New Ohio No Smoking Law Doesn’t Apply To Postal Service
According to Eagle-Gazette-
Not every Ohio employer is mandated to abide by the state’s new smoking ban - which went into effect Dec. 7 - and the United States Post Office is one of them. The post office is a federal employer, so some state rules that apply to other businesses, such as the smoking ban, don’t apply to the employer, according Steve Rennick, lead safety specialist at the USPS Columbus district office.”The state can’t come in and enforce their rules in a federal facility,” Rennick said. “We have our own no smoking policy for customers and employees and will continue to enforce that.” Moore, a former smoker and 23-year Postal Service employee, hopes Lancaster Post Master Dan Miller takes initiative to do away with the smoking area, especially since many nonsmokers walk through the designated area.”The majority of (employees) don’t smoke and don’t want smoking there,” said Moore, who quit smoking one year ago.
From the ELM:
882 Policy
882.1 Buildings
Smoking is strictly prohibited in all buildings or office space (including service lobbies) owned or leased by the U.S. Postal Service. There will be no indoor smoking permitted by any occupant of such space. Local managers, with input from employee representatives, may decide whether or not to permit smoking in designated outdoor locations on Postal Service property.882.2 Vehicles
Smoking is prohibited in any General Services Administration interagency fleet management system vehicles.



December 27th, 2006 at 1:59 pm
I have been putting up with having to be around employees that smoke at our shop for the past thirty years. It is amazing how much money is wasted by allowing these employees to go take a smoke break every thrity minutes. That’s right. No control over them. I am in the process of writing the Postmaster General a letter in regards to this. Why should employees suffer from other employees bad habits. I am ready to get the heck out of the Postal Service. Employee safety has taken a back seat to operation costs. It is all about the money now. We have local government that is trying to protect the public and the federal government is letting other employees kill us with their cigarette smoke. When will it stop? Most likely never. That is not right, but that is the way it is. I am also the Chairman for our local PASS “Pasadenans Against Secondhand Smoke” group. A local ordiance has just passed and will come into effect next year. So, for all the smokers with USPS, grow up and think about your fellow employee and what your bad habits do to lives. Thanks, Brent Muecke 281 487-5522
December 28th, 2006 at 3:56 am
ELM 882.2 only applies to GSA interagency vehicles not postal owned vehicles…carriers and MVS smoke all the time in their vehicles
December 29th, 2006 at 7:55 am
If I may make a suggestion…for those of you who do not like smoking at the post office stay out of the smoking area. It was mentioned that people disappear from their work area every thirty minutes to go have a cigarette. I don’t think this has anything to do with smoking I think that this is more of a work ethics question.
Next time your worried about how long it takes to go smoke a cigarette and come back time yourself on how long “YOU” stand around and talk.
January 2nd, 2007 at 5:23 pm
Choice is a freedom! Take choice away in the form of a Ban, and you take away a freedom of property rights. Not all areas are public, some we are invited to enter and some we may choose to enter.
As far as the Post Office, be more concerned with what you are doing, than someone else. Breaks come in all forms!