Smoke-free workplaces? The entire property?

By Jason Schoonover | Albert Lea Tribune

Published Wednesday, August 19, 2009

The AARP/Blue Zones Vitality Project is about making the healthy choice the easy choice, and local business representatives learned how they can make it an easy choice for their employees to quit smoking.

“It’s still a leading cause of illness and death in America, and it’s preventable. It is an addiction and a very challenging thing,” said Joel Spoonheim, director of health initiatives with Blue Zones.

Kelli Thielges, Wellness Manager, Schwan’s Shared Services LLC, spoke Tuesday in the Freeborn Room of the Freeborn County Government Center about Schwan’s policy to prohibit smoking on company property. She also spoke about the businesses partnership with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota to provide employee assistance programs and nicotine replacement therapy to all employees to help them quit smoking.

Thielges said she turned to her father, a former smoker, for advice to get the project going. He told her most smokers want to quit.

Her father said he wanted to quit for three reasons: expense, family and his workplace banned indoor smoking.

Since he couldn’t smoke indoors at work, it was an extra inconvenience to go outside.

But the biggest motivation was to his grandchildren, because Thielges said she didn’t want him to smoke around her children.

After initial research into the issue, Thielges and her team formed an implementation committee of 13 employees rather than survey employees. Thielges said the committee, formed in 2008, was an important step. The committee included employees from different areas and levels of the company, and it included smokers, non-smokers and former smokers.

“That first meeting, we had a very fruitful discussion, and we came down to the point where all the issues that came up we had either researched or we knew that we had to research more to come up with a plan. It was more about what’s our plan, not if we were going to go to this tobacco-free policy,” Thielges said.

The employee voice provided by the committee was a key step in the process, she said.

The announcement of the policy revision did not say employees couldn’t smoke. The wording stipulated smoking would be banned from all company property, including the parking lot, Thielges said.

“We’re not saying you can’t smoke. We’re saying you can’t smoke and use tobacco on this property. However, if you choose to try and quit you have resources available: free NRT, free coaching programs.”

In July of 2008, a formal announcement was made that the policy change would occur Jan. 1, 2009. Some market research suggested making such a change in a warm season, but Thielges said January worked because it tied into New Year’s resolutions.

Thielges compared the Jan. 1 changeover to Y2K and said it was a non-event. She said there were very few policy violations. 

From a business perspective, Thielges said the initiative needed to be profitable, and she said she tells management the program pays for itself. She estimated the program cost $155,000 and the cost savings were estimated to be about $222,743 — a net savings of $70,743.

In 2008, 699 employees were enrolled in the tobacco cessation program, and in 2007, 86 were enrolled in the program the entire year, Thielges said. Six months into the program, 119 of 699 said they had not used tobacco in the previous 30 days, she said.

“That showed me what the data revealed and what personal experience revealed prior to that: People want to quit — it’s a matter of giving them the resources,” Thielges said.

One of the most important parts of the process was communication, Thielges said. During the process, employees weren’t told they couldn’t smoke, they were told they couldn’t smoke on company property, she said.

“When you’re changing culture, it’s important to communicate the whys and give the perspective of the person who’s really being affected,” Thielges said.

One-on-one communication, posters and brochures were all ways human resources worked to communicate with employees, and communication occurred in different languages.

The legal department needs to be involved to see if the policy changes are legal, and Thielges said support from management is also important.

It’s also important to not rush the process, she said.

“We’re really changing a culture — trying to ask people to change their behavior, and it they don’t, at least they’ve changed their behavior in smoking somewhere else,” she said.

Management expressed concerns such a change would lead employees to quit. So Thielges and her team contacted 11 manufacturing companies that had similar initiatives, and they told Thielges few employees quit because of the smoking ban.

Out of about 18,000 Schwan’s employees, Thielges said only one quit because of the change.

There was also concerns people wouldn’t know where the property lines were. So, Thielges and human resources decided to determine where the boundary line was, just in case employees questioned it.

Neighboring properties were also a concern, because Thielges didn’t want smokers to smoke on nearby properties. Thielges said they told employees to be respectful of other properties and not litter.

Enforcement of the change was also a concern, and Thielges said it was handled like any other policy change: Employees would receive verbal and written warnings if he or she failed to follow the policy. She said they didn’t have to go further than a verbal warning.

Thorne Crest Retirement Home is one local business that banned smoking on company property. This change occurred Aug. 14 and was planned about six months in advance.

Thorne Crest Administrator Shanna Eckberg said the biggest reason for the change was safety. The prior designated smoking area was the loading garage, and the garage door was often left open and that presented a safety hazard because people could have gotten in.

“It was the right thing to do because you’re helping employees. When most of them want to quit, it’s the right thing to do to provide that resource for them,” Thielges said.

Schwan’s employee Gary Kelly’s story was used to inspire people to quit smoking. After many failed attempts to quit, Thielges said he quit as a personal choice. He didn’t want to smoke when he had grandchildren. 

Saving money is one important part, but Thielges said the personal factor is much more important.

“This is just not a policy anymore about saving money. It’s a policy about helping people,” she said.

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