Study shows smoking costs businesses millions

Lighting up cigarettes can be bad for business, it has been claimed.

On behalf of NHS Smokefree, the London School of Economics conducted a survey that found people with tobacco habits cost companies 2.1 billion pounds a year.

The West Midlands was ranked as the fourth region for detriment, with 173.3 million pounds spent as a result of illness absences for smokers. The cost of people taking breaks for a cigarette was estimate to be 79.1 million pounds.

Drew Collins from the NHS Stop Smoking Service explained businesses can take advantage of the free services to help encourage employees to stub out their habit.

If employers want to save money and look after their workers’ health, they should get in touch with their local NHS Stop Smoking Service,” he said.

“We can come into workplaces and help people to stop smoking at no extra cost.”

Last week, the Department of Health announced it was rolling out a new systems-based approach to improving quitting cigarette interventions in primary care.

During the pilot programme of the new system, it was found to increase the number of people who were referred to a local NHS Stop Smoking service by 49 per cent.