Staff may sue pubs over passive smoking
Pubs, clubs and restaurants in Britain were today warned they faced the threat of compensation claims from workers whose health is damaged by passive smoking.
Anti-smoking group ASH sent registered letters to 170 leading firms in the hospitality trade making it clear legal action will be taken on behalf of staff.
The group announced a tie-up with law firm Thompsons as part of a campaign to urge workers who believed their health had been harmed by inhaling smoke to seek compensation.
Fewer than 30 pubs in the UK were smoke-free and most restaurants allowed their customers to smoke, according to ASH.
The British government has been urging employers to improve conditions for non-smokers, such as segregating smokers into special areas and fitting ventilation systems.
But ASH said these measures would not properly protect vulnerable workers from inhaling “second-hand smoke” and called for all workplaces to be smoke-free.
The campaign group said it would shortly be announcing how it intended to encourage workers to take legal action for compensation.
Deborah Arnott, director of ASH, said: “The time is long past when employers should have known that second--hand smoke is bad for their staff, and bad for the general public.
“To make quite sure that they understand this crucial point – and the rising threat of legal actions that they now face – we have sent all the UK hospitality trade’s leading employers a formal registered letter.
“This spells out the science on second-hand smoke, and the law as we and Thompsons understand it.
“If employers will not act from conviction or common sense, and if the Government still refuses to legislate, then the issue will be forced to a head in the courts.”
John Hall, a solicitor at Thompsons, added: “Smoking in the workplace should have ended years ago. Bosses are no more entitled to allow smoke in the workplace as they are to allow asbestos or coal dust.
“They need to give the order to stub out or they will face the growing threat of legal action. This is about taking steps to stop injury and avoiding future legal action by protecting the workforce from a deadly substance.
“If employers continue to do nothing then they will leave themselves wide open to compensation claims and they will have no one to blame but themselves.”
