Introduction
Since
2nd April 2007 in Wales and 1st July 2007 in England, smoking
has been banned in all enclosed and ‘substantially enclosed’ public places and
workplaces. This means premises that
have a ceiling or walls at least half the way around, including doors and
windows. Smoking rooms are not permitted
under the regulations.
The
smoke-free provisions of the Health Act 2006 cover not only tobacco in
cigarettes, pipes and cigars, but also herbal tobacco. These are all prohibited when lit, even if
the person is not smoking at the time.
The
regulations require employers to put up ‘no smoking’ signs or face a fine of
£200, or £150 if the penalty is paid within 15 days from when the notice is
issued. Originally, detailed
requirements were set out regarding the size, design and location of the signs. These were simplified in 2012 – see http://www.dh.gov.uk/health/2012/10/no-smoking-signs/.
Anyone
who breaches the smoking ban faces a maximum fine, on conviction, of £200. Where a fixed penalty procedure is used, the
fixed penalty is £50, with a discounted amount of £30, if the penalty is paid
within 15 days of the notice being issued.
Why was the Smoking Ban introduced?
Second-hand
tobacco smoke was a major cause of heart disease and lung cancer amongst
non-smokers who worked with people who smoked before the ban. It is estimated that, before the change in
the law, around 700 workers a year died as a direct result of second-hand
tobacco smoke in their workplace.
Second-hand
smoke was also responsible for many thousands of episodes of illness. For example, Asthma UK reported that it was
the second most common asthma trigger in the workplace. More than four fifths of people with asthma
said that other people’s smoke worsened their asthma and 1 in 5 people with
asthma felt excluded from parts of their workplace where people smoked.
Around
a quarter of workers smoke, although not necessarily in the workplace, where even
before the ban there had been a steady move towards smoking restrictions over time. As a result most workers, including teachers,
already worked in a “smoke-free” environment at the time of the ban. However, in 2007 around two million people in
Great Britain still worked in workplaces where smoking was allowed somewhere on
the premises.
Action Points for
Divisions
No-smoking
policies will have been in place in schools since the change in the law, if not
before. Set out below is NUT advice on
specific issues which may need to be addressed as part of such policies.
1. Support for smokers who want to give up
Helping smokers to give
up if they wish is an essential element of a successful smoking policy. It is recommended that employers work with
local NHS Stop Smoking Services on this (contactable through the local Primary
Care Trust). There are various ways of
doing this:
·
Provision
of advice on giving up smoking from a doctor or health professional.
·
Development
of programmes for giving up smoking which could consist of group meetings run
by professionals.
·
The
supply of free or subsidised nicotine replacement therapy such as gum or
patches (although see note about electronic cigarettes below).
·
Distribution
of self-help guides for giving up smoking.
·
Multi-component
programmes including all of the above and tailored to the individual.
Advice is also available from the NHS
website at http://www.nhs.uk/livewell/smoking/Pages/stopsmokingnewhome.aspx
2. Appointment procedures
The NUT is opposed to
smoking policies which state that the employer will not employ smokers. If smokers restrict their smoking to comply
with the employer’s policy, and the law, there is no reason why their smoking
habit should affect their work.
3. Smoking breaks
Research demonstrates that smoke-free
workplaces help smokers to give up or reduce the amount they smoke. Nevertheless, nicotine is extremely addictive
and many smokers have found adjusting to smoking restrictions difficult. Some people may still want to smoke during
working hours, and many have found it very difficult to cut down or stop
completely. Each organisation has tended
to deal with this issue differently, depending on the culture and the nature of
the work. However, since summer 2007
(April 2007 in Wales), no smoking can take place at all inside an enclosed
building, so any permitted smoking area has to be outside. If it is to be outside, then provision will
have to be made for ash and cigarette ends.
If smoking is permitted
outside a building, in designated areas, policies will need to consider whether
to specify how often and for how long smokers may take breaks. This is unlikely to be a controversial issue
in schools since most have totally banned smoking in school premises and
grounds anyway and opportunities to take cigarette breaks will be largely
governed by the school timetable.
