Press and Journal
A breath of fresh air
Following on from No-Smoking Day on Wednesday, Donna Ross takes a look at a scheme employers can use to help staff kick the habit
Published: 13/03/2009
Since the smoking ban came into force in Scotland in 2006, public places have been smoke-free, resulting in healthier workplaces with designated zones for workers to take their cigarette breaks.
But for some employers this is not enough, and many want to help their members of staff stop completely.
Not only is it good for their workers’ health but it could result in a more productive workforce – it is estimated that 115 hours per year are spent on cigarette breaks.
Allen Carr’s Easyway to Stop Smoking has been operating in Scotland for eight years, helping companies to encourage staff to stop smoking. During that time around 5,000 smokers have been helped to quit by Jim McCreadie and business partner Paul Melvin from Glasgow, who run the clinics on a monthly basis.
Like most smokers, both men had tried all the usual methods like patches and chewing gum without any success, but both stopped smoking using the Allen Carr method.
This encouraged Jim and Paul to train to become qualified therapists and they took ownership of the business in Scotland in March 2008.
Jim explained that the process is unique in the sense that it is the complete opposite to all the other methods. “Allen Carr was an accountant from Surrey who developed this method 26 years ago and from the humble beginnings of conducting his sessions in his front lounge it has now grown into a global network of over 70 clinics in 38 countries which treated 45,000 smokers last year alone.
“We ignore all the powerful reasons why people shouldn’t smoke and instead focus on the real reasons they do,” he explained.
“By doing this we remove the need or desire to ever smoke again with no requirement for willpower, aids or gimmicks.
“By showing smokers that there is no genuine sacrifice to be made and that they never ever received a single ounce of benefit from smoking, they simply put out their last cigarette with a feeling of relief rather than dread.”
The men travel throughout Scotland to run their corporate clinics and in Aberdeen they have worked with a number of companies, including BP, Total, Talisman Energy, Halliburton, Weatherford, Transocean and BJ Services Company UK Limited.
BJ Services, based in Portlethen, decided to encourage members of staff to stop smoking at the start of the year. QHSE manager Bill Anderson discovered the Allen Carr’s Easyway to Stop Smoking corporate sessions on the internet.
He was impressed with the results: “50% of the people who took part in the session back in January have stopped smoking,” he said.
“It’s such a different approach to other methods of helping people to stop smoking – their theory is that the people who smoke do so because they want to, not because they have to. For every argument for smoking, the guys from Allen Carr have a counter argument. They don’t preach about the health risks.”
He added that the people who took part stopped almost immediately.
Ralph Watson, a maintenance team leader with the company, was one of the group who stopped smoking on the day.
“I smoked for 19 years and quit after four and a half hours – I couldn’t believe how easy it was to stop. During the session you were encouraged to go outside for a cigarette break and by half way through the morning I found I didn’t want to smoke any more.”
The Allen Carr method of Smoking Cessation offers companies different packages to choose from.
BJ Services chose an option costing £230 per person plus VAT, which allows participants to have booster sessions afterwards.
Bill added: “The other people who started smoking again are disappointed with themselves, but say they have definitely cut down. They say they are going to make use of the booster sessions as they really want to stop.
“We plan to run it again in the near future. I would highly recommend it to other companies.”
For further information call 0131 449 7858.
