Vaping at work

[Divorcedalongtime]

So I just started working at this place and we are a small team working in very separate parts of a big building, my team stays a couple of hours longer than the other teams and one member, who is older and has been there a long time, sometimes vapes inside the building.
he does it somewhat sneakily so that by the time you can smell it he isn’t obviously doing it.
I am super new and haven’t confronted him.
I also am not entirely sure what company policy is but assume and hope it’s not allowed.
AIBU to just tell my manager?
or should I first tell him?

I really like this job but hate the smell of vapes and worry about breathing this in…

I also worry that I’m completely deluded about this and people find it perfectly acceptable to do everywhere…

Smelling his vape isn't doing you any harm. If he's blowing a cloud in your face I can understand the issue, but not if you can't even be certain it's him.

You are being very melodramatic. Vapes are nowhere near as smelly as cigarettes.

For the record, I neither smoke nor vape and never have. I did grow up in a heavy smoking household though (both parents). That was awful. However, the last of those heavy smokers is now on a vape and patches, and the relief for me is enormous because I do have to visit.

It wouldn't bother me at all and I would not complain. That would be nit-picking.

For those saying it wont trigger fire alarms I can assure you it does, my boyfriend vapes and sets mine off about 3 times a day 🙄🙄🙄

Personally I wouldnt want to make a bad name for myself as a new person reporting a long standing member of staff but if you are happy to deal with the fallout from.that then you are well within your rights to do so.

I would 100% not go to the manager. No-one, including managers, likes a grass. You will make yourself extremely unpopular with your colleagues and your manager.

Is yours a domestic smoke detector, or a fire alarm system in a public building?

I am guessing the first, so not relevant in an office environment

Get almost everything delivered. Use a personal car for transportation. Often try entering a business and have to walk right back out because start getting sick. Family and friends have made adjustments. Always carry strong antihistamines and epipens.

Mine is domestic but he lives in a large apartment building where one goes off in his flat and it goes off in the whole building so not sure if that's different, he sets it off there too (very popular as you can imagine)

Ok so grass then, why are you asking?

Interesting read. I know PHE say that vaping is at most 5% as harmful as smoking, so second hand vapour is likely to be much less harmful than things like aerosols, air fresheners, etc. It disappears in seconds unlike smoke.

The evidence of harm from secondhand smoke is conclusive and provides the basis for UK smokefree laws. In contrast, international peer-reviewed evidence indicates that the risk to the health of bystanders from secondhand e-cigarette vapour is extremely low and insufficient to justify prohibiting e-cigarettes.

That would be a different case though. OP isn’t allergic. I’m sure the workplace would accommodate someone with a fragrance allergy and put a blanket ban. But every workplace is not going to ban every single thing that can cause a deathly allergic reaction without a reason.

I wouldn't say anything if it was me

As a poster above said, no one likes a grass. Go ahead and tell on them but I doubt it would win you many friends which may not be good if you intend on staying in the job. If you smell it in the air and the scent bothers you then move away from it- some workplaces do have no vaping signs but not sure if it’s legally required.

If this is OP's situation then she needs to talk to her employer about reasonable adjustments, which would obviously go a lot further than just a vaping policy.

I'm guessing not though or she would have mentioned it.

I posted because of the people claiming that the vaping could not possibly be harming op. That is false. Op may not personally suffer from a medical condition that puts her at risk from second hand vaping, but she might. She could have allergies, asthma, migraines or something else that is triggered by this employees decision. Her health and her work quality should not suffer because another employee is engaged in a non-necessary pursuit at work.

Oh dear, it’s all soo dramatic.

I would have a quiet word with him directly. Snitching to the manager is really uncalled for, especially as you are new.

They're not the same thing. Perfumes are sprays, not aerosols. Aerosols can cause asthma attacks etc, hence they're banned from schools and most workplaces now. Absolutely NOT petty.

I personally wouldn't put up with working alongside someone vaping. They should go outside.

Does he have a vape that produces Big Thick Clouds? Some people (overwhelmingly men) find that fun but it's not necessary. OP's colleague is obviously stealthing (vaping in a way that produces little or no visible vapour).

I learnt years ago that those little cards in hotel rooms that say vaping sets off the fire alarm are lying. It's obvious really, because neither the little kettle nor the shower set it off and both produce far more visible vapour than my low power vape.

I'm going to hazard a guess that your boyfriend is sub ohmming, rather than regular vaping?

Sub ohmming indoors would be a definite no-no for me. The vapour plumes are unpleasant and antisocial.
Regular vaping is very different.

@Witsendwilly
Should people be banned from wearing perfume as well?

I wish they would yea. Perfume is the bane of my existence, so selfish of people to smother themselves in it when so many of us are so severely allergic.

@NotAnotherBathBomb I am allergic to many smells I.e. perfumes , air fresheners etc, all smells give me a headache and blocked itchy nose and face… vapes less than perfumes but they are horrible

Thank you, I am in fact allergic to many smells, everything in my house is unfragranced.
but this aside, vaping is unsociable and selfish. Why should we put up with this really strong smell and clouds of smoke just because it’s not super dangerous..

How do you know it’s him if you can’t see him?

This is why WFH was a relief to so many people, not having to deal with whingers looking to moan about everything.
But it smells yucky 😭

'Aerosols' are not banned from any workplaces or schools because that would be impossible (except for the type of hyperclean factories used to produce things like computer chips where employees are in hermetically sealed suits with their own, separate air supply)

Aerosol spray cans might be banned in some workplaces and schools and fair enough, the propellants are a known health risk to inhale and by design, they distribute the contents widely and indiscriminately.

Have you maybe read the word 'aerosol' somewhere in relation to vaping and assumed it means the same as an aerosol spray can?

An 'aerosol' is simply when very small droplets or particles of anything, get suspended in air.

Perfumes do produce aerosols when they are sprayed. It doesn't all land instantly and neatly as large drops of liquid on the skin.

The steam from kettles is also an aerosol and so is the steam rising from a hot drink or meal. Fog is an aerosol, so is smoke, so is dust, so are the products of coughing, sneezing, sighing, breathing or scratching an itch on bare skin.

The important thing when it comes to health risks from aerosols is what the droplets or particles are made of, in the case of solid particles how small they are, and how long they stay in the air.

Vaping produces an aerosol of liquid particles, almost entirely water and glycerine, with a small amount of flavouring. It drops out of the air very quickly because glycerine is quite heavy (and is one of the least allergenic substances on the planet) and the flavourings are the same as those used in many food and drink products. I'd say the risk of catching a whiff of a colleagues vape is about the same risk as getting a whiff of steam from their freshly microwaved instant porridge pot or similar.

Here is where the law currently stands regarding reasonable adjustments for people with severe allergies to perfumes and aerosols:

www.rwkgoodman.com/info-hub/clearing-air-aerosols-perfume-workplace/

I agree with the article, I'm surprised it was not practicable to ban the use of spray perfumes and aerosol cans at employees workstations, but banning them altogether, even in the toilets, would have always been difficult.