DoH news release 1st December 2006
“Health Secretary announces date England will go smoke free”
The smoke free elements of the Health Act 2006, come into force from 6am on the 1st July 2007. Virtually all enclosed public places and workplaces will become smoke free environments. This will include offices, factories, shops, pubs, bars, restaurants, membership clubs, public transport and work vehicles that are used by more than one person. Indoor smoking rooms, still common in workplaces, will no longer be allowed. Anyone intending to smoke who is in an enclosed public place or workplace will have to go outside instead.
This legislation will help to prevent the unnecessary deaths caused every year from second-hand smoke, and recognises that there is absolutely no safe level of exposure.
Comment
The precise wording of the law was not available on the 1st December.
The consultation document asserted that there was no safe level of exposure to tobacco smoke. Proof of exposure, even if accepted as a breach of duty, should not be sufficient to establish causation.