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Smoke-free public places are expected soon

While the tobacco industry threatens a legal challenge to the European Union decision to phase out tobacco advertising and sponsorship over a seven-year period, anti-smoking campaigners in Britain are pressing home their advantage.

New legal advice published by pressure group Action on Smoking and Health suggests that employers who fail to prevent passive smoking in the workplace may be breaking the law. In the wake of recent scientific evidence published in the British Medical Journal, the legal opinion is that every employer is now effectively obliged by law to provide employees with a smoke-free workplace.

ASH anticipates that this may create a new ‘smoke-free public places’ policy without any legislation beeing needed.

‘This isn’t just about offices,’ said Clive Bates, director of ASH. ‘Restaurants and bars are workplaces for waiters and bar staff, and the law applies here with just as much force.’