Any tips on dealing with passive smoking

Nicki

Just finished my first day in a new job and unfortunately my new office is the one on the floor above the corner where everyone congregates for a smoke . The office and now my clothes pong, and since about 11am I have a really sore throat despite drinking lots of water.

Anyone live with a smoker or had this situation in the work place and have any tips for how to minimise the more unpleasant effects of this please? It is an old Victorian building with a vent in the window so no chance of stopping the smell of smoke getting in, and the office next door where most of the smokers are coming from is on 22 floors, so there have been smokers there all day and it is outside my control to stop it, nor are there empty spaces in my new work place which I could ask to move to so it is a question of learning how to cope.

Better_Days

The HSE may be able to advise regarding your particular circumstances
http://www.hse.gov.uk/contact/faqs/smoking.htm

Some time spent on the legislation and also your employers policy on passive smoking would be well spent, then a word with HR. Another avenue to explore would be through a Union.

The only other thing I can think of is an air purifier or ioniser. Not sure how effective they are, but worth researching.

Hope you get it sorted, not a nice start to your first day.

Primrose

Go and talk to your HR department and make them aware of your concerns . i,m surprised nobody else has complained abiut it, if smokers are congregsting in an area that employees generally are exposed to, that isnt acceptable. If you were an asthma sufferer that could cause a serius risk to your health and the issue needs to be addressed. I would tell HR that you never informed you would be physically located in an area where you would be in contact with a harmful substance.

Is the office next door to you completely unconnected to your firm? Even so HR shiuld still be making contact with them to try and resolve the issue, Why can't employees smoke outside the building as happens in other places? You don,t make it clear whether people are smoking inside or outside the building.

raven83

Tell them all to go and buy a Shisha pen each, so much better for you and no nasty smells!

Nicki

The smoking is in the street not inside.

HR/union/HSE issues are not possible as there is just one office to work from and not going to be able to move several hundred people from a public street at least not overnight

Suggestions such as ioniser or purifier are great though. I'll look into those. Thanks.

Billie-S

Oh how unfortunate for you Nicki. This would really nark me off! To have to walk through the odd smoke cloud whilst outside, is borderline tolerable, but to have it coming in all day at work, would drive me bonkers.

I know you just started your job, but it may be worth mentioning to someone who you get on with OK (or work with directly,) and asking if they could broach the subject with a senior at work.

A similar thing happened in the workplace I was in last. The receptionists (there were 3 on rotating shifts,) complained about the stink of the smoke, because people were smoking 3 feet away from the front door!

So I had an idea (yes me)! to build a smoking shelter (like a bus shelter,) 30-40 feet away from the building, (under the trees,) with a bench in it that sat 5/6 people.

We managed to get it passed on the budget, and everyone was happy. The non-smokers, because they didn't choke anymore, and smell of ciggies and the smokers, because they had a cosy rain-free smoking area.

Maybe that is an idea. After all, I don't know if your company has customers or clients, but you can bet that the place stinking of cigarettes will not give a good impression!

Edited to say : I just saw that they smoke 'in the street' outside the building, but surely the building has some kind of outside garden area/yard??? Maybe at the back or side???

Better_Days

OP, you may find this ASH document helpful
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CDgQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fash.org.uk%2Ffiles%2Fdocuments%2FASH_827.pdf&ei=7llFVJySMsLj7Qa6jIEo&usg=AFQjCNEzAx9m1o9RlhRg6ZX1oLoT67GNCA&sig2=0VY4I8gv6cASceGvNWWnmg&bvm=bv.77880786,d.ZGU&cad=rja
'Smoke drift in the home and workplace'
Essentially your employer does have a responsibility to do its best to ensure a safe workplace

Smoke drift at work
The smokefree legislation in the UK applies to indoor public and work places but does not
cover outdoor areas. As a consequence of people taking smoking breaks outdoors but close
to buildings, tobacco smoke may drift into the workplace through open windows, doors or
ventilation systems.11 This can cause discomfort or adverse health effects among people
exposed to the smoke.
Employees affected by smoke drift should inform their manager(s) and formally request that
the matter be dealt with as a health and safety issue.
See also the ‘Keeping Records’ section for tenants above.
If the smoking is taking place on privately owned land, for example, in the grounds of a
company, it is recommended that the company concerned reviews its smoking policy.
One option is for the organisation to consider banning smoking in the outdoor parts of the
work premises, although this may prove difficult to enforce. A compromise is to create a
designated outdoor smoking area, sufficiently far away from doors and windows to prevent
smoke entering the building. The installation of a shelter may prove a further incentive for
smokers to comply with the rule. No smoking signs should be affixed to the walls and near
to the entrance(s) with signs pointing to the smoking area if appropriate.
If an outdoor smoking policy is adopted, it is the responsibility of the organisation to enforce
it. The policy should therefore form part of the contract of employment and breaches of the
policy should be treated in the same way as other disciplinary matters.
If the workplace is affected by smoke drift coming from a public place, for example, the
street, employers will need to consider other ways of dealing with the problem. This could
include speaking to the smokers and asking them to move away from the building; consider
moving staff away from the areas of the building where the smoke problem persists; and/
or review the ventilation system of the building to see if any modifications can be made to
reduce smoke seepage.

SuzieSue

This is going to seriously damage your health. I used to have just one person smoking outside near my office window and I couldn't cope with that so I asked him to move.

As mentioned below your employer has a responsibility to protect you from passive smoking but it will be difficult if it is not their own employees causing the problem.

If it was me, I would start looking for another job as soon as possible.

I am old enough to remember when people could smoke in offices. I remember having a permanent sore throat when a smoker joined the company. Unfortunately, in those days although HR were sympathetic, there was nothing they could do except to ask the smoker to open the window when they smoked.

fivetide

Some of the responses on here are quite amusing.


If we take it literally, you could be dead next week and after one day in the job you should be calling in the union and kicking up a major fuss with HR as well as spending all day looking for a new job.


Good luck still being employed after your initial period is all I can say to that!


Lets be honest, it isn't going to kill you overnight, however, the smell is not pleasant at all so tackle that one.


If you do speak to HR, I would go in with a complaint about the staff from next door. They are the problem, not your employer so asking them to stop their staff having a tab outside your building (potentially putting off clients who might be visiting - if you have them) because it looks bad for your firm, you don't want the litter etc etc.


Next door should sort this. Make sure you press the benefits to your HR team and show what a positive interest you are taking in your new workplace.

eskimo26

Go to HR, in my mind its a health issue. My mum developed issues with her lungs and it's suspected it's because my Uncle exposed her to secondhand smoke. [He has COPD as a result].

In this day and age they should be all over it.

Tbh i'm constantly amazed at the stupidity of current stances, at my College it's zero tolerance to smoking on the premises so everyone goes and stands just outside the gate. Guess what a visitor's first impression is as they walk in? Smokers crowding the entrance and ciggie butts all over the floor! Ironic really. I also see them congregating in the residential street between the two college buildings which must !!!! off the neighbors no end. :rotfl:

SuzieSue

fivetide wrote: »

Lets be honest, it isn't going to kill you overnight, however, the smell is not pleasant at all so tackle that one.

It is not the smell - any one can put up with a smell. It is the permanent sore throat that the OP has that is the problem.