Iowa businesses comply with nonsmoking act

Effective July 1, 2008, the law bans smoking in bars, restaurants and other public areas.

Since last year, notice of potential violations have been sent to 1,015 businesses with employees, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH).

In Plymouth County only five businesses received letters of potential violation since the Smokefree Air Act became law.

All five businesses, which were in Hinton and Le Mars, corrected the violations without receiving second notifications or fines.

Most of the infractions dealt with improper signage, said Cheryl Buntsma, tobacco prevention coordinator with the Northwest Iowa Tobacco Free Coalition.

"Maybe they missed the information. I visited them before the law went into effect," she said. "I gave them signs and they didn't put them up."

Buntsma said her job is educating business owners, not calling in violations.

Those reports are made by members of the public or inspectors and are verified by the IDPH as valid.

Preliminary numbers indicate the top business type to receive the notices of potential violations are bars and restaurants.

Those businesses received 53 percent of notices, according to the IDPH.

Not using proper signage, leaving ashtrays sitting out and smoking within closed areas are some of the violations Buntsma has dealt with by going to establishments and educating business owners, she said.

"We're trying to do as much as we can to educate and to help," Buntsma said. "I have a lot of free signs. They can call and request them. We're willing to do that to help with the compliance."

Those interested in the free signs can call Buntsma at 712-737-2971.

Business owners not complying with the Smokefree Air Act after the first notice and visit could receive second notices and in some cases fines, Buntsma said.

"There are only three or four in the state," she said. "I believe there have not been any second letters of violation in the five-county region including Plymouth."

Plymouth, Sioux, O'Brien, Lyon and Osceola counties are the five counties Buntsma serves in northwest Iowa.

Buntsma said most business owners she has come in contact with have said the Smokefree Air Act has had positive effects like cleaner facilities, despite earlier concerns.

"Many people now have made the adjustment and things are going well," she said. "They've been able to maintain their income and customer base or increase it."

At Hugo's bar in Le Mars, the Smokefree Air Act hasn't affected business one way or the other, said Manager Julie Colling.

"Bar business is not what it used to be," she said. "It's not just the smoking, it's the economy."

Annie Hughes, Hugo's owner, said the effect of the Smokefree Air Act hasn't been that bad on business because all the bars had to go nonsmoking.

"The regulars don't like it, but they are adjusting to it," Hughes said.

Not all establishments, especially small ones, have been able to regain their customers as a result of going smoke-free, Buntsma said, but that's been a "very limited" number.

The push behind the Smokefree Air Act was to make work environments safer for employees because they would not be subject to second-hand smoke.

The Smokefree Air Act protects employees in more than 99 percent of Iowa's businesses, making it the most comprehensive in the nation, according to the IDPH.

For businesses, complying with the law is about changing behaviors -- owners and customers -- Buntsma said.

"It's typical long-standing bar with typical clientele. It's a tradition to open a beer and have a smoke," she said. "Those habits have to change now, the known into the unknown."