Code of Practice - SUMMARY

Proposed Code of Practice for Controlling the Exposure of Workers in Hospitality Workplaces in British Columbia to Environmental Tobacco Smoke

Summary

The Code of Practice is a ventilation solution, based upon accepted engineering principles, and developed by the Hospitality Industry Standing Committee on Indoor Air Quality in response to a WCB regulation on environmental tobacco smoke to take effect on January 1, 2000.

The WCB regulation states that,

The employer must control the exposure of workers at any workplace to environmental tobacco smoke by restricting smoking to designated smoking areas or by other equally effective means.

Under the Committee's proposal, hospitality establishments would have two choices: either ban smoking altogether, or subscribe to the proposed Code of Practice which establishes engineering and ventilation requirements to clear the air of environmental tobacco smoke, controlling potential harmful exposure to second hand smoke. The Code of Practice sets an indoor air quality and ventilation standard that is higher than the indoor air quality currently found in British Columbia schools. The key element of this Code of Practice is, first, establishing high ventilation standards, and then recommending engineering controls and compliance monitoring to maintain that high standard.

Under the Code of Practice, hospitality establishments must:

Identify smoking areas with signage;

Separate smoking from non-smoking areas;

Pressurize their establishments so that air moves from non-smoking to smoking areas;

Exhaust air from smoking areas directly outdoors, or clean any recirculated air using proper air cleaning and filtration technology; and Provide higher ventilation rates depending on the number of smokers in the area and the size and type of establishment. Under this Code of Practice, hospitality establishments are required to monitor air quality standards in their places of business on an ongoing basis in order to ensure compliance. Employees themselves would have the capability to monitor air quality, and the WCB would have responsibility for overall enforcement and compliance. The Code of Practice, developed over the last three years, is overwhelmingly supported throughout the hospitality industry by hospitality, tourism and labour organizations in British Columbia representing over 10,000 hospitality establishments and 150,000 employees.