Health Care Settings

Benefits of Smoke-Free Healthcare Settings

  • Protect patients, employees, and visitors from secondhand smoke.
  • Help patients and employees quit. Tobacco free environments help people quit.1
  • Increased productivity and less sick days taken by employees.
  • Lower health insurance premium costs and lower healthcare costs.2
  • Reduce legal liability from failing to provide a safe facility.3
  • Reduce fire risk.4
  • Reduce cleaning costs.5

The Missouri Hospital Association (MHA) recommends the expansion of hospitals’ existing tobacco-free or smoke-free policies to include regulating and restricting the use of all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes. Read more about MHA’s policy recommendations.

Who’s affected and what’s the problem?

  • Missouri law requires health care facilities to be smoke-free indoors except in designated areas. Designated areas must have:
    • Proper ventilation and barriers to isolate the smoking area.
    • Prominent signs must be posted indicating “no-smoking” or “smoking area”.
    • Read more about the law here: Missouri statutes 191.765-191.777 regarding the Indoor Clean Air Act (Smoking Regulations).
  • Although Missouri law allows healthcare facilities to have designated smoking areas, scientific evidence has firmly established that there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke.
    • Children, the elderly, people with disabilities, and pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to the health risks associated with secondhand smoke.
    • Children exposed to tobacco smoke are at risk for asthma, lung problems, earaches, and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
    • Adults are at risk for heart disease, stroke, and lung cancer.6
  • Exposing patients, employees, and visitors to secondhand smoke may also be in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which states that neither employers nor owners of places of public accommodation shall discriminate against individuals with disabilities.
    • Disabilities can include respiratory conditions such as allergies, bronchitis and asthma, which can be aggravated by secondhand smoke.3
  • Allowing smoking indoors results in the buildup of thirdhand smoke. Thirdhand smoke is the residue left behind from cigarette smoke and cannot be removed through normal cleaning methods.7,8
  • Most fire deaths are caused by cigarettes. Smoke-free facilities reduce the risk, costs, and liability associated with fires.4

What can you do?

  • Use the resources below to implement or improve a tobacco-free campus at your healthcare facility.
  • Talk to your employer about the benefits of tobacco-free healthcare settings.
  • Talk to your healthcare provider about the benefits of tobacco-free healthcare settings.
  • Screen patients for tobacco use and offer cessation resources.

Resources

References