Vaping in the Workplace: Legal Considerations

Published on: 31 August 2018 Last Updated on: 18 March 2020
Vaping

Vapes have been around for over a decade now, being supplied by various companies such as VIP. There has been much debate of late about vaping, and where it should be allowed. Currently, many workplaces and businesses treat vaping the same as smoking and thus do not allow it indoors at all.

Given that vaping is said to be far less harmful than tobacco smoke, it is seen as an effective way of helping smokers to quit, and almost as a medical tool for doing so. As such, there have been developments in the political sphere regarding vaping indoors, so here are some of the legal considerations around vaping in the workplace.

Government Policy

The government has recently issued a set of guidelines for employers and organizations regarding vaping in the workplace. In these, they state that vaping should be treated completely differently to smoking, given that it is far less dangerous and could even be beneficial to those trying to quit.

They acknowledge that different workplaces will have different policies in place given that there are different operational risks (between a factory and a school, for example) and that each workplace should put an informed policy in place which is based on the risks posed to the likes of bystanders, staff, and children.

Which Considerations Must Govern Policy?

As such, it is currently legal to smoke in the workplace, so long as the employer allows it in their policy. The onus is now on employers, rather than the law, to decide whether it is safe to vape, but this means that each employer should still make essential considerations before allowing it.

They must, for instance, consider the safety of each employee, and ensure that any smoke emitted from a vape does not hamper this. In a place that requires excellent visibility at all times (a plane cockpit, for instance), allowing vaping would most likely be a bad idea, whereas in a wide-open space like a factory vaping would most likely be harmless.

Customers/Clients

Whilst it may not be a legal consideration as such, companies and organizations should also think about the effect vaping may have on the customers/clients which they deal with on a daily basis, and whether vaping may be harmful to their health or overall experience of the business organization.

It is likely that, if employers allow vaping, it will be in areas in which customers do not go, or in which vape smoke will have minimal impact on their experience. In the highly unlikely event of a customer having an asthma attack, because of vape smoke (for example), it is possible that legal action could be taken against the employer, which would not only damage their profits but also their reputation.

So, although employers should carefully consider the use of vapes in the workplace, attitudes towards vapes themselves are changing, and it is likely that they will be much more widely accepted in the years to come. With laws having been relaxed, it could well be the case that the majority of workplaces will allow vaping in the near future.

Read Also : 

Content Rally wrapped around an online publication where you can publish your own intellectuals. It is a publishing platform designed to make great stories by content creators. This is your era, your place to be online. So come forward share your views, thoughts and ideas via Content Rally.

