Workers see immediate health benefits from ban on smoking

Scotland's smoking ban has substantially improved air quality in pubs and slashed the exposure of bar workers to second-hand smoke by 86%, according to research commissioned by NHS Health Scotland and the Scottish Executive.

In one of the largest evaluations of the effect of smoke-free legislation on second-hand smoke levels in the hospitality sector, researchers measured the air quality in 41 Scottish bars both before and after the ban was imposed, and examined the respiratory health of 371 bar workers.

They found that air quality in most Scottish bars is now comparable with average outdoor air quality - a result that augurs well for the smoking bans that will come into force later this year in Wales, Northern Ireland and England.

"These findings confirm the dramatic effect that smoking cessation in pubs and bars can have on air quality," said Jon Ayres, head of the University of Aberdeen's Department of Environmental and Occupation Medicine and a lead researcher on the study. "This can only be to the benefit of bar staff and customers alike."

The research report, Secondhand smoke levels in Scottish pubs: the effect of smokefree legislation, is available at http://tc.bmj.com/homepage/Scottishsmoke.pdf