Henry Ford and Beaumont health systems to ban employee smoking during workday

Starting in January, employees at Henry Ford Health System and Beaumont Health System won't be allowed to smoke offsite during their shifts, not even during the lunch hour. The two giant health care systems will be the first in southeast Michigan to implement a tobacco-free workday policy. The new rule also applies to volunteers, contractors and vendors. The two major employers unveiled this tougher anti-smoking policy on Friday along with plans to ban the hiring of people who use tobacco products, starting Jan. 1. Henry Ford executives said in an e-mail Friday that even the smell of smoke on employees can be harmful to patients.

"First, second and even thirdhand smoke can lead to harmful health reactions and outcomes," three of Henry Ford's top executives told employees. Henry Ford and Beaumont join a growing list of hospital systems that have taken an aggressive stance against smoking. In June, the Detroit Medical Center said it would no longer hire people who use tobacco products. Others that have adopted this policy in Michigan include Oakwood Healthcare System in Dearborn, Crittenton Hospital Medical Center in Rochester and the Lansing-based Sparrow Health System.

But most employers do not forbid employees from lighting up a cigarette offsite during their workday. One exception: Grand Rapids-based Spectrum Health, the largest employer in west Michigan with more than 18,000 employees, has had a tobacco-free workday policy since 2007. Eric Bacigal, director of employee health, safety and wellness for Henry Ford, said it was contradictory for the hospital system to tell its patients not to smoke while its employees smelled of smoke. He acknowledged smokers do have rights but described the new policies as a "responsibility and obligation."

Employees can smoke before and after their shifts but cannot come into work smelling of smoke from tobacco products such as cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, snuff, chewing tobacco and e-cigarettes. "We are not trying to dictate behaviors outside of the workplace," Bacigal said. Employees caught violating the policy will face disciplinary action, including firing, if they continue to ignore the rule, Bacigal said. In 2007, Henry Ford and Beaumont banned smoking by employees inside and outside of their facilities. To implement the hiring ban, job applicants at Henry Ford and Beaumont will be screened for signs of nicotine.

The new policy does not apply to contract workers, only people hired directly by the health care systems. Henry Ford, based in Detroit, employs about 24,000 workers at six hospitals and numerous health care centers. Royal Oak-based Beaumont has more than 14,000 employees and is Oakland County's largest employer. Both hospital systems will provide free smoking-cessation classes, counseling and anti-smoking medications to their employees. They also plan to offer local residents free smoking-cessation classes and counseling and discounted anti-smoking medications. Hospitals are not the only employers taking aim at smokers. At the start of this month, Oakland Community College banned smoking on its five campuses.