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i thought we already had a thread about this.....
Right to smoke
Right to clean air
Which is more important, the right of workers to smoke in the workplace, or the rights of other workers to clean air in their workplace?
Put another way, is your right to smoke in the workplace more important than your responsibility not to impose that smoke upon your colleagues?
Anyway, I hope lots of people vote because I'm really interested in rights versus responsibilities, and that's exactly what this issue boils down to.
Last edited by RuffnReadyOzStyle; 01-16-2008 at 12:16 AM.
i thought we already had a thread about this.....
People need to quit being such big pussies and quit crying because other people smoke. As long as they aren't smoking in the same office and they go outside to smoke it's nobody else's business.
Absolutely! I'm not objecting to smoking, I'm objecting to smoking IN THE WORKPLACE. Why do people find that so hard to understand? Is the distinction too subtle?
you could smoke s for all i care, as long as you ain't doing it in front of me....
We did, but I wanted to put up a poll, specifically to see whether the rights of the individual or responsibilities to others in a social situation (ie. the workplace) come out ahead, because that's basically what this issue is about.
What the do you mean in the workplace? Do you mean in an office right next to you? If it's allowed by the workplace than there is nothing for you to about. If I could smoke inside, I would, regardless of what my coworkers said.
Exactly! I agree entirely! The problem is, people can't escape their workplace - they have to go there! See the issue?
The standard is set by the employers. If my bosses say it's cool than it's cool. If not then I go outside. As simple as that.
for once I agree with the Rev. I mean, you choose where to work, so that's your bad, not mine if I choose to smoke by you...if it's allowed.
/thread.
In the workplace = in the office/store/factory/garage/whatever.
Why would anyone care if you go outside to have a smoke? Why would anyone object to that? It is illegal to smoke in the workplace in Australia, so people go outside.
The issue is smoking in enclosed spaces which forces an individual's smoke on their workmates and thus exposes them to the risks of passive smoking.
Wow, really?
Your argument makes little sense because when you get the job you don't know whether you be sitting next to colleagues who smoke or not.
"that's your bad" - that the person next to you chooses to smoke!? No it's not, it's a decision made by them that they are forcing upon you, you have no choice in the matter. It is an infringement of your right not to inhale their smoke.
Anyway, you are en led to your opinion.
Non smokers complain about that all the time because the 'outside' where smoking occurs is typically near the entrance/exit.
Well I would choose to work at a place that doesn't have someone working next to me that's smoking. I could quit that job if I wanted to.
And if my co-workers do smoke and I do interact with them, then that's my choice to be around them.
Well, that's not the issue that I'm discussing. I think those people are objecting to smoking on a moral level Because it is not like they are working in smoke for eight hours a day.
I'm looking at the case where people are forced to work in an environment that is dangerous for them because of choices made by their colleagues, a rights versus responsibility issue.
If you don't like the smoking rules at your workplace you should find a new workplace. Why infringe on the smokers rights simply because the nonsmokers rights are more important?
Last time I checked I don't know anyone who is forced to work anywhere. Quit if you don't like the smoking.
Unless you're a slave or indentured servant, you're not forced to do anything. You have choices. Find another job, take a transfer, whatever. But it's not like someone's chaining you down and punishing you.
If you don't like it get the out.
So, their right to smoke in an enclosed space, endangering your health, is more important than your right to a safe workplace? I think not. You don't place your right to a healthy workplace very highly, do you?
As I said above, it is easy for smokers to go outside to smoke and thus not inflict their smoke upon their colleagues - I am not in any way objecting to that. That is what happens here.
And I am NOT having a go at smokers. I don't have a problem with smokers. I occasionally have a cigarette myself. But I think providing a workplace that is as safe as possible overrides the individual's choice to smoke in this instance.
Wow, I am quite amazed.
So, let's say I've been at a company for 10 years with no smokers around. My deskmate leaves to be replaced by a smoker. The company does not yet have any anti-smoking rules. You think it's more reasonable that I should have to leave the company to protect my health, than the smoker being made to go outside? Wow. We are talking about cancer here, remember?
Basically, you put your individual rights above your responsibility to safeguard others ina social situation. Amazing.
Because:
1. going outside to smoke is a minor imposition while changing jobs is a major life affecting decision,
2. no-one is saying that a smoker can't smoke, just that they can't smoke in an enclosed space where others will have to breathe that smoke - by contrast, the smoker is not giving their non-smoking colleagues any choice but to inhale their smoke, they are not living up to their RESPONSIBILITY not to harm others.
With the right to smoke in social situations comes the responsibility not to affect others. You seem to have forgotten that.
People who think that occasional exposure to second hand smoke will give them cancer are just flat out pussies. Not even every smoker gets cancer much less people that have to simply smell the smoke for a couple of hours a day. Dude get the over it. If the boss doesn't say it's wrong then it isn't wrong. If you don't like it get a new job.
The funniest part of this is that a lot of these people who get pissy at the thought of smoking in the workplace work in an office with recycled air, asbestos or other crap that is just as bad.
If smoking is allowed by the boss, so be it. Don't work there if you don't like it. I wouldn't, because as an ex-smoker it would be too much temptation for me. However, if the boss all the sudden changed the rules or something, then people might have a place to . But if smoking was always allowed I don't see what the problem is. You knew better before you took the job.
As an on and off smoker for the last 10 years or so, I chose the right to clean air. I hate when people smoke indoors and even I refuse to smoke indoors. having to smell that at the workplace.
Please don't quit, no one wants to hear complaints about unemployment for the next five months.
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