and nonsmokers– to help
create a caring and supportive environment that is more conducive
for smokers to quit and to help nonsmokers better understand their
roles in helping their co-workers, friends and loved ones quit
smoking. Support from co-workers, friends and family is an essential
part of successfully quitting and staying smoke free. As a part
of its mission to promote the smoke-free workplace and as an incentive
to corporations, Smoke Free Society also offers a free, online
download of its Proven Stop Smoking Technique the entire month
of March and encourages employers to make it accessible to their
employees to help them quit smoking.
An employee that smokes costs themselves over
$1,500 a year on cigarettes alone and costs their employer more
than $9,300 in lost productivity, smoking breaks, excess medical
expenditures, liability insurance and other related costs each
and every year. According to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC), employee tobacco use costs U.S. companies an
estimated $167 billion each year in direct medical costs and lost
productivity due to morbidity. Smoking costs businesses even more
when absenteeism, lost productivity due to smoke breaks and workers’
compensation claims are included — with an overall tobacco-use
prevalence of 22.5%, a company of 10,000 employees is incurring
an estimated $12,333,200 per year in costs associated with smoking.
“Paying for tobacco use cessation treatments
is the single most cost-effective health insurance benefit for
adults that can be provided to employees,” according to
the office of the U.S. Surgeon General. Research is now showing
smoking cessation programs can pay off for businesses in as little
as two years.
Companies such as Scotts Miracle-Gro of Columbus,
Ohio are incorporating wellness programs to trim its $24 million-per-year
healthcare costs. Thirty percent, or nearly 1,600, of Scotts'
5,300 U.S. workers smoke. Scotts has already banned smoking on
the job. Next October, workers must stop altogether. If they don't
quit, they will no longer have a job at Scotts. Other smaller
companies such as Madam’s Organ Restaurant and Bar in Washington,
D.C., offer their employees who smoke $1,000 if they can give
up cigarettes and stay smoke free for a year. So the trend is
shifting from the culture of smoking to nonsmoking.
Smoke Free Society's educational seminars are
conducted on or off the employer's premises and the inclusive
smoking cessation program incorporates its three-step process
of preparation, quitting without use of any substance or drug,
and support – with major emphasis on educating the smoker
before they begin the process of quitting.
"According to a recent report in The Journal
of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the most successful
quitters have had an average of about eight prior unsuccessful
attempts,” said Rez Seyedin, founder of Smoke Free Society.
“Quitting smoking is hard. I know firsthand, because I am
an ex-smoker and I struggled myself for many years and with many
tries. But by preparing, educating, supporting and giving the
smoker an effective means to quit, as our seminars and plans do,
it helps increase the smoker’s understanding of why they
smoke, what is involved in quitting and staying smoke free and
how important it is for them to quit and save their health and
wealth, which helps with changing their mindset – a mindset
that is, ‘Yes! I can quit and stay quit!’ ”
Smoke Free Society is a national,
nonprofit organization dedicated to helping smokers quit and educating
kids not to start. It is currently offering a free download of
its Proven Stop Smoking Technique to those who want to quit smoking
or help a loved one quit in just 17 days, without the use of any
substance or drug. Its Web site is a portal to an array of information
on the adverse effects of smoking and the benefits of quitting.
Smoke Free Society offers a variety of quit smoking seminars,
lectures, plans and programs to help employers educate and encourage
their employees to quit smoking for healthier and more productive
futures. Visit the Web site at www.SmokeFreeSociety.org
today.