KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 14 — The Health Ministry will consider banning smoking in offices and other enclosed spaces regardless of whether they have air-conditioning, said its minister Datuk Seri Dzulkefly Ahmad.
He said though there is a law in place that disallows smoking in workplaces that has centralised air-conditioning, it is the areas that has no such facility that needs to be looked into.
“In the event where there is no centralised air-conditioning, then there is a bit of ambiguity there. But we will consider...the objective has got to be the same.
Dzulkefly said that the ministry will review all suggestions and complaints on the matter.
He was speaking after the launching of the Removing Obstacles to Cervical Screening (ROSE) programme here.
On the suggestion to create smoking cubicles for smokers, Dzulkefly declined to comment.
“There is a suggestion, but we are not commenting on that,” he said.
Yesterday, National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (Niosh) chairman, Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye had proposed for the ministry to extend the smoking ban to offices and enclosed areas, including the toilet rooms, at workplace as he said the action of some smokers smoking in the said areas could affect the health of others.
