Title 7 HEALTH, SANITATION AND SAFETY CODE*
Chapter 715 SMOKING PROHIBITIONS
715.01 Definitions.
715.02 Prohibitions.
715.03 Areas where smoking is not regulated by this chapter.
715.04 Construction; other applicable laws.
715.05 Declaration of establishment as nonsmoking.
715.06 Posting of signs; prohibition of ashtrays; responsibilities of proprietors.
715.07 Enforcement.
715.08 Severability.
715.99 Penalties.
715.01 Definitions.
For purposes of this chapter:
(A) “Business” means a sole
proprietorship, partnership, association, joint venture, corporation, or any
limited liability form of any of the foregoing, or any other entity formed for
profit-making purposes, including retail establishments where goods or services
are sold as well as professional corporations and other entities where legal,
medical, dental, engineering, architectural, financial, counseling or other
professional or consumer services are provided.
(B) “Employee”
means a person who is employed by an employer, or who contracts with an employer
or who contracts with a third person to perform services for an employer, or who
otherwise performs services for an employer in consideration for direct or
indirect monetary wages or profit, or any person who volunteers his or her
services to such employer for no monetary
compensation.
(C) “Employer” means an individual person,
business, partnership, association, corporation, including a municipal
corporation, trust, or any non-profit entity that accepts the provision of
services from one or more employees.
(D) “Enclosed Area” means
all space closed in by a roof or other overhead covering of any kind and walls
or other side coverings of any kind on at least three sides with appropriate
openings for ingress and egress.
(E) “Place of employment” means
an enclosed area under the control of a public or private employer that
employees normally frequent during the course of employment, including but not
limited to, private offices, work areas, employee lounges, restrooms, conference
rooms, meeting rooms, classrooms, employee cafeterias, employee gymnasiums,
auditoriums, libraries, storage rooms, file rooms, mailrooms, employee medical
facilities, rooms or areas containing photocopying or other office equipment
used in common by employees, elevators, stairways, hallways, factories,
warehouses, garages, laboratories, taxies, limousines, and company-owned
vehicles used for a business purpose. An enclosed area as described herein is a
“Place of Employment” without regard to time of day or actual
presence of employees. “Place of employment” only includes private
residences, whether single or multifamily, if used as a child care, adult day
care, or health care facility, or if a person uses a private residence in any
way otherwise qualifying that person as an employer with respect to the use of
that private residence; provided, however, that private residences are exempt
from this chapter to the extent that the person providing the services is
providing housecleaning, home maintenance or personal care services in the
private residence.
(F) “Proprietor” means the owner, manager,
operator, liquor permit holder, or other person in charge or control of a public
place or place of employment.
(G) “Public place” means an
enclosed area to which the public is invited or in which the public is permitted
and includes service lines. A private residence is not a “public
place” unless it is used as a child care, adult day care, or health care
facility.
(H) “Service line” means an indoor line in which one
or more persons are waiting for or receiving service of any kind, whether or not
the service involves the exchange of money.
(I) “Smoking” means
inhaling, exhaling, burning, or carrying any lighted cigar, cigarette, pipe,
weed, plant, or other smoking equipment in any manner or in any form.
“Smoking” does not include the burning or carrying of incense in a
religious ceremony.
(J) “Smoking materials” means any cigar,
cigarette, pipe, weed, plant or other smoking equipment in any
form.
(K) “Work area” means any room, desk, station or other
area normally occupied by an employee while carrying out his or her primary work
function.
(L) “Retail tobacco store” means a retail store used
primarily for the sale of smoking materials and smoking accessories and in which
the sale of other products is incidental. “Retail tobacco store”
does not include a tobacco department of a larger commercial establishment such
as a department store, discount store, or bar.
(M) “Outdoor
patio” means an outdoor area, open to the air at all times, that is
either: enclosed by a roof or other overhead covering and not more than two
walls or other side coverings; or has no roof or other overhead covering at all
regardless of the number of walls or other side
coverings.
