30 Oct 2006
Hundreds of Submarines employees and contractors visited displays mounted at strategic locations throughout the Barrow site to mark national No Smoking Day on 8 March. They received information, advice, leaflets and no smoking pens and key rings.
The displays were manned by trade union safety representatives,who were also able to give information about The business' smoking cessation programme. Already 120 people have been through the eight smoking cessation courses run by occupational health - and these are still free to employees, with the business paying for nicotine replacement prescriptions.
There are two qualified smoking cessation counsellors on site - occupational health advisors Gill Cutcliffe and Helen Salter - but there are plans in partnership with Morecambe Bay Trust to put together a course to train up more. Safety representatives are playing an increasingly important role in the business' drive to help smokers to quit and some of them of them are keen to be trained as smoking cessation counsellors to extend the availability of help and advice.
Gill said: "National statistics show that at least 70 per cent of smokers want to stop, and also that there are now more ex-smokers than smokers. "There is a bill in formulation for public places to become non-smoking and this will include the workplace, so the company needs to continue to be proactive." The Government currently subsidises nicotine replacement therapy, such as patches and lozenges. This enables Submarines to fund a course of treatment, which usually involves four prescriptions -although contractors have paid for their own.The courses involve group sessions, which have proved more effective than one-to-one sessions.
