Q&As: Smokefree communal areas in private dwellings?

Q. Do communal areas of private dwellings have to go smokefree on 1st July?

The following guidance is taken from the Government's guidance document 'Everything you need to prepare for the new smokefree law on 1st July 2007':

In general, the new law does not cover private dwellings. However, any enclosed or substantially enclosed part of a premises shared with other premises, such as a communal stairwell or lift in a block of flats, will be required to be smokefree if:

• it is open to the public
• it is used as a place of work, for example, by a cleaner, postman or security guard.

Please access the full-text of the guidance here: http://www.smokefreeengland.co.uk/files/everything_u_need_new_sf_law.pdf

For further information on everything related to going smokefree, including signage, penalties etc. please see the following website: http://www.smokefreeengland.co.uk/.

There is also a telephone helpline (Smokefree England Information Line) which can help you to interprete the requirements of the regulations: 0800 169 169 7.

First Infocentre blog/Smoking ban guidance

Hello and welcome to the first ever RoSPA Information Centre blog. This is a new way for the Information Centre to tell members about injury prevention information, to discuss the latest safety news, to tell you about new legislation, guidance, case law, media reports, and anything else that might be of interested to you. Please send us your comments. We will update the blog regularly.


Are you hoping to encourage your employees to give up smoking following the ban in England on 1st July 2007?

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) issued public health intervention guidance in April 2007. Workplace health promotion: how to help employees to stop smoking (London: NICE, 2007) draws on the evidence of how to stop people smoking to provide practical guidance to all employees. Access the report in full-text at:

http://guidance.nice.org.uk/PHI5/guidance/pdf/English or telephone the NHS Response Line for a printed copy: 0870 1555 455.


Smoking Ban guidance

For guidance on all aspects of the smoking ban, including regulations, practical guidance for your workplace, signage, etc, please see the following excellent websites:Smokefree England:

http://www.smokefreeengland.co.uk/Space to Breathe for Northern Ireland: http://www.spacetobreathe.org.uk/Smoking Ban Wales: http://www.smokingbanwales.co.uk/english/Clearing the Air in Scotland: http://www.clearingtheairscotland.com/