Japanese officials are reviewing regulations that would prohibit smoking in the workplace except in enclosed areas.
According to United Press International, an advisory committee submitted the plan recently to Health Minister Ritsuo Hosokawa, The Yomiuri Shimbun reported. Legislation will probably be submitted this year to Parliament.
Japan now has a voluntary policy on smoking. A 2007 survey reported just over half of businesses had not taken steps to protect non-smokers from secondhand smoke by totally prohibiting the practice or creating leak-proof smoking rooms.
Ryuji Abe, president of a Tokyo real estate company, Daku Enterprises, stated the company will have to create a smoking room.
"It'll be difficult in this building because the work will be costly. But we can't tell our clients not to smoke," Abe commented.
Officials report the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry may provide some assistance for companies constructing smoking rooms.
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