Pub workers in Ireland are healthier as a result of a ban on smoking in workplaces, imposed in 2004, research has found.
The study, published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, found that the ban resulted in an 83% reduction in air pollution in bars, while airborne carcinogens were also shown to be down by 80%.
The study, conducted at the Institute for a Tobacco Free Society in Dublin, compared data from 73 workers in 42 pubs before and after the ban, and concluded that workers faced smoke exposure for an average of 25 minutes a week, compared with up to 40 hours previously.
Elsewhere in the UK, workplace smoking bans have already been in operation in Scotland for a year. The ban was enforced in Wales on 2 April and extends to England on 1 July.
Earlier this month, the TUC urged British employers to introduce smoking bans into their shops, factories, offices, restaurants and bars ahead of 1 July.
