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Protect workers’ health - vote
for smokefree Northern Ireland
A partnership of 36 statutory, private and voluntary organisations
has joined forces to urge the public to protect the health
of all workers and vote for a smokefree Northern Ireland.
The partnership,
facilitated by the Health Promotion Agency, will launch
a new website today to encourage and enable the
public to directly respond to the Department of Health, Social
Services and Public Safety’s consultation, A healthier
future: a twenty year vision for health and wellbeing in
Northern Ireland.
Dr Brian Gaffney,
Chief Executive of the Health Promotion Agency said: “This
consultation process is one of the most important opportunities
we have to promote health in
Northern Ireland. Creating smokefree environments will benefit
everyone and set the agenda for tackling what is still the
major direct cause of ill health in Northern Ireland.
“The government
has passed the responsibility for this decision to the
people of Northern Ireland and we, as
individuals and organisations who are working to improve
health, must mobilise and motivate people to respond to this
consultation. By acting in collaboration we greatly increase
our chances of getting what we believe will be the best result
for everyone in Northern Ireland.”
The group are
appealing to the public to support Option 5c ‘to ban smoking in all enclosed public places and
workplaces’ by responding to the consultation before
the
25 March 2005 deadline.
Dr Peter Maguire,
Deputy Chairman of the British Medical Association’s Board of Science said: "One
person each week in Northern Ireland is dying needlessly
as a result
of breathing in other people's tobacco smoke. There is conclusive
evidence that passive smoking can cause lung cancer and coronary
heart disease, can trigger asthma attacks and worsen bronchitis
in adults. There is also mounting evidence that passive smoking
can cause strokes, the development of asthma, low birth weight
babies and premature births.
"Stopping
people smoking in enclosed public places is not about restricting
civil liberties. It is about protecting
workers and non-smokers from the harmful effects of environmental
tobacco smoke. Current UK policies have failed. Smokefree
public places enjoy widespread public support. Our Government
must act now to make all enclosed public places, including
workplaces, smokefree by law."
Tobacco
smoke contains around 4,000 chemicals, of which about 60
are
known or suspected to cause cancer. Around 85%
of the smoke in a room where people are smoking is the more
toxic ‘sidestream’ smoke, which comes from the
burning tip of the cigarette and is unfiltered1. Employers
have a duty to protect the health and wellbeing of their
employees and a recent survey demonstrated that a majority
of people in Northern Ireland want smokefree workplaces,
with 61% of respondents supporting a law to make all workplaces
smokefree and just 16% opposing the idea.2
Dr Bill Jenkinson,
Health and Safety Director, Bombardier Aerospace, Belfast
said: “We are
delighted to be a partner in this initiative and to host
the launch of this Smokefree Northern Ireland website.
We have been operating a total ban on smoking within our
company premises for more than five years, as we believe
it is totally unacceptable that any employee, or visitor,
should be subjected to the health risks associated with passive
smoking.
“Research
has shown that smokefree workplaces also have a significant
impact on health and on the numbers of
people smoking in the community at large. We actively encourage
our employees to adhere to our non-smoking policy in the
workplace, and advice is available for those who wish to
control their use of tobacco. I would encourage other firms
to join this initiative in a bid to improve the overall health
of everyone in Northern Ireland.”
END
Notes
to the editor
- The partnership website www.smokefreenorthernireland.com will be launched on Monday 21 February 2005 at 11.00am
at Bombardier Aerospace, Interpoint, 20-24 York Street,
Belfast.
- Protecting
your workforce from tobacco smoke – A
guide for workplaces, HPA 2005.
- Smoking in public places:
what the public thinks, HPA 2004.
For
further information contact
Rosie McGaughey on 028 9031 1611 or 9031 1514.
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