Media release: November 21, 2005
Health
and employee groups have urged governments to end delays and loopholes in
smokefree pub and club laws –
after a former bar worker won a landmark passive cancer case against a workplace
insurer.
Bar
and gaming room worker Phil Edge, 29, a non-smoker, fought a three-year battle
with tongue cancer after working in a smoky Adelaide pub. He pursued and won his
case despite opposition from South
Australia’s WorkCover Corporation, after rejecting a lump sum payout to buy
his confidentiality.
Mr
Edge has won compensation including medical expenses and lost wages. He endured
radical surgery to remove half his tongue and cancerous lymph nodes, followed by
extensive radiotherapy.
The
SmokeFree Australia coalition, representing leading health groups and
hospitality employees,* has warned all bar workers, entertainers and gaming
technicians to pursue their rights under Occupational Health and Safety laws by
refusing to work in any area where smoking is allowed.
Says
coalition spokesperson Anne Jones of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)
Australia: “This is not the first
case of a worker contracting cancer from a smoky workplace.
“Research
has established that secondhand smoke kills. It causes not only cancers in
non-smokers but also a wide range of heart, vascular and respiratory diseases,
sexual and reproductive harm, and more.
“Keeping
the lid on this harm with confidentiality payouts is not in the public interest.
“All
pubs, clubs and gaming rooms which currently allow smoking need to be clear that
whatever delays or loopholes exist in other laws, they have a duty of care under
OH&S law to maintain a safe workplace – that
means sending smoking outside, where it can’t harm others.
“How
many more will suffer and die before the delays and looholes end? The present
mishmash of laws has ‘total’ indoor bans still almost two years off in some
states, and some have mostly-enclosed smoky rooms set to continue indefinitely,
causing more deaths and disease.
“We
urge all governments to act now to prevent further secondhand smoke injuries -
by tightening laws to ensure that all indoor and serviced areas of licensed
venues are smokefree. Legislation adopted in Queensland provides a good working
model of how this can be done.
“Further delays and loopholes will cause preventable deaths and disease – resulting in more legal actions and payouts.”
Phil Edge is available for interviews by arrangement
Comment:
Anne Jones, ASH Australia
ph. (02) 9334-1876
m. 0417-227-879
Comment/media
info:
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.