Case study: exposure to secondhand smoke
14 March 2024
Concern raised about staff being exposed to secondhand smoke at work.
There are no dedicated smoking areas or ‘no smoking’ signs across Irish Rail’s Dublin Inchicore work site, said a reporter to CIRAS. Staff are exposed to secondhand smoke. This affects the main building, where office-based staff work in signals and collections, design and construction, and as architects.
Staff smoking outside are usually close to windows and doors, which means smoke gets inside. The secondhand smoke could negatively impact the health of those who breathe it in, and the smell creates an unpleasant working environment. The reporter wanted a designated staff smoking area with suitable bins, and signs to indicate non-smoking and smoking areas.
Irish Rail put up new ‘no smoking’ signs where people gather at the building entrance, and refreshed older signs. It has no plans to create smoking areas. The signs show where people shouldn’t smoke. Irish Rail has now removed seating and bins from these areas.
Managers are briefing all staff through a briefing sheet, by email and on internal company TV, alongside information about the help available to smokers through the company wellbeing programme. If people smoke in the non-smoking areas, their managers will address this and there will be a reasonable and appropriate outcome.