Tobacco Free Initiative

Arabic web site

Key areas and groups

Tobacco free work places

• Make a plan and follow it. Usually there are committees/union in different factories and work places.  Try to talk to the members of one of these committees. You can try the social or sports committee for example or the labour union and discuss the health hazards of smoking with them.

• Support your arguments with medical evidence; if there is a clinic in your work place get the doctor to stand with you in this.

• The following points should be clear in your discussions:

1. Smoking affects the health of workers, both smokers and nonsmokers.

2. Smoking can affect the quality of work adversely.

3. There are many kind of dangers that the building could be exposed to as a result of indoor smoking, which including fire.

4. In some countries,  ISO 9000 certification requires the building to be tobacco free. Try to use this  to support your argument.

• After getting the support you need to write an official memo from the committee signed by as many people as possible and send it to whoever is in charge.

• In your memo try to make sure that your plan of action includes the following:

1. Steps: first there will be a room for smokers. Later all smokers will have to move out of the building to make it totally tobacco free.

2. Time plan: two things should be clear: for how long will you have a room for smokers? and when you will move forward towards a totally tobacco free work place?