Actors on set in Wales were not included in an exemption to the county’s smoking ban as officials did not want them to harm their health, or that of audiences by second-hand smoke, a Freedom of Information request has revealed. 

They are now considering reversing the ban to encourage more productions to be made in the country.

Fact unknown to me: In England there is an exemption to the smoking ban for actors on sets. 

The BBC report:

A Welsh government briefing paper from 2006 says: “Those working on theatre and film sets require the same level of protection as other workers.

“An exemption for performers would undermine the health message about the harm from exposure to second-hand smoke, and would appear unfair to the wider public in Wales.”

The health minister at that time, Brian Gibbons, said: “The health rationale for smoke-free provision applies in all enclosed settings.”

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Another document says theatre audiences needed to be protected from second-hand smoke.

You can read the full story here.

I am a journalist and author. I am a journalist at the UK edition of WIRED magazine. In 2015, my first book Freedom of Information: A Practical Guide for UK Journalists, was published. My second book Reed Hastings: Building Netflix, was published in March 2020. I created FOI Directory in 2012 and have maintained it in my spare time ever since.