TOBACCO FREE CAMPUS TOOLKIT

Ireland led the way with a ban on smoking in workplaces in March 2004. However, this statutory ban applies only to internal spaces. Many workplaces operate on a larger premises or campus. Where this is the case, Tobacco Free Campuses create a healthier, cleaner environment for all employees, service users and visitors. In addition, Tobacco Free Campuses can help change social norms around tobacco use, treat tobacco addiction as a health and wellbeing issue, and promote smoking cessation by supporting people to quit smoking. This Toolkit is designed to help you to develop a Tobacco Free Campus Policy in your organisation.

INTRODUCTION

Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death and disease in the world and accounts for 5,800 deaths on average in Ireland annually. There is a growing recognition throughout the developed world that allowing smoking on workplace campuses significantly undermines healthy workplace policies. The good news is that nearly two out of every three smokers are trying to, planning to or considering quitting. Those wishing to quit need all the support they can get and the creation of a tobacco free campus as part of a healthy work environment has been found to help smokers either to reduce the amount of tobacco they use or to quit completely.

A Tobacco Free Campus Policy applies to all employees, service users, visitors, contractors and other persons who enter the grounds and facilities for any purpose. The policy prohibits smoking anywhere on the campus including doorways, entrances, walkways, roads, and car parks, cars parked on campus grounds, bicycle sheds and bus shelters. Your organisation will develop its own policy to suit its own needs but this toolkit will help to guide you through the key steps involved in successfully developing and implementing your policy.

BENEFITS

There are many benefits of having a Tobacco Free Campus. For employees a Tobacco Free Campus:

  • helps create a safe, healthy and clean workplace;
  • supports current smokers to reduce or quit smoking;
  • protects employees from being exposed to second-hand smoke - a known cause of ill health;
  • provides clarity to all employees about tobacco use on campus.

For employers a Tobacco Free Campus:

  • helps create a safe, healthy workplace;
  • leads to a healthier workforce with less sick leave and increased productivity, by helping smokers quit smoking;
  • reduces tension between smoking and non-smoking staff concerning “smoke-breaks”;
  • positions the organisation as one caring for the health of employees;
  • eliminates the need for designated smoking areas;
  • eradicates tobacco related litter;
  • provides clarity to all employees and visitors about tobacco use on campus;
  • reflects the social norm that smoking is a serious issue that warrants appropriate controls.

TOOLKIT

This Tobacco Free Campus Toolkit has been developed to:

  • help change social norms around tobacco use;
  • protect and improve the health, safety and welfare of employees, service users, visitors, contractors and the wider community;
  • create a supportive environment that encourages employees to stop smoking;
  • support management and staff in the implementation of tobacco free campuses across the organisation;
  • provide clarity to employees on their role in the implementation of a tobacco free campus, thereby promoting and supporting healthier lifestyles.

HOW TO GO ABOUT MAKING A TOBACCO FREE CAMPUS

Use the following 4 steps to create a comprehensive tobacco free campus policy.

  1. Develop the tobacco free campus policy.
  2. Communicate the tobacco free campus policy.
  3. Implement the tobacco free campus policy.
  4. Monitor and evaluate the tobacco free campus policy.

Steps 1 to 3 should take no more than six months and may involve some or all of the following measures. Step 4 represents the on-going follow-up and monitoring process to determine how well the policy works.

STEP 1. DEVELOP THE TOBACCO FREE CAMPUS POLICY.

ASSIGN ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Creating a Tobacco Free Campus requires commitment from the highest level to drive the change management process. It is important that a senior person within the organisation has responsibility for developing, communicating, implementing, evaluating and monitoring the policy. This will send a clear signal that the organisation is serious about the policy and will help build support for it. TOP TIP! Personnel should be assigned with responsibility for the implementation of policy - there must be a person or team with the responsibility and resources necessary to ensure the development of and compliance with the Tobacco Free Campus Policy. This role will include:

  • endorsing and supporting the local implementation of the policy and ensuring compliance;
  • bringing the policy to the attention of all staff;
  • providing appropriate resources to support the implementation of the policy.

You might consider creating an implementation group to support the implementation, monitoring and review of the Tobacco Free Campus Policy. Depending on the size and nature of the organisation this could include staff/union representatives, representatives from smoking/non-smoking staff, Human Resources and Occupational Health input. This group should assist with policy development, implementation, evaluation and on-going monitoring and will be a channel for engagement with employees and service users to engage with the process. Engagement from all levels will help convey the health promoting principle of Tobacco Free Campuses. An alliance of partners is liable to achieve more than trying to enforce a policy without consultation and engagement.