View all posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related

Unhealthy and Healthy Solutions

Unhealthy and Healthy Solutions for Coping with Stress

Demanding responsibilities at home and work, the piling bills, the lack of time in a day… the stress seems never-ending at times. Though stress is a normal part of life, it can reach levels that can take a toll on your physical and emotional well-being. Keeping stress under control is imperative, but how you manage it is equally as important. Below, are some healthy and unhealthy ways to cope with stress. Emotional Eating Emoonatil eating is very common when trying to battle stress. When stress is prolonged, it results in the brain releasing the hormone cortisol which increases the appetite. This then motivates you to want to binge on comfort and junk foods. Though it may feel good going down, binge eating is bad for your health and an ineffective way to deal with stress. Emotional eaters can experience weight gain, and weight-related diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. Using Drugs to Relax There are certain illegal drugs and prescribed medications that can cause the brain and body to feel relaxed. When stress reaches uncontrollable levels, some people turn to pills and other drug forms to calm down. The high or calm experienced when using these drugs is only temporary which leads to increased cravings, dependency, and ultimately addiction. Using more medication than prescribed or illegal drugs is never a good solution for coping with stress. If you’ve reached this point, you should consider enrolling in an outpatient drug rehab program to get sober. Smoking Nicotine, which is found in cigarettes, has a mood-altering effect on smokers. It essentially blocks out feelings of frustration, anger, and anxiety. The dopamine released into the bloodstream because of smoking helps the person to feel good at the moment, therefore giving the impression of relieving the stress. However, when the cigarette is done, the dopamine levels drop and the stress increases. Smoking is a bad habit to break and should not be considered a remedy to stress. It can lead to an array of adverse health complications including an increased risk of stroke, cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure, and more. Get a Massage There are some that treat themselves to a massage when dealing with a lot of stress. As stress impacts more than just your mental well-being, massage therapy can be an essential way to release the tension and improve your mood. Using various techniques massage therapists are able to pinpoint areas of tension and remove knots that help to loosen up the muscles. This relieves pain and improves your mood. Massage therapy has also been proven to help lower blood pressure and heart rate to relax the body and mind. Do Something You Enjoy The monotony of life can sometimes bring stress. When you’re feeling overwhelmed, take some time to yourself and do something that makes you smile. Spend time with family and friends, read a book, ride a bike, or cuddle up on the couch and watch your favorite movie or television series. In doing so, you’ll feel a lot better and be more prepared to handle the day today. Get Some Rest Lack of sleep can increase stress. When you’re sleeping, it provides your mind and body with the time it needs to replenish itself. Minimal sleep can lead to issues like memory loss, lack of concentration, and altered judgment or mood. Essentially, not getting enough sleep could cause performance issues at home and on the job making life more complicated to navigate. Getting a recommended 8 hours of sleep each night can help improve this. The demands of life can become stressful to deal with. When you feel that you’re overwhelmed, it is important to take action. Though finding a way to cope is recommended, you must avoid handling it the wrong way. Unhealthy methods of coping with stress such as emotional eating, smoking, or using drugs can lead to adverse health effects which only heighten stress. Instead, use healthy methods like getting a massage, doing something you love, and allowing your body to replenish with a good night’s sleep. If it has gotten out of control, asking for help from a doctor or therapist is advised. Read More: E-Cigarettes: How They Effect On Your Oral Health Dore Aesthetics: Proven And Safe Acne Treatment You Can’t Out-Diet Your Training 3 Most Effective Sugar Free Protein Shakes

