Smoking employees may be ‘fined’

The Control and Investigation Board has reaffirmed its commitment toward imposing penalties on employees who fail to uphold the ban on smoking in public and governmental institutions. These penalties include two warnings and then a deduction of a violator's salaries.
According to Abdulaziz bin Mohammed Al Majli, the spokesman of the board, the decision to ban smoking is mandatory in all governmental institutions and departments, and employers are responsible for enforcing the decision, as well as implementing penalties against violators.
In the event of a violation, the employee is first issued a warning, followed by the deduction from his or her salary. Ultimately, such deductions may affect and delay the employee’s job promotion, if the violations are repeated.  If, for any reason, employers do not take action to question and punish the violators, the Control and Investigation Board will intervene to impose retributions.
Al Majli pointed out that the board regularly performs supervisory tours to ensure that the regulation is applied, stressing that various countries around the world prohibit smoking in public places, as well as in private enterprises and government institutions.
Dr. Salih bin Abdullah Al Harbi, a professor of pediatric respiratory diseases at Um Al-Qurah University and respiratory disease specialist at Suleiman Fakeih Hospital in Jeddah, warned about the damage caused by second-hand smoking on non-smokers.
The professor also drew attention to scientific studies, which indicate that women who smoke during pregnancy can increases the prevalence of asthma in their children by up to 20 percent, while other studies indicate the strong correlation between maternal smoking during pregnancy and the sudden death of infants in the first year of birth.
Al-Harbi emphasized that smoking may cause chronic coughing, tumors, respiratory diseases, or increased bouts of asthma as well as increased sensitivity in the eye, nose and chest. He pointed out that couples who smoke may increase asthma attacks upon themselves and their children by more than 60 percent.
On his part, Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Abdulaziz Ajeery, an appeal judge said, “Smoking should be banned in commercial markets and enterprises as well as in government and private institutions, because it affects and harms other individuals.” He also stressed the need to implement the decision and the firm enforcement of strict punitive measures against those who violate the decision, in order to ensure the protection of non-smokers and prevent the infringement on their freedom and right to breathe unpolluted air.
Saeed Al Milady, a lawyer and legal adviser, confirmed the importance of implementing a SR 200 fine upon those who violate the decision. He said it is the right of an individual affected or harmed by people smoking in public spaces to file a suit against smokers in the concerned court and demand compensation for damage inflicted upon them based on a medical report.
The lawyer went even further to say, it is the right of aggrieved second-hand smokers to sue the firm or institution in which they work for failing to prevent its employees from smoking within the premises.
The Kingdom has taken various steps to promote anti-smoking since the issuance of a royal decree compelling tobacco suppliers to place a warning on their products, which states, “Smoking is Harmful to Health.”
Another royal decree was issued in 1404H, stipulating a ban on smoking in all governmental entities as well as other public institutions and subordinate governmental units, and the placement of signs bearing “No smoking” in words and logos.
In 1408H, a decree was issued reaffirming and expanding the provisions of the previous decree. Smoking advertisements were banned in newspapers and publications, and foreign newspapers were obliged to print ads warning about the hazards of smoking on the health. In 1416H, a decision was approved to raise tariffs on tobacco suppliers by 50 percent and it was later increased to 100 percent. Soon after, the General Authority for Civil Aviation began applying a penalty fine for smoking inside the Kingdom’s airports.
The Kingdom received the World Health Organization (WHO) award in the field of anti-smoking for the year 2001 for Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques’ approval of the decision to make the cities of Makkah and Madinah entirely smoke-free.