Smoking at work: Increasing support for workplace restrictions

The percentage of people in favour of smoking restrictions at work has risen 5% to 86%, according to new survey results from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The relevant statistics from the survey are as follows:

- Over two fifths of respondents (47 per cent) who were in work said that smoking was not allowed at all on the premises where they worked. This was slightly higher than the 44 per cent reported in 2000, and nearer the 1999 figure of 48 per cent.

- The support for smoking restrictions has been increasing since 1996. The percentage in favour of restrictions at work rose from 81 per cent in 1996 to 86 per cent in 2001, in restaurants, from 85 per cent to 87 per cent, in pubs, from 48 per cent to 50 per cent, and in other public places from 82 per cent to 85 per cent.

A new survey in USA shows that blue-collar or service workers seem to remain at greater risk of passive smoking than their white-collar peers. Researchers also found that workplace exposure to secondhand smoke has been greatly reduced due to bans and restrictions on smoking.
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