Key points
- SafeWork NSW is increasing enforcement and compliance checks for smoking areas in pubs, with a renewed focus on documentation and adherence to regulations.
- Venues must maintain up-to-date records, such as risk registers, hazard documentation, and architectural plans, to prove compliance and avoid fines.
- Treating compliance paperwork as a strategic asset helps protect brand reputation and ensures the safety of staff and patrons
How much money will you lose if your capacity is reduced because an area isn’t compliant with smoking signage, or it doesn’t meet the four-metre rule?
And even if you’re sure it does make the grade, do you have the documents to prove it?
You might think you’re too busy running your pub to worry about smoking area compliance but be assured that SafeWork NSW is thinking about you, and they won’t be so dismissive.
There is a big push from the workplace regulator around employment safety and training, and compliance for elements such as smoking areas at pubs and hospitality venues.
There’s some fresh beef on the bones of the regulator. The NSW Budget included a $127 million investment over four years to strengthen the state’s work health and safety regulator, to focus compliance and enforcement of safe work practices.
Let’s not lose sight that smoking is a health issue and the purpose of these rules is to reassure patrons that pubs and restaurants are safe places.
But this expansion also serves as an empowerment to the regulator. Safety and compliance were never optional, but now with a renewed focus it risks becoming a frontline brand-reputation issue and a test many venues are at risk of failing.
We’ve already seen the ‘Respect at Work’ campaign in December and January, where the regulators zeroed in on sexual harassment and workplace training.
Some venues were found to be lacking systems for assessing risks and identified that they should ensure proper documentation in the form of risk registers that outline hazards, control measures and how these will be regularly reviewed.
This demonstrates the crackdown is more than a tick-the-box exercise.
In the same way, regulators will be looking at compliance and enforcement of safe work practices, and they must be backed up with documentation.
Smoking areas, for example, should have the correct footprint percentage of smoking to non-smoking as legislated, adhering to the 4m rule for seated dining areas and pedestrian entry points.
Inspectors will be looking for detailed physical documents demonstrating compliance, such as building or architectural plans.
If you have not reviewed your workplace documents for a while or you don’t know where they are, take some time to focus on these three areas:
- Does your pub have a smoking area? Take measures to guarantee not only that it is compliant according to NSW’s smoke-free laws, but that there is documentation that backs up safety measures for dining and doorways.
- How does my WHS system work in practice and how is it documented? Ensure policies and procedures are understood and being followed; hazard registers are available; training procedures are updated and relevant; and that you have a written incident-review system.
- Is your risk register up to date? This document should identify risks, the likelihood and consequences of a risk occurring, the actions you are taking to reduce those risks and who is responsible for managing them.
It’s tempting to get frustrated and view this enforcement as over-officious – but the smartest pubs will focus on the benefits that WHS and compliance bring, such as improved safety, engaged staff and happier patrons.
The Workplace Health and Safety Act says ‘reasonable steps’ must be taken to keep people safe, and documents are the proof points that demonstrate just that.
Records and documentation are the first things an inspector or insurer will ask for after an accident, incident or complaint, and the legal proof that you exercised due care in maintaining your pub.
Treat your paperwork as a strategic asset. The venues that pass the paperwork test will pass the brand-reputation test – but they will ultimately ensure that their staff and patrons are safe.
In an already competitive market with tight margins, fines for non-compliance are an added expense you just don’t need.
