Posted By John Richards Does this come under H&S, or over-enthusiastic employee control ? People can smoke in their private vehicles, whether or not they use them for work. Private, it means what it says on the tin. Now, if you ask me if they can use their private vehicles for work, that's another thing. Is their insurance valid ? Thats is....my vehicle is insured (comp) with an addition: carriage of own goods. Do you expect them to use their private transport for their work ? If so, you should check they are insured to so use those vehicles. I'm minded of another guy who used his car to transport small items to site teams. He had an accident. The police were involved, noted the items, and checked the insurance. It was not covered. And you are worried about smoking, when there are so many other things you should be worried about.

Posted By Ali ...it's just that we have company vehicles where we ban smoking (as the law requires), but on top of that we have employees who use their vehicles for work eg site visits with and without passengers.

Posted By John Richards Is the car their private property. Yes ? Then the law does not apply. If they are accompanied by another person, in paid or voluntary work, in their own vehicle, then the law applies. "Privately owned vehicles will not have to be smoke free – unless they are regularly used to carry passengers on work trips or if business use exceeds private mileage. Drivers can smoke in company-owned or private convertibles, providing that the roof is fully folded down and stowed" "Work vehicles do not have to be smoke free if they are exclusively used by a single driver who never carries passengers in the course of paid or voluntary work" But are they INSURED ? THIS APPLIES DIRECTLY TO YOU, SINCE IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY AS YOU REQUIRE THEM TO USE THE VEHICLE FOR THEIR WORK.

Posted By John Richards Using a mobile phone while in control of a vehicle is a specific offence, the other things (eating, drinking) come under other laws. Smoking is a health issue, the health of those who do not smoke, separate law. Insurance ? After all, if the driver is prosecuted the company could be prosecuted as well. It is in black-and-white about smoking.....you could have googled it. If the guy is not carrying anyone else, he can smoke. Simple.

Posted By Renny Thomson Ali, I think you will find use of a mobile phone whilst driving is a Road Traffic Offence and the legislation applies whether it is work related or not. It would be rather like claiming speed limits are a H&S issue as exceeding them can have a safety implication....

Posted By Rob W Perhaps I have missed it but I can not see any reference to "company vehicles" in The Smoke-free (Exemptions and Vehicles) Regulations 2007. The regs require that vehicles ( private or company ) are smoke free if they are used by more than one person, but then this requirement is qualified by "(5) A vehicle is not used in the course of paid or voluntary work for the purposes of paragraph (1)(b) where it is used primarily for the private purposes of a person who— (a) owns it; or (b) has a right to use it which is not restricted to a particular journey. " So if an employee is provided with a company car and drives 10000 business miles a year and 20000 private miles a year then the law does not require that vehicle must be "smoke free" ( Of course company specific policies can impose this requirement, but in my experience most companies have a lot more to worry about than their people having a ciggy in their company car )

Posted By John Richards You mean, like making sure that their private vehicle is actually insured for them to use it on business ?