Workplaces

All employers have a duty to protect the health and safety of their employees, and employees (and self-employed people) have a similar duty towards themselves and others. This ‘duty of care’ includes the need to provide a ‘safe working environment’, where potential health and safety hazards are eliminated or controlled.

One such health hazard is environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) or ‘second-hand smoke’.

Smoking in the workplace also has other detrimental affects on businesses, such as lost productivity due to smoking-related sickness absence, higher insurance and cleaning costs, and the possibility of legal action for damages by employees whose health has been damaged by exposure to ETS.

It is for these reasons that many responsible employers have already introduced smoking policies into their workplaces. Such policies protect employees by prohibiting smoking in the workplace. Until this year, introducing such policies was at the discretion of the employer but new legislation means that from 1 July 2007 all workplaces, including pubs and clubs, will have to be smoke-free. The most effective way for a business to demonstrate compliance with the new law is via a written smoking policy. DAS will be able to give businesses help and advice on how to do this, and also put them in touch with other organisations that can give them (and their employees) support and access to services such as Fresh Start (Stop-Smoking Service).  For further information…