1. Introduction
All our employees and contractors working on behalf of the organisation have the right to work in a smoke free environment whilst they are carrying out their roles. Staff who enter people’s homes are at greater risk of being exposed to second hand smoke than someone who works all day in an office.
- Second hand smoke (SHS) is a proven health hazard and a cause of lung cancer and coronary artery disease in non-smokers.
- Community staff may find themselves regularly exposed to SHS.
- Some staff may feel it is outside of their role to ask clients not to smoke in their own homes and would prefer the issue to be addressed by their managers and employing authority.
As such, this policy has been written in support of their right to request that they are not unnecessarily exposed to hazardous second-hand smoke. This policy relates to our current risk assessment for visiting tenanted properties, staff should familiarise themselves with this before visiting.
2. Relevant legislation
2.1 Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
2.2 Smoke free premises Regulations 2006
3. Policy details
3.1 What we will do.
All routine visits will be pre-booked and you will be given a time for the visit. If the staff member is delayed, you will be contacted as soon as possible. When we send an appointment letter, we will include a request for all tenants and occupants who will be present during the visit, not to smoke whilst our staff are present. This will also include a request for you to ventilate your home before we arrive.
If when we arrive someone is smoking, officers are supported to politely request that anyone smoking in your home put out their cigarette and that the room they were smoking in is ventilated. Staff have the right to refuse to enter your home or to stop the visit at any time should they feel that is appropriate.
We will attempt to re-book any visits that are cut short because of an occupant smoking or find another way to engage with you. If this happens repeatedly, we may have to consider how we engage with you and to keep both you and our staff safe.
Staff can refer you to relevant resources should you wish to find out more about quitting smoking, but they will not pressure you to do so.
3.2 What we ask you to do
Please do not smoke inside your home when our contractors and officers are in your home. They have a right to work in a safe and smoke free environment. Some contractors or officers may have health conditions that you cannot see, that could be made worse by short term exposure to cigarette smoke.
How to protect staff from exposure to second-hand smoke:
- refrain from smoking inside the house for at least 1 hour before they arrive
- open windows and doors to fully ventilate the area
During the visit:
- do not smoke or let anyone else in the house smoke in the area
- wherever possible, when the contractor / officer is in the house, ask other smokers to go outside to smoke.
4. Review
4.1 We will review this Policy to address legislative, regulatory, best practice or operational issues.
Published: 28 April 2025
Next review date: 21 February 2027
