To smoke or not to smoke; in the office that is

Well I stumbled across this e-mail conversation and thought it was brilliant, nothing like a bit of office banter.

It is a bottom up read so give it a scan and decide who you think is the office idiot. It may be a biased opinion but thumbs up to Person A.



Person B

Those that smoke outside do so because they don't have their own offices/offices with windows.
I am not taking it personally just that I am the only one that smokes in my office during office hours. [You must be the special one]

If it is such an issue for you, unfortunately I am left with no choice, but I hope you understand how hard it is going to be for me too, and I truly don't believe that the small amount of smoke that might go out my office would have any harm on anyone (if I thought that I wouldn't do it).
I will stop from next week. [Oh thanks for the early warning]
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Person A

Sent: 11 April 2007 03:45 PM
Subject: RE: Smoking in the offices

Well this is news to me as I have spoken through HR, the usual line of doing this type of thing, a few times about the smoking in the office. The letter was not addressed to you as there are others who smoke in their offices that did not take the e-mail personally. I am not the only one who is complaining I am just the one who took the plunge as they say. I am sure if we took an office vote I would not be the only one who puts their hand up to say no. [Yeah let’s vote]

As for the sinuses yes they do get blocked but this is probably not entirely the smoking but a mixture with the Jo’burg air. I am also a little concerned on a personal level as I lost both grandfathers before they reached 60 due to lung cancer.

I did not want to make this such an issue I just believe that if everyone else is smoking outside then surely the few who are smoking inside should also. [And it is illegal]

______________________________________________________________________

Person B

Sent: 11 April 2007 03:33 PM
Subject: RE: Smoking in the offices

I am fully aware of the dangers of smoking, I'm sure that you are fully aware that it is addictive as well. [Should we care]

I would have thought that at a time like this we all had other things to concern ourselves with, and that if this is such a problem for you personally, you would have been man enough to come and talk to me about it.

If this is truly a problem for your sinuses, please let me know as this will affect me terribly as I do need to smoke in my office but without everyone's consent it is illegal - since you are the only one with a problem, you are the only one that can allow me to continue working as productively as I always have done.

Please let me know. I am more than happy to keep my office door closed at all times. [Thanks for the consideration]
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Person A

Sent: 11 April 2007 02:33 PM
Subject: RE: Smoking in the offices

That is fine but whenever we walk past the office we inhale smoke as the office is not rounded by a solid partition, the clause also refers to a public place not your office. There is no need for a sign but surely with smoking being harmful to non-smokers it is in our better interests that the smoking be done somewhere else.

A few other points to note:

The workplace is a major source of exposure to the harmful effects of environmental tobacco smoke.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) there are two global causes of death on the increase: HIV/AIDS and tobacco smoking. For many years it has been common knowledge that smoking is detrimental to the health of the smoker. Smoking is the major cause of heart disease, the cause of 30% of all cancers, and the cause of 80% of all chronic lung diseases. The new tobacco regulations guarantee non-smokers the right to clean air. A smoker does not have the right to endanger the life of another human being. Employers thus have a moral, ethical and legal responsibility to protect the environment of all persons in the workplace by establishing a smoke-free workplace.
An employer must ensure that-
employees who do not want to be exposed to tobacco smoke in the workplace are protected from tobacco smoke in that workplace; and
employees may object to tobacco smoke in the workplace without retaliation of any kind.

________________________________________________________________

Person B

Sent: 11 April 2007 02:13 PM
Subject: RE: Smoking in the offices


I am the only one I know of that smokes in the office, and I checked out the clause which states the following:

2. Smoking of tobacco products is permitted in the following public places:
work places, subject to clauses 3, 6, 7; and 8

An employer, owner, licensee, lessee or person in control of a public place may designate a portion of a public place as a smoking area, provided that
the designated smoking area does not exceed 25% of the total floor area of the public place;
the designated smoking area is separated from the rest of the public place by a solid partition and an entrance door on which the sign "SMOKING AREA" is displayed, written in black letters, at least 2cm in height and 1,5 cm in breadth, on a white background;
the ventilation of the designated smoking area is such that air from the smoking area is directly exhausted to the outside and is not re-circulated to any other area within the public place;
the message: "SMOKING OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS IS HARMFUL TO YOUR HEALTH AND TO THE HEALTH OF CHILDREN, PREGNANT OR BREASTFEEDING WOMEN AND NON-SMOKERS. FOR HELP TO QUIT PHONE (011) 720 3145" is displayed at the entrance to the designated smoking area, written in black letters, at least 2cm in height and 1,5 cm in breadth, on a white background; and
notices and signs indicating areas where smoking is permitted and where it is not permitted must be permanently displayed and signs indicating that smoking is not permitted must carry the warning:"ANY PERSON WHO FAILS TO COMPLY WITH THIS NOTICE SHALL BE PROSECUTED AND MAY BE LIABLE TO A FINE";

[I would have thought there are more than just 2 and 3 clauses]

so, would you be happy if I put this sign on my door and made my office the smoking area as there is no other, and as much as it might bother you to be around smokers, it's rather difficult for those who do smoke to just stop (especially in rather stressful situations) - so I would say that to do this now seems rather hectic...

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Person A

Sent: 11 April 2007 02:02 PM
Subject: Smoking in the offices

Hi all

Please can we stop the smoking in the offices as the boys are starting to feel impotent and the pregnant fairies are having belly aches.



Your participation is appreciated and here is a link to the smoking policy http://www.doh.gov.za/issues/tobacco/smoke-01.html