Typically, discussions about vaping at the workplace are handled by Human Resources. They may revise the policy, send a memo, and that’s it. However, if the environment itself doesn’t reflect that policy, it’s meaningless. Facility managers are responsible for the overall air quality inside the building, not just maintaining the physical structure.
The policy gap most workplaces haven’t closed
Many companies still use “No Smoking” signs written prior to the existence of e-cigarettes. However, the specific wording of such signs plays a more significant role than one might assume. Employees using e-cigarettes often highlight the subtleties in the wording and stress that they are not technically smoking. In the absence of explicit stipulations that cover e-cigarettes, heat-not-burn devices, and personal vaporizers, the enforcement of rules results in disputes rather than constructive dialogue.
Therefore, updating the corporate wellness policy to clearly define these devices in specific terms instead of simply using the umbrella term “tobacco products” will help close this loophole. Likewise, any designated outdoor areas ought to be unambiguously identified and effectively communicated. In the case of ambiguous regulations, enforcement lacks consistency – and inconsistent enforcement contributes more to conflicts than having no regulations at all.
What’s actually in the air
People are still using the excuse “it’s just water vapor” to justify indoor e-cig use. And they’re still wrong.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has found formaldehyde, lead and toluene in the exhaled vapor of e-cigarette users. PM2.5 particulate matter – the kind that can lodge deep in your lungs – is exhaled post-puff at concentrations as high as regular cigarettes.
It’s not temporary just because you can’t see it. Those ultra-fine particles take hours to dissipate after a vaping break in the stairwell, the restroom or your office. They don’t smell like the rest of the vapor, so you can’t tell if you’re sucking in dustings of nicotine, heavy metals and other substances.
For non-users, even low levels can cause respiratory inflammation and trigger asthma. And then there’s the sensory irritation: throat, eyes, head. Look at a map of your complaints, and see how they cluster near the bathrooms, the stairwells, the breakroom – the passionless purgatories where people hide to vape because nobody will dare confront them.
Why standard smoke detectors miss it
Traditional smoke detectors detect particles of combustion and high amounts of heat. E-cigarettes don’t produce either of those things. If someone vapes in a 12th-floor bathroom, they can go undetected for months if a fire alarm is your only form of monitoring.
Vape detectors are purpose-built sensors. They look for the humidity spikes and chemical signatures that come with e-liquid aerosol. Some flag acoustic anomalies specifically connected with keyword detection which is a different conversation and is about privacy, but the air-quality monitoring piece is straightforward and effective.
Retrofitting used to mean conduit runs, contractor scheduling, and budget conversations that put six weeks onto a project guaranteed. Not anymore. An easy installing solution for your company using wireless, battery-powered sensors gets deployed in a day, not in a project plan with a six-week lead time. High-priority locations – bathrooms, stairwells, server rooms – can be done with nothing pulled off the wall.
Building a response that doesn’t rely on catching people
Approaches that rely solely on enforcement foster a “catch me if you can” mentality and encourage behavior to move to more hidden locations rather than preventing the behavior in the first place. A better strategy pairs monitoring with addressing the motivation for the behavior.
Nicotine addiction is a real health issue. People who are vaping in your restrooms or other places at work likely aren’t doing it just to defy the rules – they are satisfying a craving on a schedule that escapes the easy solution of a traditional break. Employee assistance programs that offer smoking cessation programs take away some of that driver of restroom vaping.
People are also generally more likely to comply with a rule when they clearly see the reason for it. This means explicit and specific signs announcing your organization’s no vaping/e-cigarettes policy will likely work better to change behavior than the policy buried on page 47 of the employee handbook. Placing such frequently ignored signs directly in the locations of offense in smaller sizes emphasizing “This includes E-cigarettes!” can also be an effective strategy.
Real-time alerts from vape detectors can give building owners the chance to stop an illegal act early without having to continuously monitor a location themselves or use security cameras.
The infrastructure case for acting now
Being reactive, to wait until a formal complaint or HR incident, is dangerous because once the problem becomes visible it’s often already too late to address it without a hefty price tag. A couple of respiratory-related employee health claims can easily wipe out the insurance savings of a vape-free workplace for years. That said, while the direct and indirect costs around vaping at work are certainly surprising, implementing a vape-free workplace policy and making certain compliance is being accomplished doesn’t have to be. Another big advantage of a vape-free workplace policy is that, with the right partner, the technical solution can be cost-effectively designed and deployed in less time than it takes to bid out your HVAC maintenance contract.
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