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Hazards

Environmental Tobacco Smoke

Passive smoking or 'second hand smoke or environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) can be a serious health issue in some workplaces.  How big an issue is passive smoking in your workplace? Inhaling other people’s smoke can have serious health effects, both short term and long term. If passive smoking is an issue at your workplace, then, as an elected OHS rep, there is something you can do about it.

The Victorian Government has now introduced wide ranging legislation prohibiting smoking in almost all indoor premises and workplaces.  Nevertheless, there may still be some workers who are exposed to the hazard of passive smoking.  (see The Legal Situation below)

Just like other hazards, this should be controlled at the source - this means making the workplace smoke free. Under Section 21 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (2004)  the employer has a legal duty to "provide and maintain, so far as is practicable, a working environment that is safe and without risks to health." A smoky workplace is certainly not a safe and healthy workplace.

As the OHS rep you have the right to take OHS issues to your employer and seek to have them resolved. You have this right under Section 73 of the 2004 Act. If you are not satisfied that your employer is making a genuine attempt to eliminate or reduce the risks associated with passive smoking, then you should contact your union, or the VTHC OHS Unit for further advice.

Advice for reps

  • Identify any areas where people are allowed to smoke in your workplace/designated work group.
  • Identify how many people work these areas.
  • Discuss the issue with them, including the potential effects of exposure to passive smoke (see More information, below).
  • Encourage your members to report any effects they may be suffering, such as coughs, asthma, etc.
  • Approach your employer to attempt to resolve the issue using the preferred order of control. Under Section 73 of the Act, your employer must try to resolve any OHS issue that is raised by an ohs rep. While it may not be possible to eliminate passive smoking immediately, this should be the goal. In the meantime, individual workers' exposure to passive smoking can be reduced in a number of ways.
  • If you are not satisfied that your employer is making a genuine attempt to resolve the issue, there are a number of things you can do. The first step is to contact your union.

Going smoke-free does not hurt business

Some employers, particularly in the hospitality sector, believed that banning smoking would be harmful to the business - but this was not the New Zealand experience.  12 months after the ban on smoking in bars in New Zealand, a report  [pdf] has found no downturn in bar retail sales, tourism or employment. This is contrary to the predictions of industry opponents, who had claimed that smokefree bars legislation would have serious economic consequences for the hospitality industry. Workplaces in New Zealand, including bars, restaurants, clubs and casinos were required to be smokefree inside from 10 December 2004. The report, published by the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation, considers a number of indicators post implementation of the ban, including smoking behaviour, public opinion, economic data, and compliance levels. 

Other issues

Visiting clients in their home
Workers visiting clients in their home are not directly covered by the Tobacco Act.  However, employers should take action to ensure that these workers are protected when visiting clients in their homes, and OHS reps should be raising this as an issue if it affects members of their DWGs.
 
While an employer cannot control conditions in people's homes, and cannot prevent individuals taking part in a legal activity in their homes, employees also have the right not to be exposed to envitonmental tobacco smoke.  Reps should seek agreement with the employer that they will introduce guidance on this issue.  In some cases it may be appropriate to include smoke-free conditions into any service agreements with clients.  All those who are visited regularly should be notified of the guidance or conditions in advance.  Any regular users of the service could be asked to not smoke during a per-arranged visit and for a certain period prior the visit.  While this may be difficult to enforce in certain circumstances, it should lead to improvements over the short term. (This part adapted from the TUC guide 'Negotiating smoke-free workplaces)
 

The Legal Situation

With the growing evidence of the harmful effects of passive smoking, arguments about the rights of smokers and non-smokers, especially in the workplace, have increased.
 
Employers and 'persons who manage or control workplaces'  have duties under the Occupational Health and Safety Act both to employees and others (Sections 21, 23 & 26 of the Act).
 
In June 1986, the Australian National Heart and Research Council, on reviewing the evidence, recommended that: "An atmosphere free of tobacco smoke should be regarded as the workplace norm. Employers should be reminded of obligations to provide a safe working environment." This obligation is one under both common law and specific Occupational Health and Safety legislation.
 
