Over the past few years Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) has become an area of growing concern. As modern buildings have become tighter, ventilation rates have been reduced and new contaminants detected, resulting in increased levels of indoor air pollution. One major concern is the risk of health of passive smoking and with the health and safety executive stating (under section 2 of the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974) employers must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all their employees – the need to act is clear. The HSE recommends that all employers should have a specific policy on smoking in the work place, which should give priority to the needs of non-smokers who do not wish to breathe tobacco smoke and that smokers should be segregated from non-smokers. This is not always practical and prior to any statutory requirements being put in place, industry as a whole needs to react to and comply with the existing guidelines to improve indoor air quality. |
