When I finished writing a review of guidance on smoking in the workplace in 2005 I was thoroughly despondent. A proposed Code of Practice appeared to have been quietly dropped, and it was unclear what would take its place.

How much brighter the prospect for public health is now, as we prepare for comprehensive legislation in the one remaining part of the UK where smoking is still allowed and look ahead to smoke-free workplaces across England from 1 July.

Know the law

To some extent, smoke-free rules depend on where you live in the UK.

Part 1 of the Health Act 2006 (go to www.opsi.gov.uk, click on the "legislation" link and search by year) outlines the conditions under which workplaces must be smoke-free. It prescribes the duty to display no-smoking signs and defines the offences of smoking in a smoke-free place and of failing to prevent smoking in a smoke-free place. Five sets of regulations implement these smoking sanctions in England from 1 July 2007 (see box on below).

Of course, the rest of the UK already has a smoking ban. Scotland has its own Act - the Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Act 2005 asp 13 - which was brought into effect by the Prohibition of Smoking in Certain Premises (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (Scottish Statutory Instrument 2006 No. 90) in March 2006. Both documents can be found by selecting "legislation" then "Scotland" on the government's OPSI site.

In Wales, the Smoke-free Premises etc. (Wales) Regulations 2007 (No. 787, W.68) came into force on 2 April 2007 (search under  "Wales" then "Statutory Instruments" on the OPSI site) and, since 30 April, Northern Ireland has been covered by the Smoking (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 (SI 2006, No. 2957, N.I.20). To access the Northern Ireland legislation, look under "Orders in Council and Explanatory Memorandum" in the "Northern Ireland" section on the OPSI site.

Going places

There are some subtle differences between smoke-free regulations in different parts of the UK. For example, while vans are covered in all countries, there are variations in the rules for cars. In England, cars must be smoke-free if they are used by more than one person for work, but Scotland seems to have left cars out of its legislation. This is explained in the smoking FAQ on the HSE site; from www.hse.gov.uk select "contact HSE" and then "FAQs". This page also links to a pdf of the Smoke-free Scotland Guidance.

To make sure you're clear on the variations, it's worthwhile looking at the support sites for each area. The Scottish Executive Health Department's Tobacco Control Division site at www.clearingtheairscotland.com includes some frightening facts on the effects of smoking: that 35 people die each day in Scotland as a result of smoking; that around 120 000 men in the UK are impotent as a result of smoking; and that passive smoking can increase the risk of heart disease and lung cancer by 25%.

For Northern Ireland, www.spacetobreathe.org.uk provides a sample smoke-free policy at the end of the pdf document Smoke-free Legislation: Important Information for Employers, Managers and Those in Control of Premises in Northern Ireland. To access the pdf, follow the "smoke-free legislation guidance document" link from the homepage.

The Welsh Assembly's site - www.smokingbanwales.co.uk - provides handy summaries of how businesses will be affected by the legislation, including links to regional websites and advice on establishing a smoke-free policy.

For England, www.smokefreeengland.co.uk provides a full range of case studies, advice and legislative information.

General advice on reducing the health effects of smoking is provided by the Department of Health. Select "policy and guidance" from www.dh.gov.uk and find "tobacco" in the A-Z list of topics. This information includes links to the key legislation, the consultation response and a regulatory impact assessment.

The Republic of Ireland has had smoke-free workplaces since March 2004 and it has some useful experience to share. The site www.smokefreeatwork.ie includes advice on the benefits of smoke-free working including, for example, reduced cleaning costs and improved health and wellbeing. It also provides the text of the smoke-free Acts and amendments in force in Ireland.

Take action

An employer's main responsibility is to ensure that no one smokes in enclosed or substantially enclosed areas (for definitions of these terms, see Clearing the Air).

The keys to achieving compliance are a smoke-free policy and appropriate signage. Failure to prevent smoking carries a fine of up to £2,500, with further fines for inadequate signage.

The updated TUC publication Negotiating Smoke-free Workplaces recommends immediate action by employers, employees and union reps to develop, in consultation, smoke-free policies. To access the guidance, go to the "smoking" topic in the "health and safety" area of the TUC site at www.tuc.org.uk The publication includes guidance on protecting employees who visit clients in their homes and advice for non-smoking actors who need to smoke as part of their stage roles.

Workplace Law makes some suggestions for smoke-free policies in its news bulletin of 14 March. You can find a text summary and a 14-minute audio interview on the subject (useful if you prefer listening to reading) in the public content section of www.workplacelaw.net - click on "news" and search for the story by date.

