Smoking charter may go
Government health and safety advisers are to consider overriding a charter adopted by the hospitality industry to reduce the risks of passive smoking in bars and restaurants.
The Health & Safety Commission is instead to consider an Approved Code of Practice (ACOP), which would have greater legal standing, as one of several proposals following a consultation programme lasting almost a year.
But Phil Phillips, technical services manager of the British Hospitality Association, said an ACOP would ignore the special circumstances of hospitality.
"Our industry has a different problem from most other industries. A large percentage of smoke in our workplaces is created by the customers, not the staff," he said.
Public smoking bans in other countries, he claimed, had already resulted in enormous job losses.
Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 25-31 May 2000