Smoking at work rife, poll finds

CLOSE to a third of Irish people say they are exposed to tobacco smoke in the workplace, despite the ban that came into force five years ago, according to an EU-wide survey.

More than a quarter of smokers surveyed admitted to smoking inside their homes, exposing partners and children to the effects of passive smoking.

About half of those exposed to smoke at work said the situation lasted for up to five hours a day, though a few said they worked in a smoky atmosphere for longer than that.

Just more than half of those surveyed said that all areas in their workplace were out of bounds for smoking, while one in eight said smoking was allowed in some areas and 6% claimed there were no restrictions on smoking at work.

Mark Fielding, chief executive of ISME, representing smaller business organisations, expressed surprise at the findings.

“It’s certainly not happening in larger organisations, any employer is open to being sued if they allow smoking,” he said.

“It might happen in a very small business with a self-employed person in an office where they are not meeting the public.”

The EU survey was carried out as an aid to developing a comprehensive tobacco control policy.

Ireland was the first EU country to introduce a smoking ban in the workplace, as well as in pubs and restaurants, in March 2004.