A countywide ban on smoking in the workplace has made some businesses cough at the idea of trying to comply with the ordinance approved last week by the Ingham County Board of Commissioners.

The county board passed the ordinance - slated to start in April - to reduce secondhand smoke, but some businesses say it’s doubtful they will be ready.

The measure, passed by a vote of 11-2, was developed by a task force made up of health officials and three commissioners and bans smoking in all public workplaces - excluding bars, restaurants and bingo halls.

Under the ordinance, businesses like General Motors Corp. would either have to prohibit smoking entirely in their buildings or create smoking rooms that ventilate directly to the outside.

The conversion of GM’s 15 billion square feet of plant space in Lansing may take more time than 90 days - when the ordinance takes effect.

“This is not a small facility,” GM spokesman Jim Hopson said. “This would be basically like saying, ‘Michigan State, you have to come into compliance with this.’”

The auto giant has just started considering options for compliance following the vote. Hopson said GM doesn’t know how much such updates would cost and how long it would take to achieve.

As a result, a request for an extension is not out of the question, Hopson said.

“We’re still trying to determine what compliance would require,” he said. “We’re certainly interested in the health of our employees. Whether we like it or not this is something we have to look into.”

The Ingham County Board of Commissioners developed the ban after discussing health issues with the county’s health department.

“They had gone through the process of trying to figure out what they could do to help community health,” said Robert Glandon, Ingham County’s director of community health assessment. “That’s when they settled on it.”

During public comment of the county meeting at which task force members presented the ban, numerous residents backed the idea of eliminating secondhand smoke in the workplace.

But the statistics and testimony didn’t impress every commissioner.

Commissioner Mike Severino, one of the two votes against the regulation, said individuals should work with their employers to alleviate their problem instead of relying on the government to help them.

“I have a great deal of confidence in the private sector and its ability to resolve all types of issues with their employees, including the issue of smoking,” he said.

Additionally, Severino said the regulation conflicts with health codes, despite the health department’s involvement in the development of the ordinance.

Under the county’s public health code, a workplace can set aside half a room as no-smoking without worrying about ventilation, which Severino believes takes precedence over the county’s ordinance.

“The scariest part of being an elected official comes when you realize how frequently your colleagues will ignore the law when it conflicts with their agenda,” he said.

Severino was outvoted, and following the county’s passage of the ban, several other counties, including Washtenaw County, have begun looking into similar ordinances.

Ingham may be leading the pack, but the regulation follows a similar ban by Marquette.

Marquette banned smoking four years ago by a 5-2 vote but quickly found itself in court over the law.

A lawsuit was not surprising considering the relative unpopularity of the ban, Marquette Mayor Jerry Irby said.

“In the public comment we had people voicing the belief that government shouldn’t get involved in businesses’ decisions,” he said. “The economics would dictate whether it would happen or not.”

Courts sided partially with the city’s opponents, ruling that application of the ban to restaurants and bars violated health codes.

The issue is now before Michigan Supreme Court.

The Marquette ban served as a starting point for Ingham’s bill and, like the city, the county ran into problems applying the ordinance to restaurants and bars.

Concerns brought up by owners caused the county to drop restaurants and bars from its ordinance.

“(Marquette) didn’t have a problem with the other stuff,” said Commissioner Mark Grebner, who is still pursuing a ban for restaurants and bars. “So we went forward on the part that the court didn’t take.”

Aaron Johnson can be reached at john1187@msu.edu.