Around 31,125 people in Cheshire West smoke tobacco (2021) which is 11.4% of the overall population in our area.
However, when reviewing the smoking data, it suggests that approximately 28.1% of those smokers are employed in routine and manual workforces.
This equates to a local cost of £23.76M of employment productivity loss through absenteeism (due to smoking related illnesses) and an increased likelihood of unpaid breaks.
The Go SmokeFree Smoking Cessation Service at the Cheshire Change Hub can support you to support your staff if they want to give quitting a try.
Stoptober, the national quitting movement during the month of October, may be drawing to a close, but the service offers support all year round.
And with every penny counting more then ever this year, the service is appealing for smokers to try a ‘countdown to Quitmas’.
People who smoke 20 cigarettes a day and try to quit could save £381.90 in a month and £687.42 by Christmas.
Employees who are current smokers (or have smoked in the previous two weeks) are eligible for support from the Smoking Cessation Service, which provides 12 weeks of free nicotine replacement therapies and unlimited behavioural support during these events.
For more information see the attached Go SmokeFree workplace toolkit to help you encourage your colleagues to quit.
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