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richard macpherson
Member - 1 post
1.what is the required distance for a smoking area to be away from a fire exit?
2.can a smoking area be situated on comunal land. ie:- if comunal land is shared/owned by a buisness who want customers to smoke and two households who use/co-own the land who do not?
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les potter
Member - 23 posts
1. the minimum recommended distance for a wall mounted ashtray to be from a fire exit or any entrance / exit leaving a building is 1 Metre. if the smoking area you are refering to is a structure then it still needs to be at least 1 metre from an exit, but not more than 50% of the walls can be enclosed, therefore you can have a for example a square structure with a roof amd 2 solid walls. this would be deemedas legal. if this structure was to be made of wood for example and up against the side of a building, the solid brickwork of the building ( even if the structure was not in anyway attached) would still be considered in the 50% ruling.further advice on this matter can be found at www.smokefreeengland.org
2. in my opinion the business has no choice but to allow people to smoke outside as it is illegal for them to smoke in the workplace, as for the residents who do not wish to have smoking outside, there is nothing preventing them form staying inside when smokers are outside.... i have to say at this point i am a smoker and therefore my comments here are bias.
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Glenn Shelton
Member - 2 posts
Our company has recently afforded smokers two offical smoking breaks per day. Non smokers are NOT afforded any additional breaks. Is this legal, it seems to me that as a non smoker I have forced to work longer hours than smokers?
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Gavin Inches
Member - 11 posts
Ref Glenn Shelton's post - if these smoking breaks are in addition to your legal entitlement under the WTR then, at first sight, this would appear to be discriminatory. As a Personnel Manager myself, I would suggest this is something your HR department should take a very careful look at. Alternatively, you would certainly be entitled to raise a formal grievance if you (or non-smokers) are not allowed comparable periods of break.
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Gavin Inches
Member - 11 posts
Ref Les Potter's post - although a company has no control over what its employees do during the 20 minute break the WTR entitles them to, it has no obligation to facilitate smoking in any way. It is under no obligation to provide time or place in which the employees can smoke.
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