The audio stream clarifies the terms "wholly enclosed" and "substantially enclosed", which is useful for working out the areas that need to be smoke-free within your policy. The audio guidance also advocates including in smoke-free policies details of disciplinary action for smoking in prohibited areas, so employers can show they have made their best efforts to uphold the law.

The Scottish smoke-free site at www.clearingtheairscotland.com includes a template for a smoke-free policy.

Select "guidance and signage" to find the "smoke-free policy template" in pdf format. Similar model policies are available on the other UK sites described above.

Further policy advice is provided on the Irish site www.smokefreeatwork.ie; on the "downloads" page, look for the employers' guide Developing Smoke-free Policy. This outlines an eight-step process designed to educate the workforce about health risks; involve smoking and non-smoking employees; and plan in advance how to support smokers under the new laws.

Signs of the times

In England, failure to display the right signs in the right locations could result in a fixed penalty fine of £150 to £200, rising to a potential £1000 if you fight a notice through the criminal courts and lose. It's important, therefore, to be clear about position, style, size and wording when it comes to signage.

The Smoke-free (Signs) Regulations set out in detail the requirements for signage. If you're going to buy new no-smoking signs, check they are compliant with the legislation; I spotted some online which would not meet the new legal requirements.

The precise wording required by the legislation is shown in the image on the next page. The word "premises" can be replaced with "hotel", "shop", and so on, as relevant to the premises. Signs that simply state "No smoking" or "No Smoking in this building" will not be sufficient to meet the new law.

There are numerous companies offering compliant signage for buildings and vehicles. One such company, www.archersafetysigns.co.uk, provides a summary of the penalties for non-compliance with the signs regulations.

All of the UK sites offer downloadable signs. The Welsh Assembly provides downloadable pdfs of the signs required in Wales, with dual-language versions (English and Welsh) as well as signs in Polish, Arabic, Urdu and Mandarin, among other languages. Click on "guidance and signage" from the homepage at www.smokingbanwales.co.uk The Smokefree England site offers variants for bus shelters, cafes, doorways, hotels and pubs; again, click on on "guidance and signage" from the homepage at www.smokefreeengland.co.uk

Giving up

Many employers are concerned about whether they need to provide areas for smokers. The short answer is no; the law does not require you to provide a place for employees to smoke. But, as union UNISON points out, the possible consequences of driving the addicted smoker to hide away for an elicit fix could be serious; consider, for example, the fire risks associated with smoking in concealed areas.

UNISON outlines its approach in the document Smoking at Work; from www.unison.org.uk, type "smoking" in the search box and the pdf document should be among the first hits. UNISON calls for effective stress management at work so that smokers are not driven to smoke, and paid time-off for smokers who wish to give up to attend support sessions.

Well-publicised advice (see page 7) on how to help employees quit is available from NICE (the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence); just search on the phrase "workplace smoking" at www.nice.org.uk or alternatively click on "our guidance" then "guidance by health topic" and choose "public health" to find the workplace-smoking topic area.

Many primary care trusts (PCTs) offer their own quit services. You can find contact details for your local PCT at www.nhs.uk

QUIT is a stop-smoking charity that offers organisations a (paid-for) service to support employees trying to give up, including a telephone helpline and email service. Further details can be found at www.quit.org.uk

If you want to build a smoking shelter, support is hard to find. The Department of Health and Smokefree England deliberately don't provide advice on shelters as they believe that "health-focused employers" will not want to "spend money creating places for smokers to congregate". The best advice Smokefree England can offer is to check with your local council about any plans you have for smokers' shelters, as planning permission, licensing, building control, noise and litter will all need to be considered.

Some local authorities have anticipated such requests. Bradford, for example, provides advice on how Building Regulations will apply to smoking shelters. From www.bradford.gov.uk, select "business", then "rates, regulations and licensing" and "smoke free regulations" to find the "planning permission for smoking shelters" page.

There are plenty of commercial companies offering smoking shelters - just use any search engine to find a long list - but check that designs meet the requirements of both the smoke-free legislation and local building regulations.

And finally

With the news that Air France and BMI are to replace redundant no-smoking symbols on aircraft with "no mobile" signs (http://news.zdnet.co.uk/communications/0,1000000085,39280555,00.htm), one can almost imagine a future in which we go through the same process with mobile phones that we've been through over the last 30 years with smoking.

HSW provided detailed coverage of how to comply with the smoke-free laws in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, plus advice on helping employees quit, in the February, March and April issues of HSW magazine.