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What do the Smokefree laws mean for workplaces?

What do the Smokefree laws mean for workplaces?

Less than one in five New Zealand adults smoke tobacco. This means that there may be one or more smokers in many workplaces. The government has committed to the goal of Smokefree Aotearoa by 2025 so that our children and grandchildren will be free from tobacco and enjoy tobacco-free lives, and almost no-one (less than 5%) will smoke. Statistics show 80% of smokers wish they had never started smoking.

Workplaces are protected against the harmful effects of tobacco smoke through the Smoke-free Environments Act 1990 and its 2004 Amendments. The Act aims to prevent the detrimental effect of other people’s smoking in the workplace on other people. Employers must take all reasonably practicable steps to make sure that no one smokes at any time in the workplace. Such steps might include smokefree signage, reference to the smokefree policy in employment agreements and training for managers and supervisors. There is also a duty on employees and volunteers not to smoke at any time in a workplace.

Workplaces can have a smokefree policy. For help in developing a policy, contact your local Community & Public Health office. Smoking is not a human right. Some workplaces, especially health organisations are moving towards only employing non-smokers.

There are many benefits to having a smokefree workforce including employees who take fewer daily breaks, a lower fire risk, positive business image and a cleaner environment. There are also financial and productivity benefits. Employees who smoke can have up to 33% more sick time off work than non-smokers. A worker taking four x 10-minute breaks each day works one month less than a non-smoker over a one-year period. Research tells us that smokers miss two or three days of work each year in comparison to those who do not smoke.

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What does the law say about smoking in work vehicles? Smoking in work vehicles may be allowed if the public don’t have access to the vehicle, and if all employees and volunteers who use the vehicle have agreed in writing to allow smoking in it.

If someone has reasonable grounds to believe that there has been a breach of the workplace smoking provisions of the Smoke-free Environments Act, they can make a complaint to their employer. Employers have 20 working days to investigate the complaint and resolve it if a breach has occurred. Workplace complaints can also be made to the Smokefree Enforcement Officer Rodney Beckett at the local public health unit (www.cph.co.nz).

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