No Smoking Day: help your employees to quit

Is No Smoking Day still important, Yes! Encouraging employees to quit smoking is the biggest single thing organisations could do to improve their employee’s health, but the habit is also one of the hardest things to give up.

No Smoking Day is the 13th March 2019 an annual big push from the British Heart Foundation to get those who want to quit a shove in the right direction, and set them on the road to becoming ‘Proud Quitters’.
Smoking Statistics

484,700 hospital admissions attributable to smoking (2016/2017). source: nhs statistics on smoking:England 2018

77,900 deaths attributable to smoking (2016). source: nhs statistics on smoking:England 2018

14.9% England, 16.1% Wales, 16.3% Scotland, 16.5% North Ireland of adults are classified as current smokers (2017). source: ONS Adult smoking habits in the UK:2017

In the UK, 17% of men smoked compared with 13.3% of women. source: ONS Adult smoking habits in the UK:2017

Smoking is the most preventable cause of cancer and disease, and someone in our lives being touched by this would have affected most of us. Having the right guidance and tools in becoming smoke free are critical in helping to reduce the amount of people currently smoking.
Reducing smokers among your workforce saves money and improves productivity. Fewer smokers reduce the incidence of cardiorespiratory disease (CVD) – one of the biggest causes of sickness absence in the workplace. It is estimated that each year, on average, an employee who smokes will have 33 more hours off sick per year than a non-smoker.

A great way to help those smokers in your workplace in finding out more about how to quit, ways to quit and benefits of doing so, is to hold a health promotion event on No Smoking Day.

Some of the biggest hurdles we hear onsite from those in the process of quitting, is the fear of failure, past and present, as well as the dread of stacking on unwanted pounds. By offering a support network and assistance in the workplace though health promotion and event days such as No Smoking Day, it can boost confidence and give strategies to help employees overcome these barriers.
The benefits to quitting can be seen both in both healthy and wealthy ways – after just 24 hours the nicotine and carbon monoxide start to leave your body and your oxygen levels return to normal; after 1 year your heart disease risk has halved.
We know its not an easy thing to do to quit smoking, so by teaming up today with smoking in your workplace as a show of support for those potential ‘Proud Quitters’, might make No Smoking Day the day they quit for good.

Read Kerry’s successful smoke-free story here

For further information on No Smoking Day or to organise a health event at your workplace, please contact the team at Healthy Performance. Furthermore, please call one of the HP Team on 0800 170 1777 to get a free trial of MyWellbeingCheck, our online assessment which provides all employees including smokers with their cardiovascular risk.