Smoke-free Business Pays Off In Belfast

Belfast’s businesses – and smokers – have been congratulated for their widespread acceptance of the smoke-free legislation introduced earlier this year.

Since the introduction of the new law on 30 April 2007, council officers have visited more than 5,000 businesses across the city – and found a compliance rate of almost 99 per cent.

Only a handful of breaches were detected in that time, and only a small number of businesses were found not to be displaying the required signs.

The council had to write to only ten businesses to remind them of their responsibilities under the legislation.

Chairman of the Health and Environmental Services Committee, Councillor Cathal Mullaghan said: “The high level of compliance is an endorsement of the work which the council put into preparing businesses for the introduction of the new legislation on 30 April.

“The council spent more than a year preparing for the law coming in, and put a lot of time and effort into advising and helping businesses to get ready for it,” he continued.

“However, the implementation of the legislation could not have been such a success without the help of the business community in making it work – and the acceptance of the change by smokers themselves.

“The law was brought in to protect the health of workers and the public in previously smoke-filled environments. This high level of compliance shows that the legislation was brought in for the right reasons – and is being accepted as such,” concluded Councillor Mullaghan.

(LC)