Teachers who are centrally employed
and based in Council offices are likely to be affected most by restrictions on
smoking outside the premises since some Councils may seek to introduce
exclusion zones of a certain number of metres around all Council-owned
premises.
Whilst recognising that smoking at the
entrances to buildings may not project the right image and may lead to
cigarette ends littering the area, the NUT recommends that employers do seek to
accommodate smokers’ needs without compromising the health of non-smokers. It is particularly important that teachers do
not smoke anywhere where smoke can blow back into the building through windows
and doorways.
The
NUT would hope that pragmatic solutions can be found to the question of where
smoking is to be permitted outside a building.
Teachers are entitled to leave the
premises during their lunch break and, if they choose to do so, the employer
cannot seek to prevent them from smoking.
It would, however, be reasonable to expect teachers not to smoke at the
school gate since this would send the wrong messages to pupils.
4. Teachers who make home visits
Workers visiting clients in their home
are not directly covered by the provisions of the Health Act 2006. Nevertheless, the NUT believes that teachers
should be protected when visiting pupils in their own homes. This is best achieved by employers setting
out in advance conditions for such visits.
For example, families should be told not to smoke during any
pre-arranged visit and for a certain period of time beforehand.
If such conditions are not met,
members should be encouraged to discuss the situation with their employer
pointing out that the employer is failing in its duty of care to the teacher. If the situation cannot be resolved the
family concerned will need to be informed by the employer that no further
visits will take place.
5. School Minibuses
No smoking should take place in any
vehicle owned, or hired, by schools or local authorities, since such vehicles
fall within the definition of enclosed workplaces. This is the case whether or not pupils are
present.
The only exception to this rule is if
a work vehicle is only ever used by one person, with no passengers. This will, of course, not be the case with
school minibuses.
There is, of course, nothing to
prevent teachers smoking in their own private vehicles, although local
authority policies may prevent smoking if colleagues are being driven.
6. School Visits
Many school visits will be to places
which are either defined as public places, enclosed workplaces, or both. Teachers who do wish to smoke, particularly
during residential visits, will need to clarify in advance where smoking will
be permitted. It would be reasonable for
school management to insist that smoking does not take place in the presence of
pupils. Designated smoking bedrooms are
permitted within hotels, at the discretion of the proprietor. They must be clearly marked as rooms in which
smoking is permitted. Dormitories must
always be smoke free.
7. Social Events
Many teachers are
prepared to give up their free time to attend social occasions, such as school
discos and leavers’ parties. Where
events for older pupils take place, if the pupils are permitted to smoke
immediately outside the venue, then such permission should also be extended to
teachers. Where pupils are expected to
refrain from smoking, or at events for younger pupils, it would be reasonable
to expect teachers not to smoke either.
If any teachers genuinely
find such a prospect too difficult to contemplate then, apart from refusing to
attend the event, a pragmatic solution could include sufficient staff being in
attendance, so as to permit colleagues to take a break well away from the
premises.
8. Electronic cigarettes
Although electronic cigarettes do not
contain tobacco or produce smoke, and their use in enclosed workplaces and
public places isn’t banned by law in the UK, this does not mean that employers
cannot introduce their own policies. It is understandable that schools, which
are seeking to promote healthy lifestyles for pupils, have a problem with the
image that these cigarettes project.
Schools will not wish to give the impression to their pupils that
smoking is in any way desirable.
Another issue is that since electronic
cigarettes have only been available for a relatively short time as a smokeless
alternative to the real thing, there are worries about possible long-term
health effects, with concerns expressed by the World Health Organisation and in
the British Medical Journal. The
Department of Health also appears to be adopting a cautious approach by
suggesting that users ‘exercise caution’.
The TUC reports that a number of
employers have already made e-cigarettes subject to the same controls under
their smoking policies as normal cigarettes, so it is to be expected that
schools will follow suit. The TUC refers
to electronic cigarettes as ‘potentially hazardous’, says they should ‘have no
place in the workplace’ and urges safety reps to try to ensure that they are
not used anywhere that smoking tobacco is prohibited.
On this basis, the NUT would agree
that for health and safety reasons it is sensible for employers to adopt the
precautionary principle in relation to these devices and not permit their use
on school premises.
Further Information
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