Employees of a Rochester, N.Y., firm have lost a ton of weight — actually 2,093 pounds to be exact, company officials said. As part of an overall wellness initiative that includes smoking cessation, stress management, nutrition education and a health fair, North American Breweries began a company-wide weight loss challenge last January for employees divided into teams of four. Members of a team named Weapons of Mass Reduction lost 15.2 percent of their total body weight, while 11 teams won prizes and 31 individuals shed more than 6 percent of their body weight. Collectively, their losses ... Jump to full article >>

Workers who take smoking breaks may be clocking up as much as eight days’ extra leave every year, a conference in Dublin was told yesterday. Miriam Gunning, acting senior health promotion officer on tobacco in the Health Service Executive (HSE), said she was given the estimate by a human resource officer from outside the sector. She was speaking as it was announced that all acute hospitals campuses would outlaw smoking in the next five years for patients and staff. So far, only St Vincent’s Hospital and Connolly Hospital in Dublin have introduced the ban, while Cork University Hosp ... Jump to full article >>

A study of older people in New Zealand found those who have never smoked benefited most from smoking bans, British researchers said. The New Zealand study found that three years after a smoking ban on all workplaces was introduced, hospital admissions for heart attacks among men and women age 55-74 fell by 9 percent. This figure rose to 13 percent for 55- to 74-year-olds, who had never smoked. University of Edinburgh researchers said overall, the research showed heart attacks among people age 30 and older fell by an average of 5 percent in the three years following the ban. The scientists exam ... Jump to full article >>

Imagine a new “standard” working week of 21 hours. How would it feel to wake up on a chilly weekday morning? More time in bed, more time with the kids, more time to read, see your mum, hang out with friends, repair the guttering, make music, fix lunch, walk in the park. Or would you just be worrying about how to pay the bills? The economist John Maynard Keynes imagined a 15-hour week by the beginning of the 21st century, because he thought we’d no longer have to work long hours to meet our material needs. But our ideas about what we “need” have greatly expanded. A ... Jump to full article >>

Food and beverage industry workers are twice as likely as others to be smokers and face a higher risk of cancer, Pennsylvania health officials said. Forty percent of such workers smoke in an industry in which smoking has long been tolerated, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Sunday. Pennsylvania Department of Health spokeswoman Stacy Kriedeman said the risk of cancer among hospitality workers is higher than that for others. “Hospitality workers have three times the (average) risk of lung cancer, which is 50 percent higher than any other industry,” Kriedeman said. Health consider ... Jump to full article >>

SMOKERS feel like they’re being picked on as employers move to ban workers nicking off for a quick cigarette. The federal Department of Health and Ageing this week introduced a ban on employees taking regular smoking breaks and more bosses are expected to follow suit. Your say: What do you think about the workplace smoke? Many disgruntled smokers, including a 35-year-old city administration worker who refused to be named, said the move was “discriminatory”. “Other people in the office stand around and have a chat whereas smokers go outside to have a cigarette,” sh ... Jump to full article >>

As if higher tobacco taxes, steeper health insurance premiums and smoke-free workplaces weren’t enough, tobacco users have one more financial incentive to kick the habit — missed job opportunities. Starting Feb. 1, Memorial Hospital no longer will hire people who use tobacco products, making the hospital one of a small number of employers nationwide that consider smoking status in job applicants. Under the new rule, which does not affect current Memorial employees, those offered employment at the hospital will be tested for nicotine during their required drug test, a human resources office ... Jump to full article >>

Smoking enforcement officers in Swansea are urging drivers of work based vehicles to avoid lighting up and smoking in their vehicles. The advice follows a court case which resulted in a local taxi driver paying out over £600 after being found guilty of three offences relating smoking in a smoke free place. Smoking enforcement officers confirmed that the driver previously received a written warning and a fixed penalty for two offences in 2007 and 2008. The latest offences occured between May and August 2009 and resulted in a fine of £525 and included further costs of £85 and a £15 victim su ... Jump to full article >>

Rodney Smith has tried to quit smoking many times over the past 20 years, but he thinks this time he’s finally going to end his nearly a pack-a-day cigarette habit for good. “I am very confident that I am going to quit this time or at least do better than I’ve done before,” he said. From smoking bans to higher insurance premiums, governments and employers are implementing all sorts of policies that may encourage people to stop using tobacco this year. While some have opted for the stick, or penalty, approach, others like Smith’s employer, the Metropolitan Sewerage Distric ... Jump to full article >>

A ban on federal Health Department employees taking cigarette breaks has been criticised as a heavy-handed measure that may be difficult to legally enforce. From February 1, employees will be banned from smoking during work hours or ”when representing the department in any capacity”, according to a memo sent to staff at Christmas. Staff will be permitted to smoke only during meal breaks, but not within 15 metres of the workplace, in a move aimed at improving their health and the ”professional reputation of the department”, the memo said. Anti-smoking campaigners are hop ... Jump to full article >>

When France outlawed smoking in public places three years ago, residents took the news remarkably — almost shockingly — well. Almost overnight, cigarettes vanished from offices, restaurants, cafés and train stations as the French dutifully took their glowing butts outside — the only place where smoking was still permitted. But this being France, a backlash was almost certainly inevitable. According to a report released on Dec. 17 by an anti-smoking group, the initial obeisance of French smokers has now given way to people increasingly flaunting the law by lighting up indoors. The Non-Sm ... Jump to full article >>