A paper highlighting the levels of second-hand smoke (SHS) in Scottish prisons, 'Characterising the Exposure of Prison Staff to Second-Hand Tobacco Smoke', the first from the Tobacco in Prisons study (TIPs), the most comprehensive study in the world of prison workers’ exposure to second-hand smoke, led by Professor Kate Hunt, Associate Director of the MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit with colleagues from the Unit’s Settings and Organisations programme, was published in the Annals of Work Exposures and Health journal on 17 July.  The paper, co-authored with Dr Helen Sweeting, Dr Evangelia Demou, Dr Greig Logan and Professor Hunt, reports that over 25,000 prison staff are exposed to SHS on a daily basis, levels akin to sharing a home with a smoker.  Professor Hunt joined the CEO of the Scottish Prison Service at a press conference on the morning of publication where Colin McConnell announced that smoking will now be banned in Scottish prisons by November 2018, three years ahead of the services’ original plan for implementation, and that their policy has been informed by this new research. The announcement and research received widespread media coverage across broadcast, print, and digital media including stories on BBC radio, TV and online, STV, The Herald, The i, Holyrood Magazine, Newsweek, and The Times. 

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First published: 26 July 2017

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