Should Any Workplace Be Exempt from Smoke-Free Law: The Irish Experience
نویسندگان
چکیده
BACKGROUND In 2004, the Irish Government introduced national legislation banning smoking in workplaces; with exemptions for "a place of residence". This paper summarises three Irish studies of exempted premises; prisons, psychiatric hospitals and nursing homes. METHODS PM(2.5) and nicotine were measured in nursing homes and psychiatric hospitals, in addition to ultrafine particles in the hospitals. In the prisons, officers (n = 30) completed exhaled breath Carbon Monoxide (CO) measurements. Questionnaires determined officers' opinion on introducing smoking prohibitions in prisons. Nursing home smoking policies were examined and questionnaires completed by staff regarding workplace secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure. FINDINGS Ultrafine particle concentrations in psychiatric hospitals averaged 130,000 cm(3), approximately 45% higher than Dublin pub (35.5 μg/m(3)) pre ban. PM(2.5) levels in psychiatric hospitals (39.5 μg/m(3)) were similar to Dublin pubs (35.5 μg/m(3)) pre ban. In nursing homes permitting smoking, similar PM(2.5) levels (33 μg/m(3)) were measured, with nicotine levels (0.57 μg/m(3)) four times higher than "non-smoking" nursing homes (0.13 μg/m(3)). In prisons, 44% of non-smoking officers exhibited exhaled breath CO criteria for light to heavy smokers. CONCLUSIONS With SHS exposure levels in some exempted workplaces similar to Dublin pubs levels pre ban, policies ensuring full protection must be developed and implemented as a right for workers, inmates and patients.
منابع مشابه
Reductions in tobacco smoke pollution and increases in support for smoke-free public places following the implementation of comprehensive smoke-free workplace legislation in the Republic of Ireland: findings from the ITC Ireland/UK Survey.
OBJECTIVE To evaluate the psychosocial and behavioural impact of the first ever national level comprehensive workplace smoke-free law, implemented in Ireland in March 2004. DESIGN Quasi-experimental prospective cohort survey: parallel cohort telephone surveys of national representative samples of adult smokers in Ireland (n = 769) and the UK (n = 416), surveyed before the law (December 2003 t...
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ورودعنوان ژورنال:
دوره 2012 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2012