We talk you through the rules
Nowadays, when we picture a smoker, we visualise somebody with a rolled cigarette, handmade or shop-bought, poking out of their mouth. Perhaps we might imagine a slightly larger cigar. Or even, increasingly, someone puffing clouds of fragrant smoke as they suck on a handheld vaping device.
However, not so long ago, vaping hadn’t yet been invented, and as well as conventional cigarettes and cigars, many people who smoked favoured a pipe. Indeed, some pipe smokers such as Sherlock Holmes or J.R.R. Tolkien are so iconic that we imagine the pipe itself to a be a kind of prop rather than something to smoke from.
According to tobacconists and pipe sellers, though, pipe smoking has seen a steady increase in popularity over the last ten years or so. It’s a habit that appeals to a certain kind of trendy, image-conscious urban young person. According to an article from Change Incorporated (https://uk.changeincorporated.com/culture/millennials-revive-pipe-smoking-but-at-what-cost), these new pipe smokers are drawn to the aesthetic side of the ‘hobby’, buying bespoke pipes that can cost as much as £500 or more and that serve as statement pieces.
Pipe smoking, like all kinds of smoking, has major health implications of course (although it may, in fact, be less bad for your health than cigarette smoking). And while, if you’re a business owner, you might wish to keep you employees as healthy as possible, installing a smoking shelter is a means of ensuring their democratic freedoms are catered for (and keeping them dry at the same time!).
But what about pipe smoking in a smoking shelter?
Here are the rules around pipe smoking and smoking shelters.
In essence, cigarette smoking and pipe smoking are treated as the same thing in the eyes of the law. That means they are both banned in all enclosed spaces, including workplaces. Any smoking shelter you provide must be less than 50% enclosed by law.
However, there’s more to consider. Although the law says that pipe and cigarette smoking is interchangeable, in practice pipe smoke can be more pungent and bothersome. So, if you expect your smoking shelter or shelters to be used by pipe smokers, you may want to ensure you situate it further away from any thoroughfares to prevent the smell from reaching non-smokers. If you have numerous pipe smokers in your company (perhaps you run a trendy startup?) you might want to have a designated pipe-only smoking shelter.
It’s important to note that eCigs and other vaping devices are not subject to the same regulations and that therefore you would need to provide a separate shelter for these employees rather than expecting them to use the same space as cigarette and pipe smokers.
How we can help
Whatever your smoking shelter needs, we’re here to help. Our shelters start at £757, and you can have any style of roof (domed, pitched or flat) at no extra cost. And, to take the stress out of installation, we will quote you a delivery and installation price with your order.