A BAN on smoking in public places in Guernsey is inevitable. Director of public health Dr David Jeffs said the tide of opinion elsewhere was slowly turning but the courts would ultimately determine the issue.

‘It will eventually happen on health-and-safety-at-work grounds,’ he said.

‘Should we tolerate potentially having our health damaged by having to work in smoke-filled atmospheres?’ he said. ‘And this extends to restaurant and bar staff.’

Employees bringing successful lawsuits against their employer after developing health problems as a result of passive smoking will eventually force governments to act.

He said the job of making Guernsey workplaces smoke-free would rest with the Commerce and Employment Department, which is responsible for health and safety at work.

It is beyond Health and Social Services’ power to bring change to legislation but Dr Jeffs said he would be asking Commerce and Employment for its views.

Draft policy documents said to be part of the Labour Government’s third-term manifesto, and leaked to the Guardian newspaper, are said to include a ban on smoking in public places.

Since April, smoking in bars and most other public places has been illegal in Ireland and Dr Jeffs said the Scottish Parliament was now considering following suit. Norway has also introduced a similar ban.

There was now scientific evidence to show that passive smoking was harmful. Cotinine – a breakdown of nicotine – can be detected in saliva and nicotine can be present in a person’s hair.

‘It’s been shown that people who work eight hours a day in a smoke-filled bar or restaurant have the equivalent of smoking 10 cigarettes a day, which increases their risk of developing cancer or having a heart attack,’ he said.

Many believed Guernsey to be among world leaders with its anti-smoking initiatives but Dr Jeffs said the mantle was beginning to slip, especially as the island still allowed smoking in public eating places.

Many hospitals in England are smoke-free or have designated smoke-free buildings, he said, and locally the board was following the same route.

‘The board is still going down the road of improving smoking-free provision at all of its sites.’

This can also be of benefit in terms of recruitment as professionals used to working in smoke-free atmospheres were likely to see a move to one that permitted smoking as a backward step.

‘Hospitals elsewhere are doing it and we can’t afford to be seen to be stuck in the past,’ he said.