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WHAT STILL NEEDS FIXING |
"Aren't workplaces already
smokefree?"
"Haven't we got the smoke out of pubs and clubs?"
No.
While there have been welcome changes,
thousands of Australian workers are working - day after day, night after night -
exposed to some of the most toxic, carcinogenic substances
known.
Secondhand smoke causes serious health
harm. Despite Occupational Health and Safety laws,
Worksafe authorities are turning a blind eye to it.
If it was anything other than tobacco, there'd be ministerial resignations
and page one headlines.
Imagine the outcry if we'd
dealt with asbestos like this !!
Here's
what's going on, and what needs changing:
HIGH-ROLLIN'
RUSSIAN ROULETTE: Glaring exemptions for premium / "high roller" /
"inner sanctum" gaming rooms from smokefree laws in
NSW, Queensland, Victoria, WA and NT.
PARTLY
ENCLOSED PERIL: Pubs and clubs in some states have
"outdoor" or "unenclosed" smoking areas, many of them
much more enclosed than open - where thousands
of bar and gaming staff, waiters, musicians and other
entertainers, cleaners, technicians and other employees are required to
work.
SMOKY
POKIES: The problem is made worse in NSW by allowing
gaming machines in smoking areas - so greedy proprietors can
milk revenue from the twin addictions of gambling and smoking - with patron
and employee health the sacrificial lamb.
No smoking should be permitted in gaming areas - as these require continuous
or repeated staff presence.
CARCINOGENS AL FRESCO: Many outdoor and partly enclosed dining areas are serving a diet of toxic fumes to patrons - including children - and staff going in and out of the smoke all day, every day. A recipe for cancer, chronic heart and respiratory disease, and much more. No smoking should be permitted in any food service area or any designated public eating area.
PRIVATE WORKPLACE FREE-FOR-ALL: In NSW, many small offices, workshops and factories are not specifically included in smokefree places laws - so some smoking continues even in totally enclosed areas. Though in theory all are covered by OH&S laws, this depends on individual complaints; many workers are reluctant to complain because their jobs are low-security and they fear being indentified or suspected as the complainant - and WorkCoverNSW takes a low profile, requiring only that workplaces "manage" rather than eliminate the hazard. All working areas of any workplace should be smokefree by law - with the obligation on the employer.
Crowded, staffed areas where smoking is permitted:
- Leave workers and patrons dangerously exposed to the known serious harm of secondhand smoke. Any exposure is dangerous, and continuous/repeated exposure more so - including exposure in partly-enclosed or open space. See the latest research
- Are based on very complex calculations of wall and ceiling ratios - leaving patrons and proprietors confused, complaints difficult, and avoidance inevitable.
- Deny the public what it wants: genuinely smokefree drinking and dining, with anyone wanting to smoke having to go outside (really outside, not partly).
- Conflict with Australia's obligations under international law. (SEE BELOW)
- Violate basic OH&S rights and undermine Disability Discrimination and Occupational Health and Safety laws and international treaty obligations. See the legal/treaty background
- Threaten children's health, since some smoking-permitted areas (e.g. al fresco dining areas, some pub/club areas) also permit children.
INTERNATIONAL LAW
The WHO's Guidelines
on Protection from Exposure to Tobacco Smoke clarify our obligation
under the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, ratified by Australia in 2004.
See (p. 4) the definitions of "public place",
"indoor/enclosed" and "workplace". Current smoking areas
allowed in most Australian state and territory laws would not satisfy these
definitions, which make it clear: smoking should NOT be permitted in any
roofed, otherwise partly-enclosed, or any working areas.
We need your support now to end these
loopholes!
Contact us: email staffords@ashaust.org.au
or ph. (02) 9334-1823 and find out how to make your voice heard.
NSW: Email NSW leaders NOW:
end the loopholes
Partly-enclosed smoking areas are proven
unsafe
See independent research evidence that most so-called
"outdoor" smoking areas are unsafe for workers and patrons, exceeding
WHO-recommended exposure levels. See
SmokeFree
Australia media release 15/8/08 with link to air quality study
presentation
Slideshow: Secondhand
smoke: Australia's neglected workplace killer (2009)
How secondhand smoke is exempted from Occupational Health and Safety in most
Australian jurisdictions. Why we need all working areas 100% smokefree -
including pubs and clubs. Latest health, economic and public opinion
research from Australia and overseas. Great for presenting to
governments and opinion leaders. 19 slides.
More at our Taking Action
page
See very latest research on health harm from secondhand smoke
HOW TO FIX IT:
While the member organisations in SmokeFree
Australia differ slightly on some aspects, as a coalition our minimum position is:
No worker (staff, casual,
contract or volunteer) should work in any area while smoking is
happening - whether enclosed or unenclosed, government or non-government, licensed or
unlicensed, publicly accessible or otherwise.
Any outdoor area set aside for
smoking should not include any facilities requiring staff presence during
smoking,
including:
- food or drinks service;
- eating - since hygiene would demand frequent clearing;
- gaming machines - since these require staff supervision/servicing; or
- children permitted - since they are particularly vulnerable to secondhand
smoke harm.