READ MOREDetails
Testosterone

11 Effective Ways To Improve Testosterone Levels In Your Body

Testosterone and how it affects our body: We are generally aware of testosterone as the sex hormone responsible for ‘manhood’. This hormone is also known as “Human Growth Hormone” (HGH). It is entirely right that it is essential for playing a critical role in metabolism, stimulating sexual desire, increase libido, sexual arousal and satisfaction. Both men and women produce testosterone but females produce it in relatively lower quantity than men. Testosterone is secreted in testes and adrenal glands in men, whereas in women, it is produced in the adrenals and ovaries. This hormone peaks during the early twenties and then goes on to decrease by 10% in the successive decades of aging. Besides all this, it is also required for maintaining healthy pain response, sufficient levels of RBC, regular sleep patterns, bone density, muscle mass, and high energy levels. As we grow, our testosterone levels start declining. Our lifestyle is also responsible for lowering of testosterone levels. Insufficient nutrition, low vitamin-D levels, weight gain, inadequate exercise and prescription drugs (statins) are some of the main reasons for the lowering of testosterone levels. 40% of men over 45 years are affected by low testosterone level. Visible symptoms of low levels are observed in decreased sexual drive, frequent mood-swings, difficulty in concentrating, Good level of Testosterone Poor level of Testosterone Sharper mind Fatigue Happy Moods Risk of Alzheimer’s disease High confidence levels Depressed Healthy Heart Increased fat tissues Healthy libido Erectile dysfunction and poor libido Strong and healthy bones Risk of osteoporosis Full of energy Short of memory   Naturally effective ways to increase Testosterone Levels in your body: Boosting your testosterone level turns out to be a basic necessity to keep yourself healthy and effectively productive at all levels. It will improve your energy levels, confidence, and happy moods to tackle day to day problems of your life in a much more pleasant manner. It is always better to adopt a lifestyle which helps you in improving the T-levels so as to attain its numerous health benefits. However, if nothing seems to work out to improve your testosterone levels, you should consider medical assistance from a reputed organization. Talking about which, professionals from Kingsberg Medical can help you with any doubts regarding your growth hormone therapy or current levels of testosterone in your body. ● Get adequate and quality sleep: Getting enough sleep at the right times of the day tends to be one of the most effective natural ways to raise testosterone levels. Most people require 6 to 7 hours of sleep during the night. The body resets itself every night and releases chemicals like cortisol, which contribute towards the balancing of overall hormone levels and prevent lowering of T-levels. Some endocrinologists claim that one hour of sleep between 10 pm and 2 am has similar healing effects on your body which are resulted by two hours of sleep before or after this time. So ideally, one should go to bed around 10 pm and wake up at around 6 am for optimal hormone balance. ● Stress reduction: People with lower testosterone levels are often found to be struggling with frustration, unforgiveness and anger issues. This chronic stress kills your quality of life. You need to find ways to relieve your stress to keep your testosterone levels up. To begin with, you can make a list of people you wish to forgive and then do so. Also, it is essential if you can turn to religious books or personal growth books. You can also seek the help of a personal counselor. Take care of your emotional issues, resentment, unforgiveness, anger and frustration and you will find yourself much more relieved and stress-free. Ultimately, raising your testosterone levels naturally. ● Fasting intermittently: Intermittent fasting is one of the most natural testosterone boosters. It has been observed to increase the T-level by 200 % or even up to 400 %. A study conducted by a medical school found that growth hormone levels increased manifold in men who didn't consume any calories for 24 hours and growth hormone levels are further correlated with testosterone. Basically, intermittent fasting means that you skip your breakfast and eat your meals close together. You can eat three meals per day with three hours of an interval, starting at noon and ending by sunset. This paves the way to a relaxation routine of your organs, particularly liver which is known to be highly related to testosterone levels in your body. ● Use of healthy fats: Another natural way is to add a lot of healthy fats in your diet. If you have a dire habit of consuming junk food and too many carbohydrates, then you must get rid of those habits and add healthy fats to your food habits. There are three categories of healthy fat. Firstly, healthy saturated fat is right for your health. It is generally found in coconut oil and raw fermented dairy products, like yogurt or milk cheese. Avoid conventional dairy products because it dampens your testosterone. The other type of fat that your body needs is omega-3 fatty acids. You can readily consume chia seeds, Flaxseeds and walnuts to keep up the supply of vital omega-3s. Lastly, monounsaturated fats are also gainful in naturally hiking the level of testosterone. ● Use of