Citizens’ groups urge action over workplace smoking

Seven citizens' groups have sent a letter to the Labor Inspection Corps demanding to know whether the agency is carrying out regular checks on businesses and offices in order to impose a much-flouted smoking ban that was introduced in 2010.

"From our contacts with numerous workers, we have ascertained that on a practical level, labor inspections do not include an assessment of the working environment in offices, cafes, bars and restaurants, or even at services whose duty it is to impose the anti-smoking law," the group said in its letter.

It went on to voice concern that many workers are being exposed to second-hand smoke as a result of inadequate inspections.