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Oct 5 02 6:58 PM
LONDON, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Despite medical evidence of the dangers of passive smoking, many Britons are exposed to smoking in their workplaces although 85 percent believe they should not be.
A survey by anti-smoking group ASH, Action on Smoking and Health, published on Saturday revealed that 11 percent of employees, which equates to more than three million people, said smoking is still allowed in all areas where they work.
"The population understands that passive smoke kills, yet millions are being put at risk," said Marsha Williams of ASH. "This survey reflects the widespread view that it is simply unacceptable to force people to work in smoky conditions if it can be avoided."
Forty-two percent of the 2,000 people who took part in the survey said smoking rooms were provided where they worked and 40 percent reported a complete ban on smoking in their workplace.
Eighty-five percent said the right to a smoke-free workplace outweighed the right to smoke during working hours, and 62 percent of smokers in the survey agreed in principle with workplace restrictions on smoking.
"Our respondents are sanctioning the fact that government should be putting the right to a safe and healthy working environment before the ill-founded complaints of others about smoking restrictions being an attack on their freedom," Williams added.
ASH wants the issue to be debated in parliament because it believes legislation should be introduced to protect workers.
A review of research into the risks of passive smoking by experts at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) showed breathing in second-hand smoke increases the risk of lung cancer.
The concentration of harmful chemical and gases inhaled by passive smokers are not as high as in smokers but they are just as dangerous.
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