Vitamin-D and other vitamin supplements: Another crucial nutrient to restore healthy testosterone levels is vitamin D3. In case of those suffering from vitamin D deficiency, it is absolutely necessary that you get out in the sun regularly in order to get your body detoxified and have the essential dose of Vitamin D. Herbs like ginseng benefit healthy testosterone levels, making it yet another natural testosterone booster. The best way to increase your vitamin-D levels is sun exposure. You only need 20-30 minutes of exposure to a large amount of skin. If your skin isn’t conditioned to this exposure, start slow walking with 10 minutes a day and gradually work up to 20-30 minutes. ● Figure out a Balanced Diet: It's apparent that having good eating habits is significantly essential when you need to keep your testosterone level rich and maintain your overall health. Low testosterone levels and overweight contributes to a variety of inflammatory conditions and impaired neurological function. Overeating and irregular dieting disrupt hormone levels. This effect is mostly observed in athletes and people who are very active. The best diets are those that include mostly whole foods and offer a healthy balance of fats, carbohydrates, and proteins. A healthy and nutritious diet keeps all hormones levels in the body balanced and promotes optimal long-term health. ● Lower body fat and weight: It has been observed that lower body fat and weight loss help increase testosterone levels naturally. When you consider the effects of insulin resistance and poor sleeping habits has on testosterone, it really makes sense that it is all closely interlinked with obesity. Obese males tend to have 50% fewer testosterone levels than those who are not overweight. So basically, you need to cut out on processed sugars from your diet, which has links to insomnia, obesity, diabetes and a number of other hormone disorders. ● Heavy-weight Training: If you want to boost your testosterone level naturally, then this one of the best ways to do so for those who are physically capable of exercising at a gym. Hitting the gym for least three days a week and lifting heavy weights can do the job for you. Strength training helps in providing T-levels in your body so that you can overcome the deficiency of the growth hormone. Burst training not only boosts T-levels, but it also helps keeps your testosterone elevated and prevents its decline. Burst training involves exercising at 90–100 % of your maximum effort for a short interval in order to burn your body’s stored sugar (glycogen). Along with improving your T-levels, this way you can effectively burn between 3–9 times more fat, lower your resting heart rate, keep blood pressure in check and your brain young by increasing blood circulation. ● Review medication and detox liver: While prescription medications help manage a variety of health conditions, they are one of the most common reasons for low testosterone levels. Several medications used for lowering cholesterol may partially work by reducing testosterone. If you suspect your low testosterone is due to prescribed medications, you should bring these concerns to their doctor's attention. Your liver is very crucial to have effectively decent testosterone levels. An improperly functioning liver can take a severe hit on the amount of this hormone present in your body. Men with cirrhosis of the liver tend to lose testosterone level with the growing disease. So it is very vital that you have a healthy liver to keep up your testosterone level naturally. ● Practice deep breathing: Deep breathing helps in calming an overactive nervous system and relax the body. This lowers stress hormone and improves the production of sex hormones like testosterone that are needed for growth and repair. The best way to adopt this way is to do yoga exercises or carry out a simple exercise in a field involving deep breathing in and out for about thirty minutes a day. It will improve your respiratory system and supply fresh oxygen to your brain cells to rejuvenate the processing of thinking and release hormones in your body balancing out the requirements of testosterone by your body at an optimal level. ● Maintain Zinc and Magnesium levels: Make sure to balance out your zinc and magnesium levels.  Both these nutrients are vital factors to testosterone production in your body. You can try out methods like using pumpkin seeds to deal with low levels of these elements in the body. Studies suggest that focusing on improving Magnesium level can have a significant impact on the net level of testosterone in a person. It has been observed that taking supplements for at least one month might increase testosterone in general. You need to carry out various thoughtful dietary changes to boost your level of magnesium and zinc deficiency. This can be done by including items lime dark leafy greens vegetables and whole grains in your regular diet. Zinc is also an ingredient in dark green vegetables, flax seeds, and pumpkin seeds. Creatine which occurs naturally in salmon, tuna, and beef has proved to be a reliable source of increasing testosterone. Advice: Those who are concerned about their testosterone levels should see their doctor. In case, you need a therapy it is always better to adopt natural ways as well to improve it. Read Also: 7 Healthy Habits That Make Us Look Younger Flexoplex Reviews: Is It The Best Joint Supplement Of 2019?  

