DHEC official asks city to consider smoke-free work sites
By JIM FAILE
A representative of the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) asked Hartsville City Council to consider adopting an ordinance banning smoking in public places, particularly work places, including restaurants and bars.
Lori Phillips, chronic disease program manager for DHEC Region IV, said workers exposed to secondhand smoke face serious health risks. “Secondhand smoke is a known health hazard for every nonsmoker,” she said during council’s work session Tuesday night. “There is no risk-free level of secondhand smoke indoors.”
She pointed to a 2006 Surgeon General’s report that concluded that eliminating smoking in indoor spaces fully protects nonsmokers from exposure to secondhand smoke. The report concluded that separating smokers from nonsmokers, cleaning the air and ventilating buildings cannon eliminate exposure of nonsmokers to secondhand smoke.
She asked council to consider joining 37 other local governments in South Carolina that have smoke-free ordinances in effect. None of those are in the Pee Dee, she noted. “In the Pee Dee, we don’t have any protection against secondhand smoke,” Phillips said.
She said recent studies found that even brief exposure to secondhand smoke can trigger heart attacks or asthma attacks.
Mayor Mel Pennington pointed out that, while the city has no such ordinance, a number of restaurants in the city have elected to go smoke-free.
Phillips provided council with materials on the risks posed by secondhand smoke.
She also gave members drafts of two model ordinances related to smoking in public places.
Council members listened and accepted the information but took no action.