MANAGERS AND SUPERVISORS

A successful Tobacco Free Campus policy will require input from managers and supervisors. As well as playing a role in developing the policy, their tasks will include:

  • supporting, implementing and ensuring compliance with the policy;
  • ensuring all employees, service users, visitors and contractors are aware of the requirements of the Tobacco Free Campus policy;
  • co-operating with any training initiatives under the policy;
  • identifying, supporting and encouraging anyone who may find it hard to comply with the policy;
  • informing employees and service users of smoking cessation supports available;
  • managing instances of non-compliance;
  • informing all service users and visitors of the policy.

STAFF

Staff members and representative bodies as appropriate should be involved in the policy development stage. All staff members will have a role in facilitating and supporting the implementation of the policy. In addition, all employees should be requested to co-operate with any training that may be provided to facilitate implementation of the policy. Your employees are ambassadors for your organisation and, should they choose to smoke outside campus grounds during work breaks, they would not be conveying the required message if they are identifiable as employees of your organisation. Security personnel can be assigned a role in ensuring compliance with this policy in line with normal security arrangements and responsibilities.

STAFF SURVEY

A survey of staff, and other stakeholders as appropriate, can be a useful way to identify the overall support for, or opposition to, a tobacco free campus. This survey can also help you find out how many smokers there are among your staff and gauge their concerns and the levels of interest in such a policy. It is important that the findings of any survey carried out are communicated to all staff. The survey needn’t be very complex – a sample survey can be found here.

SERVICE USERS AND VISITORS

All service users and visitors will be expected to comply with the Tobacco Free Campus Policy while on your campus. If a service user decides to leave the campus grounds to smoke, they do so of their own volition.

REVIEW THE CURRENT SITUATION

Begin by documenting what the current situation with regard to smoking on the campus is. For example, are there smoking shelters, are there places where smokers typically go to smoke, how many of your employees are smokers, are tobacco and related products sold on the campus, is this a shared campus and, if so, how that might that impact on your organisation’s approach to policy development and implementation.

DEVELOP THE CONTENT OF THE POLICY

The principle of a Tobacco Free Campus is straight forward but the details require tailoring to each individual setting according to the needs of the organisation. For example your implementation group may need to answer such questions as:

  • What areas are to be included (all of the campus, all vehicles on campus)?
  • Who it applies to (all staff, visitors, suppliers, contractors etc.)?
  • Will it include e-cigarettes?
  • Will it apply to company sponsored meetings and events off premises?
  • What form will the communication plan take?
  • Who will be responsible for ensuring it happens as planned?
  • What training needs to be in place?
  • When will your start-date be (e.g. World No-Tobacco Day – 31st May)?
  • How much lead-in time will you need?
  • Is there a need to restrict/prohibit sales of tobacco and related products on the campus?
  • What support will you offer to smokers who wish to quit (direct support e.g. through an in-house occupational health service or referral to outside supports - e.g. HSE QUIT, Freephone 1800 201 203)?
  • Will details of the policy be included in all new job advertisements?
  • How do you wish to handle non-compliance with the policy?
  • What evaluation and review processes will be put in place?

Answers to these questions can help you prepare your draft policy which can then be sent for sign off at senior management level. A draft Tobacco Free Campus Policy Statement is available at Appendix 1.

You are now ready to move forward to Step 2.

STEP 2. COMMUNICATE THE TOBACCO FREE CAMPUS POLICY.

DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT YOUR COMMUNICATION PLAN

A good communications plan is essential to support the smooth implementation of the Tobacco Free Campus Policy. Your communication plan should be prepared and agreed. It will

  • Outline the rationale for the policy to all;
  • Inform staff, suppliers, customers, contractors and visitors of the policy and how it affects them.

COMMUNICATE KEY MESSAGES

Your communications plan is your opportunity to set the rationale for the policy and reinforce the commitment by the organisation. Such key messages include the following:

  • This policy will help change social norms around tobacco use.
  • Simple positive messages for all concerned, e.g. “Welcome to our tobacco free campus”.
  • Smoking is the leading cause of death, heart disease and chronic illness in Ireland, affecting the 850,000 people who smoke in Ireland, their families, and our health service. Smoking kills 5,800 people in Ireland annually.
  • This company/organisation is implementing a tobacco free campus policy on X DATE (give at least three months’ notice from date of issue). Smoking or use of any tobacco products or electronic cigarettes will be prohibited anywhere on the campus from this date. This includes car parks and in parked cars.
  • This policy will provide a supportive environment for staff to enable them to successfully quit smoking. Details of available supports can be found here.
  • Breaches of the policy by staff will be dealt with by the normal disciplinary mechanisms within the organisation.
  • Develop a FAQ document to support the policy.