READ MOREDetails
Varicose veins

When To Worry About Varicose Veins? – Finding Out The Need For Treatment

When to worry about Varicose veins? - Varicose veins are the bulged and twisted veins found on your legs just under your skin. They are one of the most common body conditions but are seldom dangerous or life-threatening. In this article, you will get a general overview of when to worry about varicose veins. However, before that, you will get a general overview of Varicose veins and their symptoms. On the other hand, this article will also give you a general detail of its diagnosis. Hence, to learn more, read on to the end of the article. What Are Varicose Veins? If there are bulging and enlarged veins in the body, these veins are called Varicose veins. Generally, all superficial veins can become Varicose. Basically, superficial veins are the ones that are close to the surface of the skin. However, in most cases, Varicose veins affect veins in the legs. This is due to the fact that standing and walking increase pressure in those veins. Normally, varicose veins are cosmetic concerns for most people. Moreover, some people also worry about spider veins, which are nothing but mild forms of varicose veins. However, in some people, varicose also causes some discomfort and aching pain. On the other hand, some people also face serious health problems because of varicose veins. Generally, varicose treatment involves simple exercises, leg raises, etc., that you can do while lying down. Moreover, you might need to wear compression stockings depending on varicose veins stages. Also, there are certain ways to close or remove veins. Symptoms Of Varicose Veins The following are some of the major symptoms of varicose veins: The Veins become dark purple, blue, or of the skin color. However, in some cases, these changes in color are harder to see. Some veins bulge and look twisted. In some cases, they look like cords on your legs. Also, you can check out legs for a doctor to determine varicose veins cancer symptoms. Varicose veins can also give a heavy or achy feeling in your legs. In some cases, burning, cramping, throbbing, or swelling in the lower legs can be due to varicose veins. Itching on the veins can be a result of varicose veins. When To Worry Avoid Varicose Veins? Need For Treatment Two types of these veins typically occur in the legs. The first one, superficial veins, are harmless, appear just under the skin, and are visibly prominent. Deep veins are caused by the muscles in your legs squeezing the veins during activities such as walking, running, or exercising. How Do Varicose Veins Form? Your veins typically contain a one-way valve that allows the flow of blood from the legs to the heart. When the normal functioning of this valve fails, blood tends to flow back down the veins and exerts pressure on the legs. This excess pressure results in the widening of the veins. When these veins develop, you will see a discolored spider-like vein structure that appears like bruises. Who Is at Risk Of Varicose Veins? You are at risk for developing varicose veins for many reasons. You might be predisposed to them because of heredity, underlying health conditions, or hormonal fluctuation. Women are more likely to have varicose veins than men for reasons including pregnancy, menopause, puberty, and other hormonal-induced body changes. Certain medications and birth control pills can also bring about the veins. Varicose veins are prevalent among pregnant women during their initial trimester. This is due to increased estrogens and blood volume that cause veins to enlarge. Additionally, pressure on the veins can be exerted involuntarily from the enlarged uterus in pregnant women. Another risk factor for varicose veins is prolonged sitting and an idle lifestyle. Complications Of Having Varicose In an otherwise healthy person, these veins do not cause adverse health problems other than cosmetic issues. In other words, the veins can be a significant cause of concern only for those who feel it is a nuisance or embarrassment. The condition in some individuals can cause mild discomfort and a feeling of heaviness as well. Sometimes, aching may be present, which may worsen as you sit or stand for an extended period. You might develop swelling in your ankles, as well. However, if the symptoms are severe enough to cause other health issues, you should seek immediate medical attention from a specialist. You might develop skin ulcerations on or near your varicose veins. If the varicose vein is close to the skin, there is the possibility you could bleed if you injure the area. If the bleeding doesn’t stop with compression or your ulcers become worse, it is necessary that you see your doctor immediately. Diagnosis And Treatment Of Varicose Veins Treatment for varicose veins depends on the severity of your condition. You can alleviate some of the symptoms associated with varicose veins on your own. You should elevate your legs every evening for ten to fifteen minutes to help with the blood flow in your lower extremities. This is a good Varicose veins self-care. Try wearing compression socks or stockings, which will compress your muscles and support the blood flow through your veins. You can also take an anti-inflammatory for any swelling or pain you might have. If your varicose veins are causing you serious health problems, then you will need more invasive treatments. Your doctor for varicose vein treatment might recommend laser treatment, where they will use light energy directly on the vein to cause it to fade and disappear. Another option is sclerotherapy, where your doctor injects a foam or chemical solution into the vein, causing it to collapse so it can no longer transport blood. There is also the possibility of your doctor surgically removing or stripping a varicose vein in more serious situations. Final Note When to Worry About Varicose Veins? – You can see that you must worry only when your veins swell or if there is a sudden increase in pain. Basically, if you are suffering from varicose veins, there are treatment options there for you. Don’t let this cosmetic issue become more serious! Do you have more suggestions on how to deal with Varicose veins? Please share your ideas and opinions in the comments section below. Read More: Vein Doctor Diana Wilsher Discusses Vitamins That Can Help You With Varicose Veins 7 Signs Which Indicate That You Need To See A Vein Specialist Right Now All That You Must Know About Prenatal Vitamins

READ MOREDetails