(N) “Private Club” means a club as that term is
defined in R.C. 4301.01(B)(13) and that is organized as not for profit. (Ord.
1095-04 § 1 (part).)
715.02 Prohibitions.
(A) No proprietor of a public place or place of employment shall permit
smoking in said public place or place of employment within the city of Columbus,
except as provided in section 715.03 of this chapter.
(B) All enclosed
areas, including buildings and vehicles owned, leased, or operated by the city
of Columbus, shall be subject to the provisions of this chapter.
(C) All
areas immediately adjacent to the ingress and egress of any enclosed area shall
be subject to the provisions of this chapter so as to ensure that tobacco smoke
does not enter the enclosed area through entrances, windows, ventilation
systems, or other means. (Ord. 1095-04 § 1 (part).)
715.03 Areas where smoking is not regulated by this chapter.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter to the contrary, the
following areas shall be exempt from the prohibitions in Section
715.02:
(A) Private residences, except if used as a licensed child care,
adult day care, or health care facility, or if a person uses a private residence
in any way otherwise qualifying that private residence as a place of employment;
provided, however, that private residences are exempt from this chapter to the
extent that the person providing services is providing housecleaning, home
maintenance, cable or telephone repair or personal care services in the private
residence.
(B) Hotel and motel rooms that are rented to guests and are
designated as smoking rooms; provided, however, that not more than twenty (20)
percent of rooms rented to guests in a hotel or motel may be so
designated.
(C) Family-owned and operated businesses in which all employees
are related to the owner, and offices of self-employed persons in which all
employees are related to the self-employed person, but only if the enclosed
areas these businesses and offices occupy are not open to the public, are not in
the same building with other enclosed areas subject to this regulation, and
smoke from these businesses and offices does not infiltrate into enclosed areas
where smoking is prohibited under the provisions of this chapter.
(D) Any
home, as defined in Section 3721.10(A) of the Ohio Revised Code, but only to the
extent necessary to comply with R.C. 3721.13(A)(18) and rules promulgated
according to that section.
(E) Retail tobacco stores as defined in Section
715.01(L) of this chapter in operation prior to the effective date of this
ordinance. Any new retail tobacco store or any existing retail tobacco store
that relocates to another site may only qualify for this exemption if located in
a freestanding structure.
(F) Outdoor patios as defined in Section 715.01(M)
of this chapter. If the outdoor patio has a structure capable of being enclosed
by walls, covers, solid surface fencing, or tents, regardless of the materials
or the removable nature of the walls, covers, solid surface fencing, or tents,
the space will be considered enclosed, when the walls, covers, fences, or tents
are in place. All outdoor patios shall be physically separated from an enclosed
area. If sliding or folding windows or doors or other windows or doors form any
part of the border to the outdoor patio, the openings shall be closed to prevent
the migration of smoke into the enclosed area. If sliding or folding windows or
doors or other windows or doors do not prevent the migration of smoke into the
enclosed area, the outdoor patio shall be considered an extension of the
enclosed area and subject to the prohibitions of this chapter.
(G) Private
clubs as defined in Section 715.01(N) of this chapter provided that all of the
following apply:
(1) That there are no nonmembers present; and
(2) That
the private club is the holder of a valid D-4 liquor permit pursuant to R.C.
4303.17 if alcoholic beverages are to be served. (Ord. 1095-04 § 1
(part).)
715.04 Construction; other applicable laws.
This chapter shall not be interpreted or construed to permit smoking where
it is otherwise restricted by other applicable laws, and shall be liberally
construed so as to further its purposes. (Ord. 1095-04 § 1
(part).)
715.05 Declaration of establishment as nonsmoking.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the owner, manager,
operator, liquor permit holder, or other person in charge or control of an
establishment, facility, or outdoor area which does not otherwise qualify as a
public place or place of employment may declare such establishment, facility, or
outdoor area as a nonsmoking place. Smoking shall be prohibited in any place in
which a sign conforming to the requirements of Section 715.06 is posted. (Ord.
