Evaluation of smoking costs in the National Company of Patrols Distribution in Tunisia, about 640 cases

Smoking costs are heavy and not limited to public health spending to treat diseases caused by tobacco. Smoking in the workplace entails additional costs for employers: absenteeism, loss of time, occupational health hazards, damage to the premises. We aimed to evaluate the smoking habit among employees of an enterprise of petroleum product distribution, and to estimate additional cost associated with hiring smoker employee, compared to a non-smoker It’s a retrospective study during the period: January 2010 to June 2011, including a sample of 640 employees of both sexes with at least two years of service. The cost of tobacco use included increase medical absenteeism, decrease productivity and health care cost attributed to smoking. 83% were male. The average age was 47 years with an average age of 22 years at work. The overall prevalence of smoking was 38%. Approximately 46% of staff shares the workspace with smokers. On cost analysis, this study has shown that smoking is responsible for an average of 1.53 days per employee per year, with an overall loss over 2 years about 197500 dinars (98750 euro). The decline in productivity quantified on two years was 260532 dinars (130266 euro). Similarly smoking was responsible for an increase in health care cost estimated at 189784 dinars. In summary, the overall cost of smoking in our study population was estimated at about 647816 dinars (323908 euro) per year, of which 20 people can be recruited every year. This study has highlighted the heavy costs that smoking exerts in company. The employer is required to better assess the advantages he could squeeze through the implementation of programs of smoking cessation in the workplace.