Film/TV Productions and the Smoking Ban

OK, I've been wondering about this for a while, and no-one has given me a definitive answer.

We often see characters (apparently) smoking - or 'holding lit tobacco' on films, dramas, soaps, etc. Dot Cotton and Becky MacDonald spring to mind immediately. Many of these scenes take place indoors, and therefore filmed on indoor sets.

Is there a clause in the smoking ban that makes an exception and allows 'smoking in the workplace' for the sake of drama production? Or is a special license or dispensation required by the companies/studios concerned?

I quite accept that realism would be lost if characters weren't seen lighting up, particularly in period dramas or pre-smoking ban pub scenes. But surely cast and crew also have the right these days to work in a smoke-free environment, and could object to being on a set where others were smoking. I assume it's quite possible that legal tangles could follow (passive smoking affecting health, etc).

So what's the score?

There are exceptions in the law to allow for artistic performance, although you're only allowed to smoke when actually performing (be that on stage or for tv/film) and not in rehearsals, amongst other things.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoking_ban_in_England#Exemptions_to_the_law

They could use CGI/composited smoke instead

CGI smoke still looks rubbish. There was some CGI condensated breath in The Social Network which stood out like a sore thumb; and it's not gone un-noticed by others.

Then they could composite real smoke instead

Thanks for your replies and info. That wiki article had escaped me, despite me having looked on there for the info!

With regards to the second part of my query though, does a fellow actor or crew member have the right to object to being in a scene with a 'smoker' (as far as the law is concerned)?

Most actors, like most reasonable people, will accept that standing near someone having a cigarette every now and then will do them absolutely no harm whatsoever; because that is the truth of the matter.

In fact, if you tell a non-smoking actor they're playing the part of a smoker, they would probably light up.

In the early 90s (yeesh) I was in a play with a drama student who was asked to smoke to play a character in The Slab Boys - and the props team made "tipless" herbal cigarettes - both to make them look period (1950s) and to appease his concerns. I saw him on River City a couple of years ago playing a chef who was constantly popping outside to have a fag. He looked just as awkward doing it as he had all those years ago, so I assume he's still a non-smoker in real life.

Any crew member objecting won't be a member of many more crews in the future.

I quite agree with your sentiments, Gav and gilsta. I was just wondering from a legal point of view where an employee stood if they refused to work in these conditions, or later wanted to make a claim forhaving suffered the effects of second-hand smoke (purely hypothetical question!) I wonder if something is written into their contract regarding this.

There won't be anything written into a contract for that kind of thing.

Its not as if any crew would be expected to forfeit their health or wellbeing for any shoot. That's what unions are there for; but it's a small and incestuous industry, and if you're a moaner or a trouble maker then you're less likely to be called the next time there's work available. Word gets round.

From a legal perspective, if someone complains about being on a set with people smoking in a scene, they'd probably be released from the set, paid for the day but not put on the call sheet for the rest of the time.

That's how I would handle it.

If a member of crew does have an issue with people smoking on set, then that's probably a good reason for them not to work in drama production.

TBH, I think it's a purely hypothetical situation. The amount of smoke they might inhale on a set from a handful of characters is nothing compared to the amount they will inhale walking outside as soon as a break is called and the multitudes of cast and crew nip off for their nicotine hit.

Indeed, or standing near a busy road - getting 15 times the amount of monoxide in your lungs.

But god forbid anyone would criticise a driver...