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New York Clean Indoor Air Act Regulations

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According to the Clean Indoor Air Act in New York State, is it legal for an employee to stand in an entrance way of an office building to smoke a cigarette while proping the door open with his/her body?
The area in which this person insists on smoking is clearly labeled no smoking. The smoke comes into the building and its right next to an air vent!
Is it legal? What can I do to stop this!
Sincerely,
Frustrated in NY Angie

This behavior might be legal if the smoker allowed the door to close, and smoked just outside. However, it appears that smoking with the door propped open is a violation of the New York Clean Indoor Air Act, which went into effect in 2003.

The New York Clean Indoor Air Act prohibits smoking in most places of employment, including offices, bars, restaurants, indoor swimming pools, buses and taxis, schools, hospitals, commercial establishments and arenas. Smoking is prohibited even at zoos and bingo facitilites.

The presence of an air duct doesn’t seem to make any difference. While some state smoking bans prohibit smoking near air intakes or windows, New York’s law does not.

If the smoker is a coworker, it might be effective to complain to a supervisor or the HR department. They should tactfully be able to address this problem.

Under the law, the owner, manager or operator of an area covered by this law must make a reasonable effort to prevent smoking in prohibited areas. So the first tactic would be to contact the owner or manager of the business, or the building owner, and ask them to take action to stop the smoking.

If that doesn’t work, members of the public can report violations of the New York Clean Indoor Air Act to their local health departments, county board of health or their district health office for action. Find the phone number at www.health.state.ny.us. The enforcement officer can levy a fine up to $1,000 per incident, and if the area is under the control of the state health department, the fine can be $2,000 per incident.

You can also obtain more information on enforcement by calling 1-866-697-2532. This information line is staffed from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mon - Thurs, from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Friday, and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday.