Workplace Health & Productivity

Going Smokefree Can Improve Health and Productivity

Employers play an important role in protecting the health and safety of their workforce. Smokefree policies can help your business protect nonsmokers from secondhand smoke and improve productivity. Learn more about how your business can create a smokefree workplace, and find resources to help your employees quit smoking for good.

CDC Foundation Business Pulse

The CDC Foundation Business Pulse provides businesses and their workplaces with guidelines and recommendations that help protect against threats to the health and productivity of their employees.

In this Business Pulse, learn how your business can take proven steps to protect employees’ health from the harmful effects of tobacco use and secondhand smoke exposure, which could help improve profitability and productivity. Read Tobacco Use: A Threat To Workplace Health And Productivity.

CDC's Office on Smoking and Health Director, Dr. Corinne Graffunder, discusses five opportunities for businesses going smokefree.

Read her blog, Tobacco Use: Turning Workplace Challenges Into Opportunities.

CDC Programs and Resources

These CDC programs and resources can help your business reduce tobacco use:

Smokefree Policies Reduce Smoking
An overview of the role of smokefree laws and policies.
MMWR: State Smoke-Free Laws for Worksites, Restaurants, and Bars—United States, 2000–2010
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health: Tobacco Smoke in the Workplace
CDC Vital Signs Secondhand Smoke: An Unequal Danger [PDF–6.14 MB]
Explores the problem of secondhand smoke exposure in the United States and shares steps everyone can take to protect people.

In addition to supporting a clean-air environment, employers can offer free resources to their employees to assist them in quitting smoking:

Tips from Former Smokers™ Campaign Resources
Find print and online materials for your office and websites.
I'm Ready to Quit!
Access FREE tools to help smokers quit for good.

Employees can access additional quitting support through CDC’s Tips from Former Smokers™ Campaign.