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DC Department of Corrections Establishes a Smoke-Free Work Environment

Monday, August 2, 2004

(Washington, DC) The DC Department of Corrections has joined a growing list of prisons and jails that no longer allow smoking on its premises. As of August 1, 2004, all DC Corrections' facilities became smoke/tobacco free. This initiative affects approximately 800 agency staff, 3,300 inmates and all visitors.

DOC Director Odie Washington is pleased by the agency's efforts to create a more safe, secure, healthy, and productive work and detention environment. Director Washington states, "The smoke-free workplace initiative supports an individual's right to a healthy environment and the agency's overall efforts to fulfill its potential in becoming a more efficient detention system."
 
The results of a 2002 study conducted by the American Correctional Association (ACA), a leading industry organization, states that at least 38 of 50 states correctional departments report being smoke-free or having partial smoking bans. The DC Department of Corrections' new policy prohibits smoking, the possession, selling or trading of tobacco and tobacco related products in all buildings, vehicles and surrounding public places within its control. The department's smoking policies are consistent with ACA Standards and the District's smoke free workplace regulations.
 
The agency launched an aggressive four-month campaign to transition to a smoke-free work environment, which included the following approaches to promote the initiative:
  • Developing and distributing policy that support a non-smoking workplace;
  • Providing written and verbal notification to inmates on the policy during intake and classification, via handouts and postings;
  • Offering weekly workshops to staff and inmates on how to stop smoking;
  • Posting smoke-free workplace signs and fliers in highly visible areas in agency buildings; and
  • Searching persons entering the Central Detention Facility for contraband items to include tobacco products and accessories.
  • Strict compliance with the agency’s smoke free work environment is mandatory. Violators are subject to disciplinary action.
For more information, contact the DC Department of Corrections, Office of Communications at (202) 671-2135