The White Paper on Tobacco Smoking Kills advocates the right to clean air and protection against smoking and other people's smoke. It stresses co-operation between businesses and other organisations responsible for public places and encourages the introduction of smoke-free areas while at the same time highlighting best practice.
The Scottish Licensed Trade Association and the Scottish Tourist Forum collaborated to launch a voluntary charter on smoking in public places in Scotland. The voluntary charter was launched at the annual conference of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association in late May 2000 and disseminated in October 2000.
Alongside the voluntary charter, a proposed new approved code of practice on smoking in the workplace is being developed by the Health and Safety Executive to improve protection of the welfare of all employees. It will provide guidance on the development of smoking policies that comply with health and safety regulations. The Charter points out that ventilation systems are a positive short-term step adding to customers' and staff comfort by reducing the level of tobacco smoke, but ventilation by itself does not reduce the health risks associated with environmental tobacco smoke.
Respondents were informed that the government has put forward proposals to introduce a voluntary charter for the hospitality trade to ensure that customers have more choice about whether or not to eat, drink or socialise in a place that allows smoking.
Over eight out of 10 (83%) were unaware of the Voluntary Charter. Those who were aware of it (N=154) were asked how they had heard about it. Over half (55%) had heard of it on television, approximately a tenth (11%) said they had heard of it on the radio and 9% had heard about it in a public house.
| Table 6-1 Method by which Respondents heard about the Voluntary Charter | |
| Method | % of Respondents |
| On television | 55 |
| In the press | 20 |
| On the radio | 11 |
| In a public house | 9 |
| At work | 6 |
| Word of mouth | 5 |
| Don't know/can't remember | 5 |
| In a restaurant | 2 |
| Fire authority | * |
| University | * |
| Club | * |
| N= | 154 |
| NB: multiple response applicable | |
Respondents showed a similar lack of awareness of the proposed Approved Code of Practice. Only 15% said they had heard of the Code and of those who had, 47% said they had heard about it at work, 24% on the TV and/or radio, 13% by word of mouth and 10% from newspapers.
The smoking status of respondents had no effect on their level of awareness of the Voluntary Charter or Approved Code of Practice. Respondents in social grades C1 and C2 showed a slightly greater level of awareness of the Approved Code of Practice and Voluntary Charter (16% and 18% respectively) than those in social grades D and E (11% and 13%). The age group 41-59 years showed the greatest level of awareness of the Voluntary Charter and Approved Code of Practice (20% and 22% respectively), whereas the age group 17-25 years was the least aware (11% and 8%).