HSC report on workplace smoking suppressed

A suppressed report leaked to The Independent newspaper says that thousands of lives could be saved by outlawing smoking at work.

An unpublished HSC "impact assessment" says up to 2,340 lives a year could be saved by outlawing workplace smoking. The study says the government and business, including the National Health Service, could save £21bn every year.

Unions believe the report has been suppressed because of lobbying by the hospitality industry, who claim a ban would be too expensive.

TUC, unions and campaign organisations have been urging HSC and the government to stop stalling on an Approved Code of Practice on passive smoking, which has been under consultation for five years.

Unions say hospitality industry claims of prohibitive costs are unfounded, and the evidence of the effects of passive smoking continues to mount up.

A report published in April by anti-smoking group Action on Smoking on Health (ASH) reveals that every year 1,200 people in the UK (three a day) die due to passive smoking at work.

Copies of the report, A killer on the loose, can be obtained from ASH

p: 020 7739 5902; w: www.ash.org.uk/