

•Health care costs for smokers are as much as 40% higher than for non-smokers in the same age group.

•Corporate employees who smoke cost their employers $1429 more per smoker, per year, in increased health care costs, as compared to non-smoking employees.

•Smokers cost U.S. employers over $40 billion a year to due to premature death and disability as a direct result of smoking.

•Various studies estimate that smokers are two to three times more often absent from work, as compared to non-smokers.

•Compared to non-smokers, in any given year, smokers are 50% more likely to be hospitalized and have 15% higher disability rates.

•Smoking causes millions of dollars of damage each year, due to fires. Between 1993 and 1996 the National Fire Protection Association reported $391 million in direct damage caused by smoking-related fires. While many of these fires occur in the home, some do occur in the workplace. Moreover, an employee who has just set his house afire is not going to be in

information on the costs of smoking to employers and to employees, and gives advice on how businesses can encourage employees to quit. The statistics in this article come from the American Cancer Society, the American Lung Association, the Centers for Disease Control of the National Institutes of Health, and the World Health Organization.

While you may think that an employee’s choice to smoke is a strictly private matter, perhaps you’ll reconsider when you know what smokers can cost their employers. Here’s a few U.S. statistics that may surprise you.

•Health care costs for smokers are as much as 40% higher than for non-smokers in the same age group.

•Corporate employees who smoke cost their employers $1429 more per smoker, per year, in increased health care costs, as compared to non-smoking employees.

•Smokers cost U.S. employers over $40 billion a year to due to premature death and disability as a direct result of smoking.

•Various studies estimate that smokers are two to three times more often absent from work, as compared to non-smokers.

•Compared to non-smokers, in any given year, smokers are 50% more likely to be hospitalized and have 15% higher disability rates.

•Smoking causes millions of dollars of damage each year, due to fires. Between 1993 and 1996 the National Fire Protection Association reported $391 million in direct damage caused by smoking-related fires. While many of these fires occur in the home, some do occur in the workplace. Moreover, an employee who has just set his house afire is not going to be in

smoke is a strictly private matter, perhaps you’ll reconsider when you know what smokers can cost their employers. Here’s a few U.S. statistics that may surprise you.

•Health care costs for smokers are as much as 40% higher than for non-smokers in the same age group.

•Corporate employees who smoke cost their employers $1429 more per smoker, per year, in increased health care costs, as compared to non-smoking employees.

•Smokers cost U.S. employers over $40 billion a year to due to premature death and disability as a direct result of smoking.

•Various studies estimate that smokers are two to three times more often absent from work, as compared to non-smokers.

•Compared to non-smokers, in any given year, smokers are 50% more likely to be hospitalized and have 15% higher disability rates.

•Smoking causes millions of dollars of damage each year, due to fires. Between 1993 and 1996 the National Fire Protection Association reported $391 million in direct damage caused by smoking-related fires. While many of these fires occur in the home, some do occur in the workplace. Moreover, an employee who has just set his house afire is not going to be in

s compared to non-smoking employees.

•Smokers cost U.S. employers over $40 billion a year to due to premature death and disability as a direct result of smoking.

•Various studies estimate that smokers are two to three times more often absent from work, as compared to non-smokers.

•Compared to non-smokers, in any given year, smokers are 50% more likely to be hospitalized and have 15% higher disability rates.

•Smoking causes millions of dollars of damage each year, due to fires. Between 1993 and 1996 the National Fire Protection Association reported $391 million in direct damage caused by smoking-related fires. While many of these fires occur in the home, some do occur in the workplace. Moreover, an employee who has just set his house afire is not going to be in

e 15% higher disability rates.

•Smoking causes millions of dollars of damage each year, due to fires. Between 1993 and 1996 the National Fire Protection Association reported $391 million in direct damage caused by smoking-related fires. While many of these fires occur in the home, some do occur in the workplace. Moreover, an employee who has just set his house afire is not going to be in the best shape emotionally.

•In general, employees who smoke are less productive than non-smokers because they have less energy, are sick more often, and take more breaks in order to contend with the demands of nicotine addiction.

So much for the costs to corporations. Most people know that smoking is bad for one’s health. However, most people don’t realize just how bad smoking really is. Here are some sobering facts and statistics should make anyone think twice about smoking.

•Smoking is the most preventable cause of death in the U.S. and accounts for 20% of all deaths in the U.S. annually. The Centers for Disease Control report that smoking causes approximately 440,000 premature deaths in the U.S. annually and approximately $157 billion in health-related economic losses.

•In the 1990s, smoking was estimated to cause one in five male deaths from cardiovascular diseases in developed countries (and about 6% of female cardiovascular deaths).

•Smoking causes about one-sixth of all deaths in developed countries. This proportion is rising, because more women are taking up the habit. This means that about 200 million out of the 1.2 billion people living in developed countries will eventually be killed by tobacco.

•Smoking causes about 30% of all cancer deaths in developed countries (40-45% of male cancer deaths, and 10-15% of female cancer deaths). On average, about 90-95% of male lung cancer deaths in developed countries, and 70-75% of female lung cancer deaths are due to smoking.

•In 1995, the World Health Organization estima