THE South West TUC has called on MPs to vote for a ban on smoking in the workplace in the Commons vote next Tuesday where MPs have been given a free vote.

This is a vital issue in the South West given the thousands of workers involved in the hospitality industry.

"This is a simple issue of principle for us," said Nigel Costley, the south west TUC regional secretary.

"People at work should be protected from poisons, and second hand smoke is a known killer.

"Workers in the hospitality trade deserve protection just as much as those that work with dangerous chemicals."

Mr Costley said that none of the compromises and exemptions that had been discussed got round this basic principle.

"Air conditioning and ventilation can get rid of the smell, but not all the toxins in cigarette smoke.

"It can make bar work less unpleasant, but it doesn't protect the health of staff.

"People who work in members' clubs are just as much in need of protection as those who work in pubs.

"MPs have been given a free vote on this. It would be wrong to force MPs to vote against a measure that will save lives and prevent ill-health in the South West.

The TUC says that research shows that no-smoking bar workers are currently far more likely to be killed through passive smoking than other workers.

Although passive smoking in the workplace kills an estimated 700 workers a year (more than twice as many as all workplace accidents put together) it kills more than 50 hospitality workers. Proportionately this is a much greater number.

Non-smoking bar workers have twice the lung cancer rate of other non-smoking workers.

A complete smoking ban would have an immediate effect on the health of this group.

In New York, 48 bar and restaurant workers were tested for levels of a nicotine by-product following the smoking ban and within three months this had fallen by 85 per cent. This was also reflected in improvements in the health of workers.

In California out of 74 per cent of bartenders with respiratory symptoms before smoke free legislation, 59 per cent reported no symptoms after the ban, while lung function tests showed a five to seven per cent improvement after only one month of smoke free air for both smokers and non-smokers.