Operating a smoking facility

You must comply with national legislation that bans smoking inside your premises and requires you to use signage to help to enforce the policy. There are substantial fines for licensees who fail to enforce the policy or who fail to display the signage.
In addition, to enforcing the law, running a good smoking facility will probably require you to change your system of working to avoid problems for – or from - the users. These include:

Personal security: this is especially a problem for women, whose drinks could be 'spiked' when they are outside using the smoking area and cannot take their drinks with them. To counter this you could:

• Provide 'lids' for glasses
• Allow customers to 'rest' drinks behind the bar counter
• Allow customers to take drinks outside in plastic cups (subject to local rules)
• And, of course, encourage people to be vigilant

Litter: Keeping the area outside your premises clean and clear of litter is more attractive to customers and certainly helps to avoid problems with your neighbours and with Environmental Health. To ensure cigarette butts, on the pavement or in your garden, are kept under control you will need to provide high capacity ashtrays or cigarette bins. Wall-mounted butt-bins are usually the best option as they are unlikely to be stolen. Normal ashtrays are not always a good idea for use outside, particularly on pavement spaces, as they are easily knocked over, and can even be used as weapons. You need a proper cleansing rota to prevent litter from building up and making the area untidy and unattractive - make sure you sweep the area regularly, and especially at the end of the evening. You can get more information about controlling litter from ENCAMS or visit our contacts list for suppliers of butt bins and litter solutions.

Vending: The sale of tobacco is still legal following the ban – though from October 1 2007 you must ensure that anyone buying tobacco is over 18 – and smokers will still visit your premises and run out of cigarettes. If you get rid of your vending machine, they will have to go to the local garage or off-licence for a pack and may decide to go home rather than coming straight back to you for another pint. Don’t make a snap decision about selling tobacco – many licensees in Ireland made this mistake and had to go the fuss and expense of replacing the machines when they realised customers still wanted to buy. Assess the usage of any vending machine, or stocks that you keep behind the bar, and make an informed decision about whether it’s a worthwhile product to retain. Remember that after 1 October 2007 you will need a sign stating that you have to be eighteen to buy cigarettes.

Anti-pilfering: in some areas customers have used the excuse of going outside to avoid paying for drinks, although this is unlikely to be a significant problem if you insist on pre-payment or retain credit cards behind the bar.

Disorder: just because some customers are outside does not mean that they should be ignored – especially if they could cause complaints from neighbours or passers-by. Ensure that they are checked frequently - when collecting glasses etc.