While the Government, the Health Service Executive and the Office of Tobacco Enforcement (OTC) celebrated the success of the smoking ban yesterday, some employees have continued to flout the law by smoking in company vehicles, writes Daniel Attwood.
Ireland's ban celebrated its first anniversary yesterday amid congratulations for a resounding success which will save up to 5,000 lives a year.
Social smokers may have been forced to quit or step outside, but many workers who smoke in company cars, vans and lorries continue to puff away, risking a €3,000 fine.
The law is clear - as part of the Public Health (Tobacco) Act, 2002, since March 29th 2004 smoking has been outlawed in enclosed places of work including company cars.
"A car is an enclosed space and is not exempt under the legislation," says the Health and Safety Authority. "Company cars would be included in the definition of places which must be smoke-free."
There are a few exceptions to the rule such as hotels, prisons and police stations, but there is no special dispensation for company vehicles.
The obligation for ensuring that employees comply with the law rests with employers, but an employee who smokes in a workplace is still breaking the law and risks a fine. Company and fleet managers who fail to dictate a no smoking policy in their vehicles risk fines and even imprisonment.
Inspectors from three agencies - the Health Service Executive, the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) and the OTC - must check compliance. However, none of these agencies has prosecuted for breaches involving smoking in company vehicles.
Tony Sutton, spokesperson for the HSA, the agency with the main responsibility for ensuring workplace compliance outside of the food and hospitality sectors, confirmed that nobody has been taken to court for smoking in a company vehicle. However, it's an issue of which the HSA is aware, he says, and with high compliance levels in permanent workplaces attention may now be switched to areas such as company vehicles.
Employers who turn a blind eye to employees smoking while in their vehicles are in breach of the 2002 Act, as well as the 1989 Safety Health and Welfare at Work Act, which demands that employers do not expose employees to an unsafe working environment.
Recent OTC research shows that 98 per cent of the public believe that workplaces are healthier since the introduction of the ban. The study found that 96 per cent believe the law is successful, including 89 per cent of smokers.
Dr Michael Boland, OTC chairman, said the results reflect high compliance levels. In its one-year review, the National Tobacco Control Inspection Programme shows that in the nine months since the ban was introduced, 94 per cent of premises inspected were compliant.
Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Seán Power, said: "High compliance rates are a testament to the work of environmental health officers and the Health Service Executive, as well as the Office of Tobacco Control and the Health and Safety Authority in building compliance with the legislation together with enforcement actions where necessary. Widespread support means that the law is now part of everyone's normal work and social life."