Smoking workers clock up a week off each year
Workers who take smoking breaks could clock up nearly eight days' extra leave each year. Photo: Getty Images
Workers who take smoking breaks may be clocking up as much as eight days' extra leave every year, a conference in Dublin was told yesterday.
Miriam Gunning, acting senior health promotion officer on tobacco in the Health Service Executive (HSE), said she was given the estimate by a human resource officer from outside the sector.
She was speaking as it was announced that all acute hospitals campuses would outlaw smoking in the next five years for patients and staff.
So far, only St Vincent's Hospital and Connolly Hospital in Dublin have introduced the ban, while Cork University Hospital will impose the ban from Monday.
Ms Gunning pointed out that most hospitals that allowed smoking on their campuses were giving mixed messages to patients. Patients who were outside lighting up could miss a doctor's rounds , medication times and scans, she said.
Hospitals are also encountering a problem of litter from cigarette butts, Ms Gunning told the conference titled Working Together Towards a Tobacco Free Society.
A patient's stay in hospital was a key time to intervene to try to help them to kick the habit, she pointed out. But staff had expressed concerns about having to wheel patients outside to allow them to smoke.
It was also necessary to replace the term smoking with tobacco to ensure that people didn't get around the ban by using oral tobacco, she added.
Speaking at the conference, respiratory consultant Dr Luke Clancy criticised the Government for stalling plans to introduce graphic images on cigarette packets. He said he had recently written to Health Minister Mary Harney and urged her to press ahead with the promised measures, which are being reviewed by the EU.
Rise
Meanwhile, a Eurobarometer survey showed that the incidence of smoking in Irish bars and restaurants was now lowest in the EU. However, there has been a rise in the number of Irish smokers since 2006 -- up to 31pc from 29pc. A total 69pc of Irish people have banned smoking in their homes and 35pc tried to quit in the last year.
The survey said that despite the progress achieved, around a third of Europeans continued to smoke. The highest percentage was in Greece, at 42pc, and the lowest was in Sweden, at 16pc.
Overall in the EU, the number of smokers has dropped from 32pc in 2006 to 29pc in 2009. On average, EU smokers were smoking 14.4 cigarettes per day. Almost three out of 10 smokers across the EU countries have tried to quit smoking at least once in the past 12 months.
- Eilish O'Regan Health Correspondent
Irish Independent
