[My Work] Considering raising measures against secondhand smoke from "heated tobacco products" to the same level as "combustible cigarettes" [HR Work / Tobacco and Health]

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare will begin considering strengthening measures for smoking heated tobacco products in places such as restaurants to prevent secondhand smoke, which is the inhalation of smoke from others' tobacco.

I read this news.

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It has long been said that sidestream smoke, which is generated in the surrounding area, is more dangerous than the mainstream smoke inhaled by the person smoking the tobacco.

In fact, this danger is also expressed in numbers, as it contains high concentrations of nicotine, tar, and carbon monoxide, which are considered harmful substances, and there is great concern about the impact on children and pregnant women.

Specifically, it increases health risks such as asthma, cancer, and heart disease, and it is also troublesome that it cannot be completely removed by air purifiers.

Due to such dangers, measures against secondhand smoke were strengthened by the revised Health Promotion Act which came into effect in April 2020.

The contents of that law are as follows:

That is the situation.

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As mentioned above, while combustible cigarettes (= conventional cigarettes) can be smoked in dedicated smoking rooms or outdoors, taxes are increasing every year (= prices are rising), and furthermore, due to the strong criticism of combustible cigarettes as mentioned above, many people are switching to heated tobacco products or taking this opportunity to quit smoking.

About half of my clients have also switched to heated tobacco products.

Because of such public atmosphere and the trend of the times, the smoking rate has dropped considerably, and currently,

"The percentage of people who smoke habitually is 14.8%, with a breakdown of 24.8% for men and 6.2% for women"

is the statistical result.

In the dramas from when I was a young man, there was almost always a character who smoked, and cigarettes were often featured in important scenes.

Also, while there was generally an image that smoking = bad for your health, there was also an image that smokers = cool/a bit bad, so many men smoked once they turned 20.

I also smoked until I was in my 20s, but I quit for financial reasons and because I was working as a "cram school principal" and "private tutor," where the act of smoking (meaning the smell of tobacco soaking into my body) had a negative impact.

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When talking about tobacco from an HR and labor perspective, the points of contention become very clear.

1. There is a possibility of health damage to the employee who smokes,

2. The possibility of health damage to other employees due to secondhand smoke increases, and

3. The behavior of the smoking employee (they are likely to have more break time and more frequent breaks than other employees) may increase dissatisfaction among other employees,

Because of these reasons, it can be said that it "does more harm than good," and I can assert that regulations on tobacco are an issue that should be addressed immediately.

However, the aspect that smoking is a

method of stress relief and release for certain employees

cannot be ignored.

The world is becoming (to put it bluntly) a place where "smoking is evil."

Even so, there are people who need tobacco, and there are also people who are trying to adapt to the world by settling for heated tobacco products, so I think it is better not to implement policies that target such people and make them feel uncomfortable.

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