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Posted By Steve Whittaker
With the introduction of the new regs shortly, we as a company are considering whether to ban smoking completely on site (it has never been allowed indoors anyway), or whether to just allow designated areas (i.e. smoking shelters or similar) where people can smoke. We are also not sure whether to extend this to their own private vehicles.
Can anyone tell me what their company will be doing?
Thanks
Steve
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Posted By Jason911
Steve,
We will include private vehicles only if used as a place of work with others travelling, but its impossible to police and personally I don't agree unless objections are raised by those forced to travel with a smoker in his own car but hire cars and company vehicles will be prohibited. We will be introducing freestanding smoking shelters consisting of only three sides, to prevent them from being classed as an enclosed area.
Other than that I am waiting for the finer points to be revealed on www.smokefreeengland.co.uk
Jay
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Posted By Ken Taylor
From my observations, banning it in non-enclosed parts of site has the effect of driving the addicts off-site at frequent intervals - so you would need to seriously consider the implications of this. As to their own private vehicles, I would agree with Jason.
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Posted By John Murgatroyd
The implications are simple.
The smoking ban is a Health measure.
Let human resources sort it, my management have already been told that if smokers can go outside to smoke, the rest of the workforce will do the same and for the same time/s.
If the drug addicts don't like being told to work not smoke, they can get a job in a park !
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Posted By Calum Clark
Why shouldn't the smokers be allowed outside? I agree that if they get more breaks than non-smokers that's unfair but surely they get tea breaks or lunch breaks.
Whether you completely ban it on site depends on the size of your site and your workforce. How many smokers do you have and would they bother walking as far as the gate for a smoke?
Implement only what you can realistically enforce and make it clear that nipping out for a fag every hour will not be tolerated.
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Posted By Carrell
We have introduced a smoking policy:
two designated outdoor smoke huts and works notice that extra breaks for smokers are not allowed. In order to enforce this we positioned CCTV (being installed for other reasons at the time) with views of the areas and are pulling people in who exceed the breaks.
Its already cut smoking right down but by still allowing it on site we haven't driven it underground.
Still also waiting to see about positioning of smoke "huts" in relation to the main building when more information is available.
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Posted By Nigel
Steve
Our company introduced a no smoking policy (indoors) on 31 Dec 06 ahead of the forthcoming legislation - it extends to work vehicles but not private vehicles. We don't allow personnel to smoke whilst walking around the site. Smoking areas are provided but most are without shelters!
On that subject, if you have a redundant building, which is not being used as a place of work, is it acceptable to allow it to be used for smoking? I have adapted this approach but some may say it is not in the spirit of the legislation.
Nigel
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Posted By J Knight
Steve,
We're doing a number of things. We are going to continue to allow Service Users to smoke in designated rooms in our neurological Care Centres, but a couple of our Hospices have already banned all indoor smoking and require people to smoke in 'shelters' in the grounds. Staff in all Healthcare premises will have to smoke outside, and we will provide discreet shelters. In our Charity shops we already have a smoking ban, but we have tightened that up to explicitly forbid staff smoking outside the shop front; they are allowed to smoke in the back-yard if there is one but we won't be providing shelters. Our offices are already non-smoking and will remain so,
John
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Posted By jackw.
Smoke huts? = enclosed = illegal under new regs!!!!!!!!!
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Posted By Ken Dickson
Two things...
Current standard smoking huts (three sides and a roof) are substantially enclosed, so no smoking in them after June.
Vehicles are separate and there is no national legislation yet in England (that I have found) to ban smoking in them after June.
Ken
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Posted By Noel Molloy
Steve
Having been through implementation of somewhat similar in Ireland.We had the same questions
A visit the HSA.ie site (Irish eqiuv. of HSE)and search topic 'Smokefree workplace FAQs'may be of some assistance.
Noel
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Posted By Ken Taylor
Presumably you could replace the 'smoke huts' by some old cars which you can keep in the yard for smokers to use?
As to the use of an unused 'non-workplace' building, I suspect that this becomes a workplace if provided by an employer and workers are there with permission on the employers time. Other wise we could build 'non-workplaces' in our sites instead of illegal shelters!
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Posted By Rob T
Exactly Ken! All you need to do is have buildings that are not designated as workplaces and not called "smoking rooms" and hey presto, got around this anti democratic ridiculous law. No arguments here - not a workplace - not covered by the act!
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Posted By Ken Taylor
Nice to hear from you again, Rob. I expected you to get in on this one.
I don't think it will be a matter of an employer's designation of a building that will be the determining factor but whether a court will consider it to be a workplace in law. The old banger in the yard might be a better bet for you.
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Posted By John Murgatroyd
Lets see:
Smoking is not only unhealthy, but harmful.
So, presumably you would have to do a COSHH assessment to determine the level of risk, then a risk assessment to assess the controllability of the risk of smoking. etc. After that, you have to ask yourself if a person so addicted to a known drug should be allowed in the workplace, you wouldn't allow a heroin addict would you ?
Then you have to ask yourself if you could/should allow a drug user to contaminate the air for non-drug users. I await the inevitable litigation after the legislation starts.
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Posted By Ian Blenkharn
I wonder if anyone has thought to make the best of it, use the ban as a positive driver to health promotion, and provide yet more help to assist staff to give up smoking completely.
Seems like almost everyone is trying to find a way to accommodate smokers, and to circumvent the key purpose of this legislation
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Posted By J Knight
Hi Rob,
No, it won't be up to the employer to designate what is and is not a workplace; I suspect the definition will be the same as HASAWA. BTW, why is this law anti-democratic? It was part of the manifesto of an elected government, MPs got a free vote, and most people 9according to polls I've seen) seem to approve. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a big fan of our style of democracy, it can lead to a tyranny of the majority, but this particular law does seem to have played by the rules, perhaps more than most,
John
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Posted By Sean Warburton
Ok Steve, just to get back to the question asked in the thread. We are considering whether to place bus stop style shelters on outside the building, maybe near the car park. The other options is not to do so, personally i feel this will drive smoking under ground, toilets & roof voids etc. So i think we will close the current smoke rooms and place shelters outside. We are also looking to provide some external support for those wishing to quit smoking as a health initiative.
Hope this help
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Posted By Hayley H
Hi Steve
if you are looking to create an area outside the building for the smokers in your workforce to smoke in then you have to realise one thing - the new legislation states that 50% of the smoking hut/cover must be open to the elements. there is a new company recently started called Outdoor Smoke Rooms which accounts for the new legislation and has created a suitable enclosure which is both easy on the eye and does the job, i think you can even get heaters and cctv cameras rigged up in them! hope this helps and let me know if you need any more info about that company as i have a contact.
Hayley
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