This paper describes the first comprehensive review of smoking and vaping policies in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and acute non-specialist NHS Trusts in England. We found that no organisations allowed smoking or vaping indoors or in enclosed public spaces, except one HEI that allowed vaping in single use offices. Smoking was banned outdoors in all NHS Trusts, although some allowed smoking in designated areas. One in five NHS Trusts allowed vaping outdoors or provided designated vaping spaces. Restrictions on smoking were less common in HEIs – the majority allowed smoking outdoors or provided designated smoking areas. Most HEIs also allowed vaping outdoors.
Many organisations applied the same rules to smoking and vaping, which contradicts current recommendations for workplace policies to treat smoking and vaping separately. This discrepancy often leads to smokers and vapers sharing either designated areas within organisational grounds or offsite areas adjacent to site entrances.
Based on this comprehensive review we identified the need for evidence on the impact of imposing shared spaces on smokers and vapers to inform workplace policies that maximise public health benefit.
Anna K M Blackwell, Daina Kosīte, Theresa M Marteau, Marcus R Munafò, Policies for Tobacco and E-Cigarette Use: A Survey of All Higher Education Institutions and NHS Trusts in England, Nicotine & Tobacco Research, , ntz192, https://doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntz192
