Employers aren’t legally required to provide a smoking shelter for employees on the workplace grounds. Still, it is wise to consider the needs of your employees and visitors who wish to smoke during rest periods.

 

Isn’t smoking banned at work?

Smoking has been banned in all work and public spaces, public transport and shopping centres since 2007. The law states that places of work must be smoke-free at all times in substantially or fully enclosed areas. This applies even when those who smoke work at different times. The ban on workplace smoking naturally caused a dynamic change for smokers who were forced outside during breaks, whatever the weather.

This led to the creation of what has become known as a ‘smoking shelter’. An area that provides a covered and partially enclosed designated area that employees and visitors can use when they smoke provides shelter to stay dry and protected from adverse weather and harmful UV rays. A smoking shelter allows visitors and employees a designated area to smoke, enabling the rest of the working site to remain smoke-free. You can then insist that your building entrances remain clear and smoke-free.

 

Is providing a smoke shelter a legal requirement?

No, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a consideration for some workplaces.

Installing a smoke shelter, such as those provided by Strip Curtains Direct, which offers a wide range of smoking shelters and bins, will provide somewhere suitable for your workforce and visitors to enjoy smoking without smoking being an issue to others or lingering under the protection of your building or entrances.

Smokers will feel cared for, as they can enjoy smoking in a dedicated and defined area that doesn’t interfere with those who do not wish to be around smoke.

 

The legalities

If you choose to add a permanent smoking shelter, you will need to follow all planning and smoking shelter build regulations. Here we give you an insight into what you need to consider.

Smoking shelters should comply with the Smoke-Free Regulations and follow local council rules on noise and licensing. You will also require planning permission to erect a permanent external structure, irrespective of whether the building is attached to your work premises or free standing.

You may also require Building Regulation Approval if your proposed smoking shelter is more than 15m2 and is within one metre of a boundary. Larger shelters (those over 30m2) generally require approval. Whether freestanding or attached to a building must not be enclosed by windows, doors, walls or other structures that encompass more than 50% of the shelter to allow sufficient unrestricted airflow.

You should consider the location carefully of your building. Its open nature means you should consider light, noise, safety, ventilation and, of course, choose a brand that will create a positive impression of your organisation, especially where the shelter is close to the main entrance or in a prominent area.

Temporary shelters such as lightweight gazebos and giant parasols will not require planning permission. Still, you have a responsibility to ensure that they are made from suitably fire-resistant materials and are structurally sound, problems which often make a permanent structure the wiser choice.

 

In Conclusion

Whilst there is no legal requirement regarding the distance a smoking shelter must be sighted from any buildings, it will be an area where many visitors or other employees wish to avoid going near or feeling the effects. It is good practice, wherever possible, to site smoking shelter structures at least 2 metres away from doors or windows and high traffic areas, thus allowing smoke to dissipate without causing a nuisance to the building users and occupants.