SUMMARY:
MAIN ARGUMENTS & EVIDENCE FOR 100% SMOKEFREE WORKPLACES
Secondhand
smoke (SHS) causes serious and potentially fatal health harm
www.ashaust.org.au/SF’03/health.htm
SHS is a highly toxic, carcinogenic air contaminant.
There is no safe level of exposure to it. The
overwhelming weight of independent research and health authorities right up to the
World Health Organisation agree: SHS increases risk of death, causing (in both smokers and non-smokers): heart
disease, strokes, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases, and much more.
Secondhand
smoke is a toxic workplace contaminant - with employees at high risk
Employees
- including permanent, part-time, casual and contract food and drink service
workers, entertainers, cleaners and other people working in many pubs,
clubs, gambling rooms, restaurants, cafes, as well as some prisons, some small
offices and factories, performance venues, working vehicles and other
workplaces, are especially at risk because of their repeated/continuous exposure. Evidence
shows such repeated exposure can be very harmful even at low doses and even in unenclosed/partly
enclosed areas. Smoky workplaces are unsafe and unhealthy, conflict with Occupational Health and
Safety rights and with our obligations under international law. SmokeFree Australia (including the ACTU and
relevant unions) support 100% smokefree workplaces, whether enclosed, partly- or
un-enclosed.
Partial
smoke bans and voluntary/"opt out" provisions are not acceptable www.ashaust.org.au/SF'03/partly.htm
Some states have persisted with inadequate partial solutions involving
"outdoor" or "unenclosed" areas (many are partly or even
mostly enclosed), many still requiring staffing. This has resulted in measurable exposure well over international guidelines. Preventable workplace
exposure to a high-level toxic carcinogen is unacceptable. Any smoking-permitted
area should be substantially unenclosed, separate and
unstaffed - as in Queensland. See
table at www.ashaust.org.au/SF'03/law.htm
Public opinion strongly supports this
(see below). Partial bans not based on health evidence create
inconsistencies and encourage evasion. Voluntary or "opt out"
provisions for employees are unacceptable because they encourage people most
desperate for jobs/shifts to volunteer to work in unsafe conditions. We do not
allow this for other airborne hazards (e.g. asbestos) and should not allow it
for SHS.
Ventilation
and indoor separation do not work
www.ashaust.org.au/SF’03/ventilation.htm
Approaches
to the problem based on ventilation or separate indoor "smoking rooms" do not provide adequate protection, says all independent research.
Such methods, long advocated by the tobacco industry in an attempt to stave off
smokefree workplace laws, are thoroughly discredited.
Smoky workplaces are inconsistent with our
obligations under
international law www.ashaust.org.au/SF’03/law.htm
Australia's
ratification of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control means all levels of
government are committed under Article 8 to fully protect all people from SHS by making all indoor working areas 100%
smokefree. Treaty guidelines define "Indoor" as an area
of any enclosure, whether a roof or one or more walls.
Smoky
workplaces undermine OH&S and disability access
They
conflict with OH&S laws establishing an employer's legal duty to provide
a safe workplace and to take reasonable steps to remove dangers. No-one should
be working in any smoking area. Some work safety authorities have not enforced
OH&S laws consistently to guarantee elimination of SHS from all workplaces. Smoky
workplaces also undermine anti-discrimination laws in effectively
barring people with smoke-affected disabilities such as heart and respiratory
conditions and diabetes (total estimated 10% of the community) from employment and access.
The
community strongly supports smokefree workplaces
Health
leaders strongly support 100% smokefree workplaces
In
Australia, strong supporters of this measure to be implemented as soon as
possible include: the Preventative Health Taskforce
(see
its 2009 report pp. 182-183 at www.preventativehealth.org.au/internet/preventativehealth/publishing.nsf/Content/nphs-roadmap/$File/nphs-roadmap-4.pdf);
the
Chief Medical Officer of the Federal Health Department,
the AMA, the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission, major public
health groups, medical colleges and many more.
Smokefree reforms do not harm drinking and
dining trade
Despite
decades of misleading and unfounded claims by tobacco companies and their
allies in the gambling/hospitality lobby, worldwide and Australian independent evidence
consistently shows smokefree laws do NOT harm overall hospitality
patronage, sales or jobs; they do NOT reduce food or drink sales. Opponents
exaggerate small and temporary "hiccups" in gambling revenue, which
are drawn from exploiting nicotine-addicted
heavy gamblers and not ethically defensible. Any
gambling impact is far outweighed by broadened patronage as families return to smokefree venues; and
more still by falling
health costs. Smoke bans save on air-conditioning, fires, insurance,
cleaning... and potential costly legal actions by staff or patrons harmed.
100%
smokefree venues
will help gamblers' health and help reduce problem gaming www.ashaust.org.au/lv4/GamblingBrief09.doc
All
enclosed or partly-enclosed gambling areas should be made smokefree in the
interests of the health of staff and patrons and as a Responsible Gaming
measure. These should include "high
roller", "premium" and "private" rooms currently exempted in some states. Exploiting
nicotine-addicted gamblers is not ethically defensible for either
businesses or governments.
World trend towards
smokefree workplaces
Encouraged by Article 8 of the worldwide Framework
Convention on Tobacco Control, more countries are moving to introduce 100%
smokefree laws in all workplaces including pubs and clubs - while some Australian states and
territories lag further and further behind these best practices.
Smokefree
workplaces: no more exemptions, no more delays. “It’s about health – and it’s
about time.”