While the OHS Act and regulations do not specifically address the issue of environmental tobacco smoke, the Victorian government has gradually been introducing reforms through the Tobacco Act:
  • June 2001- smoking banned in dining venues 
  • 1 March 2006 - smoking prohibited in enclosed workplaces (other than hospitality venues) at all times whether or not the people working are paid or are volunteers (some exemptions apply). If a person smokes in an enclosed workplace, the person who smokes may receive a fine or be prosecuted, as may the person in charge of the enclosed workplace at the time. The exemptions included: hotel rooms and other premises providing accommodation to members of the public, including residential care facilities, and the sleeping and exercise areas of prisons and dedicated areas of secure mental health facilities.  
  • 1 July 2007 - all enclosed licensed premises must be smoke free. Smoking is also be prohibited in an outdoor dining or drinking area (eg a balcony or courtyard) if the area has a roof in place and the total actual area of the wall surfaces exceeds 75% of the total notional wall area. For more information and to check the latest on legislation on smoking, go to the Victorian government   Tobacco Reforms website.

More information: What is passive smoking? 

Passive smoking is breathing in other people's smoke. It affects non-smokers and smokers.

Tobacco smoke contains over 4000 chemicals, which include at least 43 cancer-causing agents (carcinogens), carbon monoxide, nicotine, and hydrogen cyanide.

Passive smoking was hardly talked about twenty years ago. Up until quite recently, the debate has centred on active smoking, a habit we have known for over fifty years can cause disease in smokers. However, there has been mounting and conclusive evidence that passive smoking can harm the health of non-smokers who live and work in smoky environments. In fact, some studies have shown that some of the carcinogens and other toxic substances in sidestream smoke (the smoke which drifts from the end of a lit cigarette) are thirty times higher than in mainstream smoke (smoke inhaled by the smoker).

The Effects of exposure to ETS

Lung Cancer: Passive smoking has been shown to be a cause of lung cancer in non-smokers. A Canadian study found that hospitality workers exposed to ETS could see their risk of lung cancer triple.

June 2004:The latest research from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) should put 'a final stop to all controversies fuelled at various degrees by the tobacco industry'. An IARC scientific working group concluded both smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke should be classified as 'Group 1' carcinogens, definitely causing cancer in humans. The committee said that non-smokers are exposed to the same carcinogens as active smokers, adding that 'even the typical levels of passive exposure have been shown to cause lung cancer among never smokers'.

Heart disease: There is increasing evidence that passive smoking causes both short- and long-term harm to the heart, by reducing the amount of oxygen carried in the bloodstream, and reducing exercise capacity. Chemicals in tobacco smoke also help clog the arteries, and cause blood clots, leading to heart attack. A United States Study found that regular exposure to ETS nearly doubled the risk of heart attack.

Stroke: A New Zealand study found that non-smokers exposed to ETS were more than 80% more likely to suffer a stroke than those who were not exposed.

Asthma: A 2001 study showed that never smoking adults who are exposed to ETS at work were twice as likely to develop asthma than those with no exposure. Adults exposed to ETS at home and at work were almost 5 times more likely to develop asthma than adults not exposed. A Scottish study found that non-smoking workers exposed to ETS suffered a reduction of up to 10% in lung function.

Effects on the unborn child: The risks to the foetus from smoking mothers are well known. However, it has also been found that the child of a pregnant woman subjected to passive smoking is more likely to be of low birth weight, and is at increased risk of dying soon after birth.

See Also

  • Smokefree Victoria website, with information, advice for workplaces going smokefree and more.
  • The Quit website has resources, information on the current laws, and more. Also check the  Cancer Council Victoria and the Cancer Council Australia websites.
  • Going Smokefree - it works for me: A guide for workplaces developed by The Cancer Council Victoria (phone number: 03 9635 5000) and the National Heart Foundation (phone number: 1300 36 27 87). It can also be downloaded [pdf] from the Cancer Council website.
  • WorkSafe Victoria's webpage on smoking in the workplace
  • NOHSC (now ASCC) Guidance Note: Elimination of Environmental Tobacco Smoke in the Workplace [ pdf] 
  • SmokeatWork - a new resource website which is part of a pan-European project on protecting workers from passive smoking. The project is being co-ordinated by the TUC in the UK and steered by union representatives from seven European countries including Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Portugal, Sweden, Romania, and the UK.
  • A TUC guide Negotiating smoke-free workplaces - a guide for union representatives. This guide covers what the new UK laws say, and what union representatives need to do. It includes a draft workplace policy on smoking
  • Tobacco.org - a free US resource centre focusing on tobacco and smoking issues. It features tobacco news, information, assistance for smokers trying to quit, alerts on tobacco control issues, and open consideration of all aspects of the spectrum of issues concerning tobacco, nicotine, cigarettes and cigars.