Scope
This policy applies to all premises owned, managed, occupied by, or otherwise under the control of the University of Bath, including student residences.
The University treats the use of electronic devices such as e-cigarettes and vaporisers in the same way as smoking tobacco or other substances.
Legislation
The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
Smoke-Free Regulations 2007
Smoke-Free (signs) Regulations 2012
The Health Act 2006
Definitions
‘Smoking’ refers to smoking tobacco or anything which contains tobacco, or smoking any other substance, and includes being in possession of lit tobacco or of anything lit which contains tobacco, or being in possession of any other lit substance in a form in which it could be smoked.
‘Smoke-free’ means that smoking is not permitted in any premises, area, or vehicle so designated.
‘Enclosed’ premises have a ceiling or roof and, except for doors, windows or passageways, are wholly enclosed, whether on a permanent or temporary basis.
‘Substantially enclosed’ premises have a ceiling or roof, but have an opening in the walls, which is less than half of the total areas of walls. The area of the opening does not include doors, windows or any other fittings that can be opened or shut.
Policy statement
The University has made all premises owned, managed, occupied by, or otherwise under its control (including student residences and off-campus premises) smoke-free in line with legislation.
All vehicles owned, rented, or leased by the University are smoke-free.
All outside areas closer than a distance of four metres from a building are designated smoke-free.
The University has also designated further areas as smoke-free in order to:
give precedence to the needs of non-smokers who do not wish to breathe second-hand smoke
control the risk of fire and explosion
The University will take such reasonable action as may be required to enforce the smoking policy and thus improve the health culture of the University. In doing so it relies on all members of staff and students to adhere to the policy and to politely let others know when they are in breach of it.
Repeated breaches of the policy by staff or students will be dealt with using the University’s existing staff and student disciplinary procedures.
Responsibilities
The Vice-Chancellor (VC) is the duty-holder for the part of the Health Act 2006 relating to smoke-free premises. The VC delegates responsibility for aspects of the duties under the Health Act to the following Departments and post-holders.
Director of Campus Infrastructure is responsible for:
posting and maintaining suitable signs at the entrance to each non-residential building indicating the smoking restrictions
posting and maintaining suitable signs at appropriate external locations where there are additional smoking restrictions
where individual contractors are identified as not complying with this policy, taking appropriate steps to have those individuals disciplined or removed from site
Director of Campus Services is responsible for:
posting and maintaining suitable signs at the entrance to each residential building indicating the smoking restrictions
applying sanctions in respect of residents contravening the restrictions
Security Officers are responsible for:
taking reasonable steps to prevent others from smoking in non-permitted areas
where necessary, ask visitors who refuse to comply to leave the premises
Line Managers and Heads of Departments are responsible for:
ensuring that staff, students and visitors under their control are informed of the policy and are made aware of where smoking is, and is not, permitted
taking reasonable steps to ensure that staff and students under their supervision do not smoke in non-permitted areas
ensuring that all relevant vehicles to any extent under their control are smoke-free and display the required signs
Employees must:
comply with all restrictions on smoking including the use of electronic devices
take reasonable steps to prevent others from smoking in non-permitted areas, including requesting people not to smoke in those areas
Students and visitors must:
- comply with all restrictions on smoking including the use of electronic devices
Enforcement
The enforcement of this policy is the collective responsibility of all members of our community. Anyone seeing someone smoking in an area where smoking is prohibited is encouraged to approach that person to advise them of the smoking policy. People requested to not smoke in prohibited areas are expected to respond courteously and to comply with requests not to smoke.
Failure to comply with such requests may result in disciplinary action against the person(s) concerned. Concerns about smoking should be reported to Security or SHEW in the first instance.
Monitoring
University Health and Safety Committee will be responsible for monitoring and reviewing this policy.
Resources
If you wish to give up smoking the following resources may be of help:
BMA briefing on E-cigarettes in public places and workplaces
Document control
Date of last review: This policy was reviewed at UHSC in September 2022
Date of next review: September 2024.