After years of debate, the government finally decided to act by banning smoking indoors and in anywhere vaguely public as of 1 July 2007, which sounds the death knell for ‘smoking rooms’. But what impact will this have on the print industry, which has enjoyed a lengthy dalliance with nicotine?

The most obvious impact will be the introduction of elongated ‘fag breaks’. Unlike in, say, car manufacturing, where there is a constant production line and employees are assigned breaks at certain times, print is less predictable and random lulls are the only provision for crafty drags.

BPIF head of legal Anne Copley explains: “Smokers go on breaks when there are lulls. Friction arises when they’re always nipping off, and this is aggravated when people have to go outside and use up even more time.”

The move is not entirely groundbreaking; not only does England lag behind Scotland, Wales and Ireland with the ban, but many printers, particularly larger ones, say they’ve had a no-smoking policy for some time, as the OHSAS 18001 accreditation does not permit it. For those printers, the only real change will be the red tape surrounding the legislation.

Big Brother
“If the law requires a sign stating that ‘it is against the law to smoke’, do I also have to place a sign above it stating ‘it is against the law not to display the notice below’?” asks Paul Chesterman, production director at stationery manufacturer Tollit and Harvey. “We have enjoyed a smoke-free site for more than 10 years and I have no argument with the ban, but Big Brother’s threatening reminders do irritate me.”

However resistant managers may be, they have little choice but to comply with the new law – or suffer the consequences. Employers can be fined up to £2,500 for ‘failing to prevent smoking’, and failing to display ‘no smoking’ signs will result in a ‘fixed penalty’ of £200, but can mean fines of up to £1,000.
Cannock-based Kazoo Print Signs and Graphics (PSG) is doing its bit to help out by giving away free ‘no smoking’ signs. But one of the biggest problems of the new ban is not comp­liance, but trying to accommodate staff that smoke.

Smoking huts
Suggestions from central government have included the construction of outdoor shelters, but these have been deemed impractical by a cash poor industry. “The print industry is not exactly flush with cash – I can’t see lots of little huts being built to house the smokers,” says Copley.

“We looked into building an area for smokers, but dismis­sed it on the grounds of cost,” adds RPM Print & Design director Peter Manwaring. Instead, RPM has put in place a policy whereby staff have to ‘clock on and off’ for cigarette breaks.

“Workers who get paid by the hour must clock off for their smoke breaks. We faced the new law with trepidation but the policy, which we have published and handed out to all staff, appears to have gone through without too many problems.”

Indeed, all companies were expected to draft a policy based on the government-supplied template 12 weeks prior to 1 July. But it’s one thing hanging a policy on the wall and quite another enforcing it.

Then there are the grey areas. The new law states that smoking is banned from work vehicles, unless an employee has sole use of the vehicle, but, as Copley points out, this somewhat bizarrely means that if two smokers share the use of a van, neither of them can smoke in it. So how do you police that? Tollit and Harvey’s Chesterman doesn’t believe he should have to. “It’s the smokers they should be having a go at – not the employers. They’re trying to get us to do their job of policing the law.”

Webmart managing director Simon Biltcliffe has taken an old-fashioned and eccentric approach to policing his workforce. “We’re doing a charity birching for anyone who smokes, even off-site. Second offence and we bring out the mop.”

Joking aside, the greatest impact on businesses looks set to be the increased number of smoking breaks, which will take staff away from their workstations.

Cutting down
Colourprint UK and Haven Colourprint UK managing direc­tor Karl Long says: “I have not stipulated specific times where the habit can be continued, but requested that everyone keep it to a minimum. In fairness, most of the ‘offenders’ have cut down, but it has taken on a pattern whereby if one decides to have a fag, they must find a smoking buddy to share the experience with. Irrespective of how little people pop out for a puff, it has an effect on productivity when they leave their workstation. Multiply that per day, per week and per year and it has to hurt.”

And there will inevitably be a backlash from non-smoking staff protesting about the disparity between working hours, which could lead to HR issues.

BPIF’s Copley explains: “What about non-smokers who consider the smokers to be getting extra breaks? How will this impact on working practices where everyone foregoes a lunch break in order to leave 20 minutes early? This is bordering on the unlawful, but that’s another story.”

One of the things you will need to include when putting together a smoking policy is the ideal length for a cigarette break and whether or not smokers have to traipse outside the gates rather than smoke just outside the doors of the factory.

If someone breaks the new law, you also have to consider what steps to take and how to reprimand repeat offenders.

Copley advises: “Before you dismiss someone for repeated offences, think about whether there is something you can do to alleviate the situation. You need to show that you’ve thought about it and made any allowances that you can.”

One way to approach such a situation would be to offer details about what help is available for nicotine addicts. But as Colourprint’s Long – a smoker himself – says, the government’s “nagging” might eventually have its intended impact.

“We’re situated in Wales and the laws have been in place since 2 April. If there is a stronger reason than health to give up, it must be that now when you smoke you have to enter into a discussion with total strangers (while freezing your bits off) about how the chancellor has taken taxes from tobacco and treats us like social lepers. After the umpteenth time you hear the same old whining, you realise it is time to give up!”

Wales-based HSW Print joint managing director Malcolm Hackman has also had a taster of the new law and, as a heavy smoker who is “desperately” trying to give up, he says that he “broadly welcomes” the initiative. “However, in the discussions leading up to the ban, nobody mentioned that I would be responsible for enforcing it. It is fashionable today for politicians to insist they will do all they can to limit the red tape that SMEs are subject to. I resent having to take on more work to satisfy the government’s plans and then listen to them telling me their aim is to lighten my load.”

According to Copley: “It would be sensible to talk to staff and come up with the best way to implement the new law, but the bottom line is you have to comply.”

---

TOP TIPS: NO SMOKING LAW
• Remove all ashtrays. You may not be using them anymore, but it is not worth the risk of a fine
• Introduce a smoke-free policy. Technically, it was the legal requirement that all businesses did this 12 weeks in advance of the 1 July start date. The government has supplied an example in its information packs and the BPIF has posted one on the Health and Safety section of its website
• Train your staff, by way of a cautionary lecture, on the benefits of giving up. Offer information on how to quit and provide helpful phone numbers for counsellors, etc
• Be sure to display your no-smoking signs and stickers at each entrance to your premises and in all smoke-free work vehicles
• To really send the message home (and show support for your large-format peers), display an A3 Smokefree England poster. Order it from smokefreeengland.co.uk/resources or by calling 0800 169 1697
• If you do decide to build an outside smoking area, you need to make sure it is not enclosed or “substantially enclosed”. Contact your local council for advice before you start
• Close any existing indoor smoking rooms
• Use the law as the perfect excuse for a factory facelift – get the carpets and any curtains cleaned in formerly smoky rooms and take a deep breath of clean air