Community Activities | Calendar

Local businesses and organizations in the Bennington area can take a proactive approach to tobacco use prevention and reduction.

Your business or organization can have a clearly stated and well posted smoking policy, provide tobacco use and cigarette butt discarding education to employees, create worksite opportunities for employees to participate in cessation classes, and make sure that administration and the business or organization itself is in compliance with Vermont's "Smoking in Public Places" Law.

Smoking impacts your business or organization through increased costs. Based on national figures, the following estimates show some of the costs of employee tobacco use:

• Healthcare Costs - smokers' healthcare costs are higher than those of nonsmokers: $2,284 per year, per smoker.
• Smoking breaks - lost work time, compared to nonsmokers work time: $2,574 per year, per smoker.
• Absenteeism - smokers are absent more than nonsmokers and ex-smokers: $466 per year, per smoker.

The cost of employee tobacco use is approximately $5,324 per year, per smoker.

What Does This Mean to Your Business?
You Do the Math...

Total employees ______ x 20% (VT adult smoking rate) = _______ smoking employees (approx.).

Smoking employees _______ x $5,324 = ________ the total cost per year to business.

The Tobacco-Free Community Partners' Community Coordinator is available to help your business or organization become tobacco use compliant and assist with policy formulation. Dial 802-447-6478 for assistance.