Smoker Shelters in the UK

Since 2007 (when the Health Act 2006 came into effect) it has been illegal to smoke in all enclosed workplaces in England. This meant that workplace smoking was now illegal throughout the UK as Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland had already brought in laws to the same effect.

This meant the end of employees smoking at their desks or in the break room or canteen at work. In 1948 82% of men and 41% of women smoked tobacco. Whether in an office, on the factory floor or outdoors, it was very common to see people smoking while they worked. For those who didn’t, the end of work or the start of a break time would quickly see virtually everyone reaching for the cigarette packet or tobacco pouch.

As the evidence of the negative health effects of smoking became clearer, that rate began to drop. Thirty years later in 1978, only 40% of the adult population smoked, which had dropped to 22% at the time of the smoking ban in 2007. Although the rate of decline has slowed in recent decades, it’s now at 12.9%, or one in eight UK adults.

Despite the steep decline in smoking from its peak in past decades, that still means that even a small workplace with ten people is statistically likely to have at least one smoker. Businesses are not legally required to accommodate smokers or provide an outdoor smoker shelter. However, many companies will consider the welfare and morale of their staff. Especially in the British climate, any staff members who smoke will not appreciate being exiled to the car park or quadrangle in all weathers without a way of staying warm and dry. That will only encourage them to stay close to doors or under porches and verandas where other employees may be affected by secondary smoke.

Although the UK legislation does not cover vapes and e-cigarettes (as these are non-controlled products), workplaces can place their own restrictions on their use and many treat them the same as traditional cigarettes and other smoking methods, requiring vape users to also go outside. Unlike tobacco smoking, the use of vapes is growing in the UK, from 3.3 million people in 2020 to 4.7 million in 2023 – an increase of well over 10% per year.

A smoking shelter will keep both smokers and non-smokers happy – the smokers will have somewhere out of the weather to go on a smoking break and the non-smokers won’t have issues of secondary smoke from smokers huddling around doorways or under windows. Under UK legislation, there are rules about how enclosed (or not) a smoking shelter can be. It can’t be ‘fully or substantially’ enclosed, must be well-ventilated and half of the perimeter under the roof must be open space.

At Bison Products, all of our designs of outdoor shelter for smokers meet these requirements. They also meet the requirements for any outdoor structure that is going to be outdoors in the UK climate. Our shelters are made from either galvanised steel or powder-coated steel in a choice of colours. Either will provide a durable and fully compliant smoker shelter for many years to come.