Just 12% of publicans believe the smoking ban has had a negative impact on the pub industry, a year after it became law throughout the UK.

According to a survey of 700 businesses by the Department of Health (DoH) published today, 38% of publicans believe the introduction of smoking ban has had a positive impact, with the remainder viewing the ban’s impact as neutral.

The ban remains popular among pub and bar employees with 62% of staff positive about it, compared with just 12% who regard the smoking ban as a negative step.

The DoH’s Smokefree Bars 2007 project, which measures the health of bar workers in England, said substantial improvements in the air quality in bars and reductions in the levels of tobacco smoke exposure had been achieved already by the introduction of smokefree premises.

Before the ban bar workers were inhaling four to six times more cigarette smoke than the average non-smoking adult but cotine levels (a measure of nicotine in the body) are now on average 76% lower per person post smoking ban.

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