10 March 2004 - National No Smoking Day, TUC Calls For 'Hazardous Chemical' Classification
Once again it's National No Smoking Day, but many of the countries smokers simply laugh it off. Maybe not for long if the TUC have their way.......
The TUC is calling for tobacco smoke to be classified as a ‘hazardous chemical’ under European law and restricted in workplaces, including bars and restaurants, like other dangerous substances.
Brendan Barber, TUC General Secretary has issued this statement:
'Tobacco smoke is a killer and should be treated as such in the workplace. Making work smoke-free would save thousands of lives and do absolutely no harm to the economy.'
The EU Commission has a
legal obligation to examine the health effects of hazardous chemical agents
and levels of workplace exposure using the latest scientific research
(Council Directive 98/24/EC).
The TUC has written to the EU Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs
asking for action under this obligation, including limits on exposure to
tobacco smoke at work and to list it as an occupational carcinogen. The TUC
says that the evidence clearly shows that failure to treat tobacco smoke in
a similar way to other dangerous chemicals leads to the deaths or incapacity
of many thousands of workers across the EU from lung cancer, emphysema,
bronchitis and asthma.
This story is a press release from the TUC web site here.
