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No smoke without fine
Page 36
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From April smoking will be banned in all Irish workplaces, including trucks. But can the new regs be enforced? Ann Marie Foley reports.
The proposed smoking ban in Ireland will. theoretically. prohibit truck drivers from smoking in their own cabs.The question is. how could the ban be enforced? Most people in Ireland seem to feel the proposed ban on smoking in the workplace falls between political correctness gone mad and a smokescreen (pun intended) to divert public attention away from the real problems facing the government. "1 wish the government would go off and solve some real problems like stop busting us on diesel prices. Ifs pure bull.' says one unimpressed operator,who speaks for many The motive behind the Tobacco Smoking (prohibition) Regulations 2003 to safeguard workers' healthis unimpeachable;it has union backing but the planned January introduction has been delayed by amendments exempting prisons, end outdoor work areas, psychiatric hospitals. nursing homes, certain charitable institutions and sleeping accommodation in hotels and guesthouses. Now the smart money is on a launch in late March/early April.
Dublin Tourism plans to use the new smokefree status in ad campaigns Health Minister Micheal Martin believes once the Irish ban is up and running other EU countries will copy it.The list of areas where smoking will be prohibited includes "aircraft, trains, ships or other vessels" which will include trucks. The owner, manager or person in charge of a workplace will be legally responsible for enforcing the ban.
To monitor compliance workplaces will be visited by Environmental Health Officers from the local Health Boards and the Office of Tobacco Control and Health and Safety Au thority. Complaints from employees will also be investigated. However, operators believe that a ban on smoking in cabs will be unenforceable. -Technically a truck cab is a place of work," says Jimmy Quinn of the Irish Road Haulage Association. "But there's no one in our business getting vety excited about it because it is practically unenforceable.
"If a man owns and drives his own truck he can do what he wants with it. It will only apply where there are two people in a vehicle and one claims his health is at risk because of the other smoking and reports it. Drivers would argue if they are living and sleeping in a truck then it is not only their place of work but also their home."
No plans for checks
The Department of Health confirms that under the new law it will be illegal to smoke in the cab, even if alone, because the exemptions listed in the regulations do not include truck cabs. The Department adds there are no plans to make spot checks of premises or to halt trucks on the road for smoking checks.
It will still be legal to smoke in the open air so a driver can always step out of a cab or place of work to smoke. Likewise the family haulage business that is run from the home is exempt from the ban because its base is defined as a 'dwelling'.
However, smoking will be prohibited in a registered place of work where there are employees. How stringently the new regulations will be enforced remains to be seen but meanwhile its introduction may not run too smoothly if threatened court challenges go ahead, or if political support wanes. •