Conflict at work *Secondhand Smoke*

[huberm]

So at work there is a policy that there is to be no smoking in the building, or within 50 feet of the building. Well, the majority of the smokers in my building smoke either in the building, or just outside with the door open. Obviously the smoke travels throughout the building and we are all exposed to secondhand smoke.

I have mentioned a few times to some of the smokers that the smoke really bothers me, etc., but they have never considered this and continue to smoke in the building. So, yesterday I emailed the boss saying many of the smokers are doing this, and I asked permission to move the butt can to 50' from the building. He said yes and I moved it.

Fast forward to today. In the area I work in, all of the smokers are supervised by a different boss than mine. My boss sends an email to him telling him to start enforcing the smoking policy with his employees better (keep in mind this guy is one of the worst offenders, which is why I didn't go straight to him about the matter). Instead of doing this, he told all of his employees to "watch out for me, can't trust him..." and that I'll stab them in the back in a heartbeat.

Now, all of the smokers will not even talk to me and give me dirty looks if I walk past them. It has definitely created a big problem if I ever have to work with them on a project, and it has made the atmosphere really awkward for me.

So, was I justified doing what I did, and how should I resolve the current situation?

 

[James Bond]

WTF kind of workplace do you smoke inside of?

 

[huberm]

Originally posted by: Tizyler
WTF kind of workplace do you smoke inside of?

There are bays/shops along the outside perimeter, parallel with a hallway and offices in the center. Hard to explain really.

 

[DVK916]

Wow, what a crappy state. Here it is illegal to make in your place of work.

 

[OutHouse]

didnt indiana pass a state wide smoking ban? if so all you have to do is make a complaint to the state health dept.

 

[potato28]

Mark out an area near the building, but away from the doors where they can go to smoke.

 

[James Bond]

Even though it wasn't long ago that Washington adopted the 'No Smoking Inside' law... it already sounds *really* weird to hear about that in other places.

 

[huberm]

Originally posted by: potato28
Mark out an area near the building, but away from the doors where they can go to smoke.

I moved the big butt can away from the doors. They still smoke in the building, unless they see me coming, then they'll move to the butt can.

 

[MagicConch]

you did the right thing imo. if they can't handle the rules, they are welcome to attempt to change them but otherwise they should follow them. It reflects poorly on their boss that he is that unprofessional. If he can't even handle that small HR issue he probably shouldn't be boss. since he's already bad mouthing you, you have little to lose by being firm now. my 2 cents

 

[Oakenfold]

I don't live in Indiana however a quick search of Indiana's state website shows Ch 37 Clean Indoor Air Law
This looks like it applies to Public Places however if your company has a policy that is not being complied with you should file a complaint with your supervisor. If your company has committed management they should solve the problem immediately.

If management is not committed they will be after they get hit with a lawsuit from an employee for second hand smoke.

Edit- I see that you did notify management already, if the problem is not resolved it's time to let the next higher up know under your company's employee grievance policy.

Kudos to you for voicing your concern! This could cost your company a LOT of money.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Sued.

 

[foghorn67]

I smoke, and happily smoke outside of 50ft of the office building. It's a city code here, and I am happy to obey this particular law.
It's these kind of people that you describe that created these city and state wide smoking bans. If every smoker was considerate, we wouldn't think of silly state wide bans.

 

[ghostman]

My group smelled cigarette smoke in our office area one day. We are in a skyscraper, so someone was clearly smoking in the building. Someone within our group informed the floor security and they found the maintenance worker smoking in the maintenance room. He was told to grab his things and was promptly kicked out of the building. The security guys came back to us and thanked us, as the building owners would have been fined for it.

You did the right thing, but that doesn't make your situation any better. You're not in grade school, so stop giving a crap about these other colleague's dirty looks. If your health is at risk from their smoke, file a formal complaint with HR and appeal to someone who will be hurt by this violation.

 

[KK]

At first I thought you were complaining about people smoking right outside the door, to which it sounded like you just being whiny. But them smoking indoors is alittle bold on their part and should be stopped..