ANNOUNCEMENT PHASE

The initial announcement should be made by the most Senior Manager using all the communication channels e.g. notice boards, emails, websites/intranet, and should be placed on team meeting agendas.

  • Suppliers, customers, contractors and visitors should also be made aware of the tobacco free campus implementation date.
  • TOP TIP! Consider advising your local authority that the campus is going tobacco free, as they may be need to consider any effects on the environment.

STEP 3. IMPLEMENT THE TOBACCO FREE CAMPUS POLICY

PREPARATION PHASE:

Share the results of the staff survey with your staff and provide information on cessation supports for smokers who wish to quit.

Consider your campus and what needs to be done to prepare it. For example, you will need to survey the site and check if any existing smoking signage requires amendment e.g. ‘This is a no smoking building’ – should be amended to ‘This is a Tobacco Free Campus’.

  • Areas where staff and others currently smoke should be looked at and plans made for the removal of any smoking shelters. All external ashtrays should be removed. Signs should be placed at entrances to the grounds and in car parks.
  • TOP TIP! You may decide to paint the boundary of the campus with a blue line, as a reminder of the no-smoking boundary and/or paint a ‘No Smoking symbol’ on the ground at entrances.
  • Tobacco Free Campus signs can be ordered and installed
  • Preparation can be made for existing smoking shelters to be removed by tobacco free day,
  • Where relevant, the sale of tobacco related products on campus should cease.
  • TOP TIP! Produce information leaflets and reminder cards, which can be given to people who are smoking and need to be reminded of the policy, in time for implementation day.
  • Any employee handbook or guidelines should be updated to reflect the tobacco free campus policy and the consequences of non-compliance.
  • Managers and supervisors should be made aware of their responsibility for ensuring that employees under their direction are aware of the policy and comply with it and take appropriate action to correct non-compliance.
  • TOP TIP! Use opportunities for external communications, e.g. company website and email messages to communicate the tobacco free campus policy.
  • Provide key staff involved in implementing the policy have appropriate training in how to deal with non-compliance.
  • Amend future job advertisements to include the company policy on tobacco use.
  • Make a positive statement that compliance with the tobacco free policy is mandatory for all employees and visitors, with no exceptions.

LAUNCH OF YOUR TOBACCO FREE CAMPUS

A launch should take place on the day the campus goes tobacco free. Consider inviting media along with local and community representatives, staff and representative/union reps. Going tobacco free is a positive step for any workplace. Make sure the day is marked. Compliance with the tobacco free policy is mandatory for all employees and visitors, with no exceptions.

Your working group will need to draw on its internal relationships and resources to maintain commitment during this period; capturing the positive feedback, as well as any challenges or non-compliance issues. Reminder cards are useful for any staff that will have a role in enforcing the policy as they can reduce the need for verbal confrontation.

TOP TIP! Sign up to our Tobacco Free Campuses/Healthy Ireland Initiative (here) and become part of a network of health promoting organisations. Become an ambassador for Tobacco Free Campuses. Take part in events in your area.

STEP 4. MONITOR AND EVALUATE THE TOBACCO FREE CAMPUS POLICY.

MONITOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE POLICY

The initial implementation phase is a key time to ensure the success of the policy. If compliance is high, the policy may be self-enforcing, however, it is important to show that senior management expect the implementation to be a success and hence the importance of conducting “corporate walk arounds” to key areas where compliance may not be optimal. It is also important to seek feedback from staff on the implementation and enforcement processes and to act positively in support of the policy and to address any issues that might arise.

A log of any breaches or complaints concerning the policy should be compiled and kept under review by the Working Group.

EVALUATE THE POLICY

Review whether policy is being implemented according to the policy statement.

  • Is the communication process on-going?
  • Are your staff trained sufficiently well to ensure continuous implementation and to deal with instances of non-compliance if they occur?
  • Is there consistency in how the policy is being implemented?
  • How has non-compliance been dealt with?
  • is sufficient support being made available to smokers who might wish to quit?
  • At this point you can decide if the policy needs to be revised in any way to take into account of any new developments. You may also wish to repeat the staff survey at this time and compare attitudes and behaviours post-implementation with those from the pre-implementation survey.

CELEBRATE THE POLICY

Celebrate the success of the policy in conjunction with other health related initiatives that might be on-going or relevant. Use the opportunity to continuously communicate that there is a tobacco free campus policy which has been successfully implemented. Feedback on the success of the policy to your staff. Consider using the opportunity to extend the tobacco free campus policy to include a wider more holistic health promoting campus policy.