Media release: 28 October, 2003
The Tasmanian government’s decision on
smoky workplaces, announced today, leaves the hospitality industry in
uncertainty and thousands of bar workers exposed to serious health risk, say
union and health leaders.
The
government has decided to ban indoor smoking in nightclubs and gaming rooms –
but has left Tasmanian hotels in the grip of an untidy set of partial bans which
have already proven ineffective elsewhere - setting no deadline for total indoor
smoke bans in the pubs.
Says
Tim Ferrari, Assistant Federal Secretary of the LHMU (hospitality) union and
spokesperson for the SmokeFree ’03 coalition of trade union and health
organisations:
"While
we welcome the ban on smoking in clubs and gaming rooms, the lack of a deadline
for the pubs, or even a phased-in program, is quite appalling.
“Recent
studies in both NSW and the ACT have found that partial bans based on separate
areas do virtually nothing to protect workers or patrons from the severe health
harm caused by second-hand tobacco smoke. No-one has yet devised a method of
making smoke stay one metre away from the bar – when the air moves around, so
does the smoke. To persist in this absurd fiction is laughable.
“It
is terribly disappointing that the Tasmanian government has seen fit to ignore
the overwhelming weight of research, and deny the state’s hotel workers the
protection to which they should be entitled under occupational health and safety
laws.
“The
government has preferred the discredited arguments of the Australian Hotels
Association to the objective, research-based recommendations of the National
Occupational Health and Safety Commission, the AMA and many other health groups
who say that indoor smoking should be banned as soon as possible from all indoor
workplaces.
“The
overwhelming majority of the community who support total bans have also been
brushed aside.
“This
will continue the unequal treatment of different categories of workers under the
OHS laws, as well as an uneven playing field between different hospitality
venues. And it will leave hotels
exposed to heavy costs - for air conditioning, insurance, fires, cleaning and
expensive legal actions taken by those who will inevitably be harmed by smoky
venues.”
Comment:
Tim Ferrari, LHMU
ph. 0425-242-727
Anne Jones, ASH
ph. 0417-227-879
Media
info:
Stafford Sanders
ph. (02) 9334-1823
SmokeFree '03 coalition:
Liquor,
Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers’ Union; Musicians’ Union of Australia; Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance; Australian Council of
Trade Unions; Action on Smoking and Health Australia; The Cancer Council
Australia; National Heart Foundation of Australia; Australian Council on Smoking
and Health; Non-Smokers’ Movement of Australia; Australian Medical
Association.