KEY POINTS:
Hawke's Bay meatworks Progressive Meats is taking to the Court of Appeal its argument that a "smoking room" at its plant is not a "workplace" covered by the anti-smoking law.
The company lost its argument in the High Court last September, when Justice David Baragwanath said that though he had much sympathy for Progressive, allowing its appeal would have resulted in "the wholesale creation of smoking rooms".
Today, the appeal court allowed the Hastings company special leave to appeal, to settle whether a smoking room falls within the definition of a workplace under the Smoke-Free Environments Act 1990.
In 2002, the meatworks built a smoking room off its cafeteria - air-locked so that smoke would not flow back into the plant -- because hygiene reasons meant meatworkers in protective clothing could not strip off to go outside to smoke.
The smoking room was designated a protective clothing area, and not entered by non-smokers.
But the Health Ministry successfully prosecuted Progressive in February 2005 for a breach of the Smoke-Free Environments Act, but the judge put a case to the High Court on the question of whether the smoking room was a workplace.
Justice Baragwanath said yes, and refused leave to appeal.
Today the appeal court said the Health Ministry accepted the issue was a matter of public importance but opposed giving leave to appeal on the grounds that the bid was "doomed".
Progressive argued that one interpretation of the Act excluded the smoking room from the definition of a workplace.
"In our view, the crown arguments are strong but Progressive's position is not totally unarguable," the appeal court said. "As the case involves points of law of high general and public importance, this justifies the grant of leave (to appeal)".
Progressive's smoking room was part of a $1 million upgrade and has two sealed, self-closing doors, and an extractor fan and two exhaust ducts pumping out contaminated air. Eating was not allowed in the room, and no one was employed to clean it.
At the original hearing, District Court judge Richard Watson found changing in and out of white overalls, aprons, rubber boots, head coverings and mesh gloves in order to smoke outside would be virtually pointless.
"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.
- NZPA