Outdoor smoking-permitted areas should be
substantially unenclosed; should have adequate
separation from non-smoking (including all working) areas, and from adjacent
premises or public areas, sufficient to prevent significant smoke drift into
those areas. This could involve separation by fresh air or impermeable wall -
no doors or windows adjacent to the smoking area. It should not be necessary
to walk through the area to reach other areas.
Exemptions
for "high roller", "premium" or "private" gaming rooms should be ended immediately in all
jurisdictions. See
the case for 100% smokefree
gambling areas
Simple and safe: the Queensland model
The best Australian model to prevent avoidance
of deadlines and protect workers and the public is
Queensland: see Nobody
smokes here anymore - new Qld government website including
the new legislation and associated public education campaign. The
Queensland legislation is particularly effective, making smokefree by law any
contiguous (attached to main building) area where food or drink is served, where food is consumed, or where
entertainers are working. It avoids depending on complicated
mathematical formulae defining "indoor" or "enclosed" - like
the confusing and ineffective laws in some other jurisdictions (especially NSW,
Vic, SA). See SmokeFree
Australia release 9/3/05
In Queensland it was decided to avoid public and industry confusion over complicated wallspace area calculations - by not only making 100% of indoor areas smokefree, but also 100% of outdoor areas serving food and beverages. To avoid the indoor/outdoor definition further, no less than 50% of all other outdoor areas must be 100% smokefree. And if smoking is allowed at all outdoors it must be in a designated smoking area, being no more than 50% of the total outdoor area. A Smoking Management Plan must be provided for these areas. No food can be consumed in these areas (not even a pack of chips), no drinks can be served (people can bring their drink with them); and no entertainment can be provided in these areas. There must be a 1.2m barrier provided from other areas, or an impervious wall - no doors, windows or vents opening into indoor areas.
Queensland has not yet ended the exemption for "high roller" gaming rooms - but it is now under review. So far, Tasmania, the ACT and SA have dropped the exemption.
Low
levels of secondhand smoke increase heart death risk
31/8/09: Data drawn from over a million adults show even low levels of
secondhand smoke increase heart and vascular death risk by an average 16% and as much as 32%. A US study
published online in Circulation journal concludes: "Relatively low
levels of fine particulate exposure from.... secondhand cigarette smoke are
sufficient to induce adverse biological responses increasing the risk of
cardiovascular disease mortality." See
study
abstract
80% public support for 100% smokefree pubs & clubs, not smoky loopholes
28/3/09: Public support in NSW has risen
to 80% for totally smokefree pubs and clubs, with 97% supporting a no-smoking
policy in presently-allowed mostly-enclosed dining areas and 70% in
mostly-enclosed non-dining areas. Cancer Council/Uni of Newcastle surveys showed
support for 100% smokefree pubs and clubs, indoors and out, rose from 72% in
2004 to 80% in 2006. Meanwhile studies from the UK show great results from
effective smokefree licensed venues laws. See
SmokeFree
Australia media release 28/3/09
See survey details in Aust
& NZ Journal of Public Health article See latest
studies from Scotland
Most "outdoor" smoking areas in pubs and
clubs are a health hazard
15/8/08: NSW Health Department study has found more than half the
partly-enclosed smoking areas of NSW licensed venues exceed recommended smoke
exposure limits - they're a threat to public health and occupational safety.
See SmokeFree
Australia media release 15/8/08 with link to air quality study
presentation
Secondhand
smoke causes blood, cell damage in 30 minutes: study
2/5/08: A University of California (San
Francisco) study of smoke in bars
shows significant damage to blood vessels and stem cells. And the study says the harm can happen within 30 minutes of
exposure. See UCSF
media release 2/5/08 See study
abstract See SmokeFree
Australia media release 5/5/08
Meningococcal
link with secondhand smoke confirmed
Feb. 2008: Analysis of victims of a meningococcal disease outbreak in Canada
between 1999-2002 shows the three main risk factors were bar attendance, rave
attendance and maternal smoking - all connected with secondhand smoke. Previous
research has shown secondhand smoke exposure multiplies meningococcal
risk. See study
abstract
Passive
smoking causes earlier onset of colon cancer
9/2/08: A study at the University of Rochester (US) Medical Centre has found
that colon cancer occurs earlier in life for both active and passive smokers.
The earlier the age of exposure to tobacco smoke, the earlier the onset of the
disease. See study
abstract
Separate rooms and ventilation don't work
The
community doesn't want partly-enclosed smoky rooms
More on the health harm
to workers and the public from secondhand smoke
Note that all of this harm can be caused
whether the exposure happens inside, partly inside or outside.
Smoked out: big tobacco's
deals in clubland
11/7/08: Tobacco companies are paying Victorian pubs and clubs commissions for
selling tobacco - showing the kind of connection that's frustrated and weakened
smokefree pub and club laws. See
Melbourne
Age report 11/7/08