South Derbyshire District Council - Legislation guidance

The legislation ensures that almost all workers, regardless of their place of work, are protected from risks to their health from exposure to tobacco smoke, and are guaranteed the right to smokefree air.

How it affects businesses

The legislation covers all premises, which are totally or "substantially enclosed", and used as a place of work by more than one person. Smoking rooms will no longer be allowed, except in specified circumstances.

What the new law is doing

Smoking is prohibited in all enclosed or "substantially enclosed" public places and workplaces by making it an offence to:

smoke in smokefree premises
permit others to smoke in smokefree premises
fail to display warning notices in smokefree premises.

What does "substantially enclosed" mean?

Premises are considered substantially enclosed if they have a ceiling or roof, and openings in the walls are less than half the total area of the walls. A roof includes any fixed or moveable structure or device, for example a retractable canvas awning capable of covering all or part of the premises.

Smoking will be allowed in shelters which are not substantially enclosed.

Which premises are affected?

Smokefree legislation affects all premises which:

the public has access to. For example, pubs, clubs, restaurants, cafes, etc
are being used wholly or mainly as a place of work
are being used wholly or mainly for providing education, heath or care services.

'Work' also covers voluntary work, so if a village hall holds an event staffed by volunteers, it would be smokefree. If the public attended it would be both a workplace and a public place.

What about vehicles?

All vehicles used for public transport e.g. buses, trains and taxis are affected by the new law.

Where a vehicle is used as a workplace by more than one person, regardless of whether they are in the vehicle at the same time, it is required to be smokefree at all times. This protects shift and other workers using the same vehicle from the hazards of secondhand smoke. All vehicles need to display no smoking signs.

Are there any exemptions?

Yes. Premises which are used as a full time place of residence for extended periods e.g. private dwellings, residential premises, and adult care homes. Designated rooms in hotels, hostels and bed and breakfast accommodation are exempt since they are places where people live even though they are not private homes. Where smoking cannot take place outside for safety or health reasons, then designated smoking rooms/areas may be allowed. However this does not mean that smoking is allowed throughout the premises. Instead, in premises with exemptions, employers will have to identify "designated smoke rooms" which meet the following specifications:

Is completely enclosed, except for windows / doors, on all sides by solid ceiling and walls.
The ventilation system does not ventilate into any other smokefree part of the premises.
If a door opens onto smoke free premises, it can be closed by mechanical means to prevent smoke drift.
The room needs to be clearly marked as a room where smoking is permitted.
It is up to the management of individual buildings to decide if visitors will be allowed to access smoking rooms. The exemption exists for residents only and therefore should not be used by staff.

What about entrances to buildings?

Outside areas are not covered by the legislation. However employers may want to consider making it a policy that smoking is not permitted within a certain distance from outside entrances, if possible, so that staff and visitors do not have to walk through a cloud of smoke to get into a building.

What are the penalties?

Each local authority can appoint enforcement officers e.g. environmental health officers, who will be authorised to issue the following penalties. The final penalty amount will be decided by a court rather than the local authority:

Failure to display minimum no smoking signs; up to £1000 or a fixed penalty notice £200
Smoking in a non smoking place £200 or a fixed penalty notice £50
Failing to prevent smoking in a smokefree place up to £2500

Enforcement

Our enforcement staff are working closely with businesses to raise awareness of the implications of the new legislation. This approach will be complemented by inspections which will either be proactive i.e. to confirm compliance; or reactive in response to complaints.

Prosecution and the use of fixed penalty notices will be seen as a last resort and used only when the seriousness of the situation warrants.

Continued good practice

Although detailed guidance is provided to employers and occupiers of premises, below are a few points which you may consider:

You may wish to discuss with staff how best to meet their needs within the new legislation.
It would also help to review your existing smoking policy in consultation with staff.
If you haven't already got a smoking policy, you should consider putting one in place.
Employers may wish to provide external smoking shelters if large numbers of staff are affected.
Any shelter must have an opening which is greater than half the area of the walls in order to avoid the shelter becoming 'substantially enclosed' and thereby breaching the regulations.
You may wish to assist staff in giving up smoking.