Pressure is mounting on Middle East companies to ban smoking in the workplace, according to the latest survey by GulfTalent.com.
The survey found that an overwhelming 98 percent of professionals favour some form of smoking restriction in their workplace. Only 2 percent of professionals surveyed were completely opposed to any form of smoking restriction.
Currently around 10 percent of companies have no smoking restrictions in place, while a large number of companies who do have official smoking bans fail to enforce them fully – with many staff, including some senior managers, reportedly flouting the rules.
GulfTalent.com’s survey found that overall, 33 percent or one-third of Middle East professionals smoke.
On a nationality level, smoking is most prevalent among Arab professionals at 36 percent, followed by Western professionals at 28 percent and Asian professionals at 27 percent.
On a corporate level, 55 percent of companies currently have a complete ban on indoor smoking, while 36 percent permit smoking in designated areas only. The penetration of smoking bans varies greatly across the region. Oman leads the anti-smoking drive, with 65 percent of companies having a complete smoking ban. Kuwait is the most smoker-friendly country with only 42 percent of firms banning smoking in the workplace.
At the same time, with outside temperatures across the Gulf approaching 50 degrees Celsius, there is some public sympathy for smokers who have to leave their air-conditioned offices and stand in the blazing summer heat in order to smoke.
Overall, the Middle East countries are still among the most smoker-friendly in the world, with public bans on smoking limited or not enforced, and low tobacco taxation making the purchase of cigarettes extremely affordable.