The proposed ban on smoking in the workplace will apply to family homes in certain circumstances, it has been confirmed. Liam Reid reports
The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) said yesterday that its proposed worker protection legislation on tobacco smoke would apply to all indoor working situations.
The regulations, which were finalised in the last week, ban smoking in all indoor workplaces by defining environmental tobacco smoke as a carcinogen.
A spokeswoman for the HSA said the regulations meant that smoking would be banned in homes where full-time staff were employed, such as carers, au pairs and home helps.
"They will apply to homes insofar as they are workplaces," she said.
The number of homes expected to be affected by the regulations is unknown. However, there are more than 30,000 home helps working in the republic, while recent figures suggest that a further 20,000 people work as childminders. Under the regulations, tradesmen working temporarily in a home could also insist that nobody smokes while they are in a domestic house.
She said the regulations were designed on the basis of equality, in that workers were entitled to the same level of protection regardless of where they worked.
People working in other family homes will be able to complain to the HSA about any potential breaches.
However, the HSA spokeswoman said she did not expect many complaints from this sector.
"People who work in family homes usually have a very good working relationship with their employers," she said.
Details of the final HSA regulations emerged following a meeting of the authority's dangerous substance committee yesterday, which decided to designate environmental tobacco smoke as a carcinogen.
This clears the way for the regulations to come before the HSA board for final approval before they are sent to the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise and Employment, Mr Frank Fahey, to be signed into law.
However, the HSA confirmed there would be a three-month delay between ministerial approval of the regulations and their coming into force.
Under European legislation the Government has to give three months' notice to the European Union. This was just a formality, the spokeswoman said.
The application of the HSA regulations to some domestic homes is in contrast to the smoking ban proposed by the Minister for Health, Mr Martin.
His regulations will specifically exclude private dwelling places from the ban.
Legal advice received by his Department suggested that enforcing the ban in private homes would be impossible, as the State would have no right to inspect private homes.