16 April 2006

Prison officers object to passive smoking

Prison officers in Scotland are threatening to stay out of cells because of the alleged cancer risk from passive smoking. The unrest has prompted prison unions to contact the Health and Safety Executive, the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland and the anti-smoking group ASH Scotland to ask for tests to be carried out in jails to determine how long toxins stay in the air after a cigarette is put out.

Neil Rafferty, Scottish spokesman for FOREST, said the fears over passive smoking had become "obsessive" and "hysterical". He added: "The evidence on the dangers of passive smoking is very, very thin. If prison officers think they are going to be doing serious damage to their health by spending a few minutes in a cell each day, then they have been very badly misled by the anti-smoking extremists."

Source: Sunday Herald (16 April 2006)

2 Comments:

At 21/4/06 10:57, Blogger Blad said...

Hmm...Beneath the uniformed breast of a prison officer beats the heart of a wuss!

 
At 22/4/06 20:30, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sounds like any old excuse not to do the job they are paid for.

 

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