Health and safety professionals have applauded Ireland’s ban on workplace smoking and have called for the same rules to be applied to UK businesses to protect employees from cigarette fumes.

A survey by Croner found that 84 per cent of health and safety staff believed that the Irish government was right to ban smoking at work and would welcomed similar measures in British bars, restaurants, cafes and other businesses.

The survey follows the implementation of the smoking ban in Ireland this week, with firms facing a 3,000 euro fine if they allow customers or staff to smoke in the workplace.

Although the move has been greeted with dismay by some pubs and restaurants, the Irish government has pointed to the health benefits that staff will enjoy and the minimal impact on profits experienced by firms in New York, where a smoking ban already exists.

Trade union groups have long argued that smoking should be banned from all UK businesses, claiming that workers in smoky atmospheres die younger and that customers prefer cigarette-free bars and restaurants.

However, business groups have voiced concern that a blanket ban would drive away loyal customers and would be difficult and expensive to enforce for small firms.

Katherine Hunter, health and safety expert at Croner, said that employers needed to be thinking about how to protect their staff, regardless of future legislation.

“Non-smoking areas, hi-tech ventilation systems and even complete bans on smoking have been introduced in different venues in recent years, but our survey result would seem to suggest that the health and safety profession doesn’t think these measures go far enough.

“There is obviously a difficult balance for the hospitality industry to strike between ensuring they offer the range of facilities that will lead to customers coming through their door and ensuring that they meet the ‘duty of care’ that they have to their employees.

“Under the Workplace Health, Safety and Welfare Regulations 1992, all employers have to take ‘adequate measures’ to ensure ‘effective and suitable provision’ of ‘fresh or purified air’ within the workplace.

“We would recommend that hospitality sector employers carry out effective risk assessments of their premises and undertake whatever ‘reasonable’ measures are necessary to meet their workplace responsibilities,” she said.