National No Smoking Day - are you supporting your staff?

Today is National No Smoking Day and, with new research suggesting that two employees die every working day as a result of exposure to second-hand smoke, the TUC is calling on employers not to wait until a smoking ban forces them to banish tobacco, but to act today to protect the health of their staff.

The TUC says that most public places are also workplaces, and people employed in pubs, bars and restaurants are often working in smoky environments, increasing the risk of them becoming ill or dying. Research published by the British Medical Journal last week suggests that 617 workers die each year from diseases caused by smoking.

But any employers considering banning smoking at work should consult with staff and unions when making the workplace a smoke-free environment, says the TUC. Employers should be careful not to stigmatise smokers but instead offer help and support to those who would like to give up. The TUC suggests that companies help by running smoking cessation classes for employees or offering free or subsidised nicotine replacement therapies.

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:

"Any ban on smoking needs to be sensitively introduced. Around 70 per cent of smokers say they want to give up, so it makes sense for employers to try to help their employees to quit, rather than just simply forcing them to huddle outside on the pavement every time they fancy a smoke."

The BBC is reporting today that it is expected that one in three UK smokers will take steps towards giving up, with 85,000 quitting for good. But Simon Clark, Director of the smokers’ lobby group Forest, told the BBC that "the original aim of No Smoking Day, which was to encourage people to give up, has now been replaced by an element of coercion. It is now all about trying to force people to give up by encouraging organisations to implement smoking bans. That is against the spirit of the day."

According to public health charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), Peter Hain, leader of the commons, has "cleared the way for a U-turn on one of Labour’s pet policies by declaring that smokers’ rooms will be allowed even in pubs that serve food." Meanwhile a Welsh MP has said smoking in public places could be banned in Wales by the end of the year. The UK Government has already announced plans to ban smoking in restaurants and pubs that serve food by 2008, but ASH reports that Julie Morgan wants the ban in Wales to go further, and to be introduced more quickly. She says her Private Member’s Bill would allow the Welsh Assembly to ban smoking at work and in all enclosed public places. But it is still thought there is little chance of the bill becoming law if the general election is held in late spring.
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