Smokers driving company cars, vans, lorries and enclosed tractors in England could be fined £50 for lighting up at the wheel if the vehicle might be handed over to a colleague from work later in the day, the Department of Health said yesterday.
Under regulations it wants to enforce when smoking is prohibited in all enclosed public places , company vehicles would be treated as workplaces if they could be used by more than one employee. Drivers would not be allowed to smoke at the wheel if there was a risk that colleagues might later inhale their smoke, the draft regulations said.
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Employees who get a company car for their sole use will be allowed to smoke while giving a non-smoking colleague a lift to work, because the journey will count as private use. But employees sharing a pool car will not be allowed to light up, even if they are all heavy smokers.