Media release: October 17, 2005
New
studies from Ireland show smokefree pubs and clubs are protecting bar workers
from exposure to secondhand smoke - and even smokers approve of the laws.
Australian
health and hospitality employee organisations have called for Australian states
and territories to speed up and tighten their smokefree licensed venues laws in
the wake of the findings, which are published online today (October 17) by The
British Medical Journal (BMJ) and Tobacco Control.
The Republic of Ireland in March 2004 legislated to make all indoor workplaces, including bars and restaurants, smokefree. The law was not introduced in neighbouring Northern Ireland , creating a useful point of comparison for identifying impacts. (Northern Ireland is expected to announce today that it will follow the Republic and make all workplaces indoor-smokefree, encouraged by 90%+ popular support.)
In the BMJ study*, researchers surveyed staff working in rural and urban pubs in the Republic and Northern Ireland in the six months leading up to the Republic’s ban. A year later, they were followed up to assess changes in exposure and respiratory symptoms. In non-smokers, nicotine concentrations in saliva declined much more quickly in the Republic (80%) than in Northern Ireland (20%).
Exposures outside work also dropped significantly in the Republic but increased in Northern Ireland, challenging the view that banning smoking in pubs would lead to increased smoking in the home.
The authors conclude that the smoke-free workplace law in the Republic has given protection to one of the most heavily exposed occupational groups by reducing their exposure to secondhand smoke.
The increase in support for this law since its introduction, even among smokers, underpins its effectiveness. These findings have implications for policy makers and legislators in other countries currently considering the nature and extent of their smoke-free workplace legislation, say the authors.
The
Tobacco Control study**
found that public support for a total ban also rose from 43% to 67%. And
more than 8 out of 10 Irish smokers surveyed said that the smoke free law was
"a good or very good thing," while nearly half said that the law had
made them more likely to quit. Of those who had stopped smoking, over 80% said
that the law had helped them do it.
Says Stafford Sanders, Co-ordinator of the SmokeFree Australia coalition of employee and health groups: “These findings confirm that total indoor smoke bans are effective in protecting workplace health and lowering smoking rates – and are popular, even among smokers. Australian research supports both these findings. There is no excuse for delays and loopholes.”
* See the BMJ study at http://press.psprings.co.uk/bmj/october/smokefree.pdf
** See the Tobacco Control study pdf at http://tc.bmjjournals.com/preprint/tc13649.pdf
Comment:
Stafford Sanders, SmokeFree Australia
ph. (02) 9334-1823 m.
0412-070-194
SmokeFree Australia coalition
for clean safe workplaces:
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; Asthma and Allergy Research Institute.