Meat works loses smoking room appeal

The High Court has upheld a judge's decision that a Hastings meat works was breaching anti-smoking law with a special room for workers who couldn't smoke outside.

Progressive Meats built a new smoking room as part of a $1 million upgrade in 2003.

Staff entered through two sealed, self-closing doors. An extractor fan and two exhaust ducts pumped out contaminated air. Eating was not allowed in the room, and no one was employed to clean it.

The room was built in response to strict food safety regulations which came into force in 2002, prohibiting workers from leaving the building when they were wearing their work gear -- white overalls, aprons, rubber boots, head coverings and mesh gloves.

District Court judge Richard Watson found changing in and out of special gear in order to smoke outside would be virtually pointless.

"That would require them to remove all their whites, check in their knives, change into civillian clothing and then reverse that process on their return to the work area. In effect all of their break would have been taken up changing clothing and there would have been no time for them to 'light up'," he said.

Although it was "difficult to imagine" what more Progressive could have done to comply with the purpose of the Smokefree Environments Act, the smoking room was a legal workplace and the company was breaking the law by allowing staff to smoke, Judge Watson said.

Progressive's lawyers argued in the High Court that because non-smokers never had to enter the smoking room, it could be considered different from a common work area.

Crown lawyer Nicola Graham said there were a few specific exceptions to the rules on what constituted a workplace, and Progressive's smoking room was not covered by them.

The text of the law was perfectly clear and that was the end of the matter, she said.

High Court Justice David Baragwanath confirmed the original finding, saying while he had much sympathy for Progressive, allowing its appeal would have resulted in "the wholesale creation of smoking rooms".

- NZPA