Healthy Working Lives (HWL) will be undertaking a month of activity over March to raise awareness of the issue of second hand smoke.

Despite the smoking ban in public places being in force for over a decade now, smoking remains a major cause for concern within the workplace, as some staff are still being exposed to second-hand smoke within their working environment.

Mary McGibbon, health improvement senior at HWL, said: “An employee wellbeing survey in NHS Lanarkshire, found that over 20 per cent of respondents reported being exposed to second-hand smoke during the course of their work.

“This can be in situations where staff, as part of their healthcare duties, visit patients who smoke in their own homes.

“It can also be staff just walking through the entrances of some of our hospitals past those smokers who don’t respect NHS Lanarkshire’s policy which bans smoking on our hospital grounds.

“We want to better support these staff and this month of activity aims to remind all staff about the policy and why we should encourage everyone to adhere to it.

“We also want to remind staff about the supports available to them to help them manage patients who smoke or help them manage their own smoking habit.

“New Scottish Government legislation which comes into force this year, which makes it illegal to smoke near hospital entrances, will also help us reduce people’s exposure to second hand smoke.”

For more information on the campaign visit the HWL web page on Firstport at: http://firstport2/staff-support/healthy-working-lives/default.aspx or contact the HWL team at: enquirieshwl@lanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk