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A ban on smoking in playgrounds, school grounds and hospital sites in Wales will begin in March 2021. Councils will have powers to issue fixed-penalty notices for breaches of the law, the Welsh Government said. Smoking rooms in all hotels will also be banned in 2022.
The law makes Wales the first country in the UK to ban smoking in playgrounds, school grounds and across hospital sites. Wellbeing minister Eluned Morgan said: "The purpose of the requirements under these regulations for smoke-free hospital grounds is to promote behavioural change, and to help smokers using our hospital services to quit." By law, smokers, including staff, will have to leave hospital grounds to have a cigarette from March.
The rules approved by the Senedd implement provisions first made in the Public Health Wales Act, which became in 2017. A total of 45 Senedd members passed the new regulations, with four opposed and two abstentions.
Source: BBC, 21 October 2020
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A new survey suggests that employees may want more support from their employers to help them quit. The Quitting Smoking for Mental Health survey of over 1,000 employees across the UK was conducted by Vape Club, a retailer of e-cigarette materials and UK Vaping Industry Association member. The survey asked participants about their wellbeing since quitting and what measures would have made quitting easier.
When asked about what their companies could have done to help them quit smoking, 30% of respondents said that a ban on smoking on workplace premises would have helped them quit the most; 32% said support in funding quitting tools (such as nicotine replacement therapies and e-cigarettes) would have helped; and 39% of ex-smokers said having a designated vaping place or allowing vaping in the workplace would have helped, with a further 34% of current smokers agreeing this would help them quit.
When looking at the impact of quitting on mental health and productivity, 29% of ex-smokers said that they have taken less time off work for mental or physical health issues since quitting smoking, including sick days and unpaid leave. Almost half (44%) of ex-smokers surveyed also said that they had noticed an improvement in their mental health since quitting.
Editorial note
The UK Vaping Industry Association includes tobacco companies in its membership.
Source: Employer News, 22 October 2020
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