Suggested smoke-free working hours policy puzzles Helsinki employees

Health Committee postpones decision on issue

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The idea of Helsinki becoming a smoke-free city - at least in the city's own premises and for municipal employees - is dividing opinions and provoking discussion. The City of Helsinki's Health Committee postponed the handling of the issue until their next meeting.
      For the next discussion, a clearer presentation on the subject was hoped for.
      The Smoke-free Helsinki Programme contains items that the employees and the labour market lawyer have doubts about. One of them is the clause that would put an end to smoking during working hours.
     
Managing director Matti Toivola from the City of Helsinki Health Department suggests that the city workers should not be allowed to smoke at all during working hours. In his opinion a total ban would be considerably easier to put into effect than the suggested alternatives.
      Toivola argues that the use of time cards in connection with cigarette breaks or limiting the number of smoked cigarettes would be much more difficult to supervise.
      Toivola has consulted with the department's own legal team in connection with his suggestion. The non-smoking policy would be a selection criterion only for a limited number of clearly defined tasks, so that there would not be any discrimination.
      Such tasks would include all jobs that have immediate effect on other people's health. For example, private childminders could not smoke, as this would expose children to smoke.
     
Staff at the Public Works Department, in turn, wonder about the health officials' proposal. Working in a park is hardly the same thing as working in a day-care centre.
      "Quite often we work outdoors, which makes monitoring the smoking ban difficult. The foremen have more important things to do than to count cigarettes", industrial safety officer Leif Wilenius explains.
      "And what happens when someone is caught with a cigarette in his mouth?" Wilenius ponders.
     
In day-care centres the tighter regulations would not cause changes to the present practice. Chief shop steward Eila Pelttari explains that some employees leave the premises for a smoke during their coffee and lunch breaks, and that is something that cannot be intervened with even in the future.
      The new regulations would not change things for teachers either, because they already lack the opportunity to smoke during working hours.
      The Youth Department also received the new suggestions calmly. The smoke-free policy has been a reality at youth centres for quite some time.
      "A long time ago we agreed on a policy concerning staff cigarette breaks, in other words, breaks on your own time and out of sight", youth leader Kirsti Kostiainen points out.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Helsinki plans to declare itself smoke-free by year 2007 (25.4.2006)

Helsingin Sanomat