ATLANTA — Reynolds American Inc., the second- largest U.S. tobacco producer, recognizes the irony in its new policy of banning smoking at its corporate offices.

The maker of Camel cigarettes will shunt smokers in all of its buildings to designated indoor smoking areas, clearing the air for the majority of employees and visitors who don’t light up. Electronic cigarettes will be allowed outside those spaces.

“We’re well aware that there will be folks who see this as an irony, but we believe it’s the right thing to do and the right time to do it,” David Howard, a Reynolds spokesman, said in an interview.

The decision is the latest sign of a tobacco industry coming to terms with the safety of its products after a $206 billion settlement with 46 states in 1998. Reynolds Chief Executive Officer Susan Cameron, a former smoker who now vapes, is leading a push into smokeless products such as e-cigs that may one day overtake combustibles. The strategy entails acknowledging that traditional cigarettes are more harmful.

Reynolds, based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, already bans smoking on factory floors as well as in cafeterias and fitness centers, Howard said. Workers were allowed, however, to toke combustible cigarettes, pipes and cigars in offices, hallways, elevators and at their desks.

The new prohibitions will start in January and be phased in through 2016 as the new smoking lounges are constructed, Howard said. The rules were signed off on by Reynolds leadership, including Cameron. The company estimates that smoking by its 5,200 employees is in line with national adult rates of about 18 percent.

Altria Group Inc., the largest U.S. tobacco seller, still allows smoking in separate offices. Lighting up tobacco is prohibited on factory floors and in elevators and hallways.