Employers will have to enforce smoking ban in company cars

Smoking in company cars and commercial vehicles will be banned when the new workplace smoking laws come into effect on March 29th, the Health and Safety Authority has confirmed.

Employers will have to enforce the smoking ban, not only within the confines of the office, but also in company vehicles.

This is because they will constitute "enclosed workplaces" under the terms of the ban, a spokeswoman for the HSA said yesterday.

"Under the terms of the ban company cars are part of the workplace, even if it's a truck-driver on their own in their vehicle.

"Self-employed people working on their own in an office are covered by the ban. Essentially it's the same thing," the HSA spokeswoman said.

The HSA will police the system by checking if employers have included a no-smoking rule for company cars in their smoke-free workplace policy.

However, it will be the employers' responsibility to ensure that they have deterrents and disciplinary procedures in place to enforce the ban.

The employers' group IBEC said the ban on smoking in cars would be difficult, if not impossible, for companies to enforce.

"I really don't know how it will be enforced, I don't expect the guards to enforce it.

" I'd say they'd take the view that they have better things to do," IBEC's assistant director, Mr Tony Briscoe, said.

When the smoking regulations were being drafted, IBEC did suggest that company vehicles be excluded.

However, the Government ignored the recommendation.

The president of the Irish Road Haulage Association, Mr Eamonn Morrissey, said the HSA had gone "a step too far", and the regulation could lead to chaos on the roads.

"This just isn't enforceable. It's a push too far not to allow drivers to smoke in their lorries.

"If this happens, I think we'll be looking at a lot of frayed nerves on the roads," Mr Morrissey said.

He added that he didn't see how the rule could possibly work, unless gardaí were to stop every lorry-driver they saw smoking.

He added: "It's ridiculous to expect smokers not to smoke in their vehicles and it's even more ridiculous to have people looking over their shoulders the whole time waiting to be caught.

"It will only be more of a hazard on our roads."