Companies have been told to create special vaping rooms to encourage employees to smoke e-cigarettes at work. Staff members will also be given extra break-times in an effort to curb the habit of regular smoking.
Guidelines issued by the Government watchdog Public Health England (PHE) also included that smoking terminology should not be used when referring to e-cigarettes to avoid confusion. Vaping is known to be less harmful than smoking and has even helped many smokers quit, according to Professor Kevin Fenton, National Director of Health and Wellbeing from PHE.
The official advice allows vaping to become a more convenient and safer option to smokers. The guidance is also in place in order to maximize the number of smokers switching to e-cigarettes.
Typically, smokers require only one cigarette ever hour to achieve the blood nicotine level they crave, according to Daily Mail. Since e-cigarettes offer smaller nicotine content, users should be allowed extra breaks to reach a desired level.
Previous policies state that vapers had to go outside to vape after smoking was banned in all workplaces. People who vape should not be forced to vape outdoors or in designated smoking areas as this will only undermine their ability to quit smoking.
Vaping has become the most popular and effective method for quitting smoking in recent years. A British study found that people who sought to curb the habit were more likely to ensue by 60 percent if they used e-cigarettes compared to anti-smoking nicotine patches or gum. In some cases, vaping could even be better than traditional nicotine replacement therapy.
Only 2 percent of smokers reported vape use in 2010. However, the number jumped to more than 30 percent by 2012, according to Web MD. One third of the 2.1 million adults who use e-cigarettes are former smokers, according to Action on Smoking and Health.
The new guidelines come after e-cigarettes were concluded to be 95 percent safer than smoking. "E-cigarettes could substantially improve public health because of their widespread appeal and the huge health gains associated with stopping smoking," according to Professor Robert West from the Department of Epidemiology & Public Health of University College London.