1095-04 § 1 (part).)
715.06 Posting of signs; prohibition of ashtrays; responsibilities of proprietors.
In addition to the prohibitions contained in Section 715.02 of this
chapter, the proprietor of a public place or place of employment shall comply
with the following requirements:
(A) “No Smoking” signs or the
international “No Smoking” symbol (consisting of a pictorial
representation of a burning cigarette enclosed in a red circle with a red bar
across it) shall be clearly and conspicuously posted in every public place and
place of employment where smoking is prohibited by this chapter. A sign shall be
of sufficient size to be clearly legible to one of normal vision throughout the
area it is intended to mark. All signs shall contain a telephone number for
reporting violations.
(B) Every public place and place of employment where
smoking is prohibited by this chapter shall have posted at every entrance a
conspicuous sign clearly stating that smoking is prohibited.
(C) All
ashtrays and other receptacles used for disposing of smoking materials shall be
removed from any area where smoking is prohibited by this chapter unless such
ashtrays or receptacles are for ornamental purposes only and are displayed in
such a manner so as to preclude their use as receptacles for the disposal of
smoking materials.
(D) By December 31, 2004, every employer subject to the
provisions of this chapter shall adopt, implement, make known, maintain and
update to reflect any changes, a written smoking policy, which shall contain at
a minimum the following requirements:
(1) The prohibition of smoking except
in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, and a description of the
smoking restrictions adopted or implemented.
(2) That (i) no person or
employer shall discharge, refuse to hire, or in any manner retaliate against an
employee, applicant for employment, or customer because that employee,
applicant, or customer exercises any rights afforded by this chapter or reports
or attempts to prosecute a violation of this chapter; and (ii) the establishment
of a procedure to provide for the adequate redress of any such adverse personnel
action taken against an employee in retaliation for that employee’s
attempt to exercise his or her rights under this chapter with respect to the
place of employment.
(E) Employers shall prominently post the smoking policy
in the workplace, and shall, within three weeks of its adoption and any
modification, disseminate the policy to all employees, and to new employees when
hired.
(F) Employers shall supply a written copy of the smoking policy upon
request to any employee or prospective employee.
(G) A copy of the smoking
policy shall be provided to the Columbus board of health upon
request.
(H) This section shall not be construed to permit smoking in any
area in which smoking is prohibited pursuant to Section 715.02. (Ord. 1095-04
§ 1 (part).)
715.07 Enforcement.
This chapter shall be enforced by the Columbus board of health and its
designee(s). The health commissioner and his or her designee(s), the director of
development and his or her designee(s), and the Director of Public Safety and
his or her designee(s) shall have concurrent jurisdiction to enforce all
provisions of this chapter. (Ord. 1095-04 § 1 (part).)
715.08 Severability.
If any provision, clause, sentence, or paragraph of this chapter or the
application thereof to any person or circumstances shall be held invalid, that
invalidity shall not affect the other provisions of this chapter that can be
given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the
provisions of this chapter are declared to be severable. (Ord. 1095-04 § 1
(part).)
715.99 Penalties.
(A) Upon the receipt of a first report that a proprietor of a public place
or place of employment has violated any provision of this chapter, the Columbus
board of health shall issue a warning letter to that proprietor. Thereafter,
the penalties contained in division (B) of this section shall
apply.
(B) Whoever violates any provision of this chapter is guilty of the
offense of permitting smoking in public places or places of employment. Such
offense is a minor misdemeanor, punishable by a maximum fine of one hundred
fifty dollars ($150.00).
(C) Strict liability is intended for a violation of
this chapter.
(D) All fines and costs collected as a result of enforcement
of the provisions of this chapter shall be paid directly to the Columbus board
of health to fund future enforcement and education. (Ord. 1095-04 § 1
(part).)
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