30% of largest companies not ready for smoking ban

This is among the major findings of a survey of Taiwan’s 1,000 largest enterprises conducted by the non-profit John Tung Foundation (JTF) and the Bureau of Health Promotion under the ministerial-level Department of Health.

The latest amendment to the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act ratified by the Legislative Yuan last year will go into effect on Jan. 11, 2009.

The new rules impose tighter restrictions on smoking at more public places.

Violators will face fines of NT$10,000 to NT$50,000.

The new rules strictly forbid smoking in indoor work areas with three or more staffers.

The results of the survey, conducted between February and May, show that 30.7 percent of Taiwan’s 1,000 largest businesses still maintained an indoor smoking room.

The survey also found that 29.6 percent of top companies have not provided workers with information on tobacco hazard prevention over the past year.

Based on the findings, the foundation estimated that 300,000 businesses around Taiwan are not ready for the total indoor ban.

Fifty percent of the difficulties faced by businesses in promoting smoke-free workplaces are due to refusals to cooperate by employees who smoke, the foundation said.

According to an amendment to the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act, no indoor smoking rooms can be established in work areas used by at least three persons.

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