Why a smoke free public and working environment is important
The purpose of the bill is to reduce the exposure of non-smokers to tobacco smoke at work and to increase the provision of smoke free public places.
Non-smokers in the workplace and enclosed public places are subject to breathing in ‘side-stream’ smoke from the burning tip of cigarettes and ‘mainstream’ smoke that has been inhaled and then exhaled by smokers. Tobacco smoke contains over 4000 chemicals, 60 of which cause cancer. Over 85% of tobacco smoke from a burning cigarette goes into the air, unfiltered, and if this is in an enclosed space it is breathed in by others. A bar worker in a smoky bar after an 8 hour shift can have levels of cotinine (a broken down form of nicotine) equivalent to smoking 6 to 8 cigarettes.
Some of the immediate effects of passive smoking, also known as ‘second hand smoke’, include:
- Eye irritation
- Headache
- Cough
- Sore throat
- Dizziness
- Nausea
- A significant decline in lung function in asthma sufferers.
Short term exposure to tobacco smoke also has a measurable effect on the heart in non-smokers. Just 30 minutes of exposure is enough to reduce coronary blood flow.
In the longer term, passive smokers suffer an increased risk of a range of smoking – related diseases such as:
- Lung disease
- Pneumonia
- Bronchitis
- Asthma
- Ear infections
Second-hand smoke has now been proven beyond all reasonable doubt to cause cancer and heart disease. There are also strong links with:
- Miscarriage
- Cervical cancer
- Asthma exacerbation
- Leukaemia in children
- Exacerbation of cystic fibrosis
In the UK, at least 1000 people die each year from diseases caused by second hand smoke – that’s 20 people a week!
Every credible medical and scientific organization in the world – including the World Health Organization, SCOTH (the UK Scientific Committee on Tobacco and Health), National environmental protection agencies, Royal Colleges of physicians and surgeons – agrees that second hand smoke exposure causes serious illness and death in non-smokers. In addition, scientific evidence now shows there is no safe level of exposure to second-hand smoke.
The Government is obliged to protect public health and safety, as it does when it regulates drinking and driving, implements seatbelt laws, or sets environmental pollution standards. With such strong evidence about second hand smoke this health issue has to come in line with all other issues covered by health and safety at work legislation. The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 imposes a general duty on employers to their employees and provides that:
“It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees.”
From July 1 2007 this will include removing the exposure of workers to second hand smoke.
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