Office workers praise smoking ban

As the first anniversary of the smoking ban approaches, a new survey has revealed that the majority of UK workers believe it has had a positive impact on their workplace.

Monster conducted the poll ahead of the ban's first birthday on 1 July and found that 62% of people feel it has improved their work environment, Online Recruitment reports.

However, 34% of those added that more time is now wasted with co-workers leaving for a cigarette break.

The company calculated that the average smoker takes six ten-minute breaks during the day, which adds up to a loss of one hour of work.

It therefore recommended that firms encourage their staff to stop smoking by emphasising the health and financial benefits - recent research by Alliance & Leicester suggests that smokers who gave up when ban came into force last year could have saved £2,200 by now.

Meanwhile, perhaps because many offices were already smoke-free before the ban, 13% said it made no difference, while the final 24% were opposed to the law.