Proposal for BCA to officially declare caves non-smoking

[cap n chris]

... so the trustees of the club would be facing the £1,500 fine, surely?....

 

[Walrus]

Yes - it includes 'private' clubs as well. Apparently, there will be no exceptions.

 

[cap n chris]

But I guess if you want to smoke underground you could just pay the landowner £50 and say "By the way, I'm gonna have a fag... here's the dosh". This thread has magnificent scope for tangential comments, does it not?

 

[Walrus]

Some of us are not that rich, or that honest.  :ang:

 

[Peter Burgess]

So has the BCA Legal and  Red Tape Officer issued any advice to member clubs about this? It would be nice to know. I'll go and look at the BCA site to see what's posted there.

 

[Peter Burgess]

A quick scour through some obvious places found nothing.

 

[cap n chris]

.... perhaps you didn't have the right form, Peter?

 

[anfieldman]

Yes - it includes 'private' clubs as well. Apparently, there will be no exceptions.

I don't know if club huts would be covered by this new law. It is not a place of work, in other words nobody is employed to clean these huts, indeed I don't think I have ever seen any evidence of this paid or otherwise! Only kidding. It is also not a public place as the general public do not have a right to enter these properties. As such IMHO I think they are not covered by this. I do think open access caves would be because they are a public place. Who would enforce it? Perhaps there is a new branch of SAS type police who are trained in caving, skydiving, climbing, etc...........
To answer the original question, yes caves should be non-smoking. The smoke takes ages to disappear. We as cavers should police this with a polite 'Oi feck off!'

 

[Peter Burgess]

http://www.swcc.org.uk/news/article.php?id=68

The legislation applies to public places, and to private bars and clubs, not just places of work.

I guess it's one of those almost unenforceable bits of legislation which is there for anyone who really wants to push for a conviction in the event they feel they have been harmed by being in a smokey place.

 

[damian]

Never mind the caves, the club huts will be subject to the new rules, won't they?

I believe SWCC are banning all smoking at Penwyllt as a result of the legislation.

 

[anfieldman]

I'm really surprised by that Peter.

 

[Peter Burgess]

What we should be concerned about is the fine for not putting up the no smoking signage. That is the easiest part of the legislation to enforce, and the easiest to comply with.

 

[cap n chris]

Peter, were you a bloodhound in a previous incarnation?

Knowing my luck I'll probably be reincarnated as myself;.... again.  :doubt:

 

[Peter Burgess]

Knowing my luck I'll probably be reincarnated as myself;.... again.  :doubt:

Knowing our luck, I'd say it was almost certain.

 

[Walrus]

Never mind the caves, the club huts will be subject to the new rules, won't they?

According to the govt website: "Virtually all enclosed workplaces and public places, including offices, factories, restaurants, pubs, schools, public transport, membership clubs and shopping malls are covered by smokefree legislation, meaning the enclosed parts of these places will become completely smokefree when the legislation is implemented on 1 July 2007."

but caves aren't a building so it doesn't look like they are legally included. So it looks like social pressure only to prevent people lighting up!

 

[wormster]

Grumble moan whine gripe

oh FFS all this smoking ban gets my goat.

I've stated my preferences on other threads.

STOP griping and get caving you useless bunch

 

[whitelackington]

The Mendip caving group Cottage is already non smoking
it would apply to us anyway as the public can hire it.
If you hire your premises you must not in future allow smoking.

 

[anfieldman]

STOP griping and get caving you useless bunch

Do you always get this furious when you smoke Wormster? I'd give up if I were you, you'll have a heart attack or something. If you did give up then you would not have to worry about the smoking ban would you? 

 

[emgee]

Well perhaps if children can't play nicely then they shouldn't be allowed to have any toys? ... kidding! Access withdrawn? - how?

You know the usual ways gate, blow up entrance, lots of concrete.

The thought of a £1500 fine if some caver decided to light up in my cave would put me off letting people in.

 

[Hughie]

SMCC hut is also now smoke free.