Dow India Commits to Tobacco Free Worksites

Unveils various initiatives across all sites to encourage smoking cessation

Mumbai, India - May 28, 2009 -- As part of its Environment, Health and Safety (EH&S) initiatives and global commitment to support employee health, Dow Chemical International Pvt. Ltd. (Dow India), announced active support to employees in their effort to quit use of tobacco in recognition of World No Tobacco Day on May 31, 2009. This effort is part of the Dow India vision to make Dow workplaces, as well as its employees, tobacco free.

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As part of the activities, employees at Dow India offices in Mumbai are participating in a 30 minute walk in support of World No Tobacco Day, along with poster and slogan competitions and employee presentations on the ill effects of tobacco consumption. The R&D Center in Pune is conducting presentations on ‘tobacco cessation clinics concept’ to all employees while the Engineering Center in Chennai is holding tobacco cessation workshops with experts from Apollo Group of Hospitals along with employees who have quit, sharing their experience.

Elaborating on the initiative, Dr Ashish Mishra, health director, Dow India said, “As a pilot program in 2007, we rolled out a cessation program for our employees at the Dow AgroSciences facility at Lote, Maharashtra. We received an overwhelming response resulting in 50% of tobacco users at the site permanently quitting the habit. This year we are addressing this problem with all our employees in India. With diseases related to tobacco consumption on the rise in India, Dow is committed to creating a healthy and safe workplace for its employees by implementing cessation efforts to support those trying to overcome the habit.”

On March 9, 2009, Dow India signed a statement of commitment towards “Workplace Wellness Initiative: Promoting Smoke-Free Workplaces in India” as part of the 14th World Conference on Tobacco or Health (WCTOH) held in Mumbai. Under that commitment, Dow India reiterated its promise to conform to the Government of India’s smoke–free workplaces law which came into effect on October 2, 2008, aimed at creating a safer environment for employees.

Today all Dow India sites are completely smoke-free with no areas designated for tobacco consumption. There are prominently displayed “no smoking” sign boards at the workplace, in accordance with the Government of India directive. Lighters, matchsticks, ashtrays and other material which facilitate smoking or tobacco consumption are not made available at any site.

Source: Dow