PHE sets out e-cigarette framework

Public Health England (PHE) has published a new framework for businesses and employers to help them create their own policies on the use of e-cigarettes.

There are currently 2.8 million e-cigarette users in the UK and the framework is intended to help shape appropriate policies in public places and workplaces. The framework acknowledges workplace environments can vary considerably and as such there cannot be a one-size-fits-all approach.

The framework sets out five important principles for an approach to creating policies around the use of e-cigarettes: make clear the distinction between vaping and smoking; ensure policies are informed by the evidence on health risks to bystanders; identify and manage risks of uptake by children and young people; support smokers to stop smoking and stay smokefree; and support compliance with smokefree law and policies.

Commenting on the new framework, Professor Kevin Fenton, national director of health and wellbeing at PHE said: “The evidence is clear that vaping is much less harmful than smoking and that e-cigarettes are helping many smokers to quit. This new framework will encourage organisations to consider both the benefits and the risks when developing their own policies on e-cigarettes.

“Different approaches will be appropriate in different places, but policies should take account of the evidence and clearly distinguish vaping from smoking.”