FACTORIES

(1) This Ordinance may cited as the Factories Ordinance.

(2) Save as otherwise provided in subsection (3) of this section or in any other section of this Ordinance, the provisions of this Ordinance shall be in addition to and not in substitution for or diminution of the provisions of any other written law for the time being applicable to factories and to the employment of workers in factories in Sri Lanka.

(3) In any case of conflict or inconsistency between the provisions of this Ordinance or of any regulation made thereunder and any provision of any other written law made in pursuance of any power conferred upon any local authority, the provisions of this Ordinance or of such regulation shall prevail.

(1) On and after the notified date, no person shall be the occupier of any factory, whether established before, on or after that date, unless such factory is registered in accordance with the provisions of this Ordinance and the regulations made hereunder: Provided that the occupation during the period of three months commencing from the notified date by the occupier of a factory established before the notified date shall be deemed not to be a contravention of the preceding provisions of this section.

(2) For the purpose of the registration required by this Ordinance the date of the establishment of a factory shall be the date on which any of the actual operations of the factory, or any process of work of any kind, other than the construction or renovation of buildings or the cleaning and preparation of the premises or the installation or repair of machinery or equipment, is commenced therein.

(3) On and after the notified date no person shall commence-

(4) Where approval under subsection (3) is not granted, the Chief Factory Inspecting Engineer or the District Factory Inspecting Engineer, as the case may be, shall inform in writing, the applicant the reasons therefor.

(5) In this section, “extension” includes the addition of any building, room or other structure, the alteration of any building for the purpose of dividing it into two or more portions, the roofing of any space between two or more walls, the re-erection of the whole or any part of any building destroyed or demolished for the purpose of re-erection, any change in the lay out of machinery, or any other alteration in the internal arrangements of the building which affects any provision of this Ordinance such as the temperature, lighting or ventilation.

(1) The Minister may, by regulations, provide for all matters relating to the registration of factories, the approval of factory buildings and sites, the approval of extension to factory buildings and the approval of the conversion of other buildings into factory buildings, required by this Ordinance.

(2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the powers conferred by subsection (1), the Minister may by regulations-

(3) For the purpose of the registration of factories different regulations may be made under the preceding provisions of this section-(f) in respect of factories established before the notified date; and (b) in respect of factories established on or after the notified date.

(1) On and after the notified date no person shall commence the occupation of, or the use of any premises as, a factory unless he has, at least one month before the date on which it is intended to commence such occupation or use, served on the Chief Factory Inspecting Engineer or the District Factory Inspecting Engineer, a written notice, containing such particulars as may be prescribed. In the event of any change in the particulars so furnished, the occupier of such factory shall furnish to the Chief Factory Inspecting Engineer or the District Factory Inspecting Engineer a fresh written notice containing every such change of the particulars:

Provided however that such person may, after serving such notice commence such occupation or use on a date earlier than that specified in the notice, if he has obtained written permission to do so from the Chief Factory Inspecting Engineer or the District Factory Inspecting Engineer.

(2) The occupier of a factory established before the date notified by the Minister under section 2 and in use on such date, shall within a period of two months from such date, furnish to the Chief Factory Inspecting Engineer or the District Factory Inspecting Engineer a written notice in such form and containing such particulars as may be prescribed. In the event of any change in the particulars so furnished, the occupier of such factory shall furnish to the Chief Factory Inspecting Engineer or the District Factory Inspecting Engineer a fresh written notice inter alia, containing every such change of the particulars.

(a) shall serve on the Chief Factory Inspecting Engineer or the District Factory Inspecting Engineer a written notice, within fifteen days of the expiration of such period, specifying the date on which such work was suspended; and

(b) shall not resume such work therein unless he has, at least fifteen days before the date on which it is intended to resume such work, served on the Chief Factory Inspecting Engineer or the District Factory Inspecting Engineer a written notice stating the intention to resume, and the date on which it is intended to resume, such work.

(a) accumulations of dirt and refuse shall be removed daily by a suitable method from the floors and benches of workrooms, and from the staircases and passages;

(b) the floor of every workroom shall be cleaned at least once in every week by washing or, if it is effective and suitable, by sweeping or other method;

(c) all such measures as may be prescribed by regulations shall be taken to keep in a clean and sanitary condition all inside walls and partitions and all ceilings or tops of rooms and all walls, sides and tops of passages and staircases:

(i) except where the District Factory Inspecting Engineer for the district in any case otherwise requires, the provisions of any regulations made under paragraph (c) of this section shall not apply to any factory where mechanical power is not used and less than ten persons are employed; and

(ii) where it appears to the Registrar that in any class or description of factory or parts thereof any of the foregoing provisions of this section are not required for the purpose of keeping the factory in a clean state, or are by reason of special circumstances inappropriate or inadequate for such purpose, he may, if he thinks fit, by order direct that those provisions shall not apply to factories, or parts of factories, of that class or description or shall apply as varied by the order.

(1) A factory shall not, while work is carried on, be so overcrowded as to cause risk of injury to the health of the persons employed therein.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the fore going provision, a factory shall be deemed to be so overcrowded as aforesaid, if the number of persons employed at a time in any workroom is such that the amount of cubic space allowed for each person employed in the room is less than four hundred cubic feet:

Provided that, if the Chief Factory Inspecting Engineer is satisfied that owing to the special conditions under which the work is carried on in any workroom in which explosive materials are manufactured or handled, the application of the provisions of this subsection to that workroom would be inappropriate or unnecessary, he may by certificate except the workroom from those provisions subject to any conditions specified in the certificate.

(3) As respects any room used as a workroom at the appointed date, the last foregoing subsection shall, for the period of five years after that date and, if before the expiration of that period effective and suitable mechanical ventilation has been provided in the room, for a further period of five years, have effect as if for the reference therein to four hundred cubic feet there were substituted a reference to two hundred and fifty cubic feet:

Provided that this subsection shall cease to apply to the room-

(1) Effective provision shall be made for securing and maintaining a reasonable temperature in each workroom, but no method shall be employed which results in the escape into the air of any workroom of any fume of such a character and to such extent as to be likely to be injurious or offensive to persons employed therein.

(2) The Minister may, by regulations, for factories or for any class or description of factory or parts thereof, prescribe a standard of reasonable temperature (which may vary the standard prescribed by the last foregoing subsection for sedentary work) and prohibit the use of any methods of maintaining a reasonable temperature which, in the opinion of the Minister, are likely to be injurious to the persons employed, and direct that thermometers shall be provided and maintained in such places and positions as may be specified.

(1) Effective and suitable provision shall be made for securing and maintaining by the circulation of fresh air in each workroom the adequate ventilation of the room, and for rendering harmless, so far as practicable, all fumes, dust and other impurities injurious to health that may be generated in the course of any process or work carried on in the factory.

(2) The Minister may, by regulations, prescribe a standard of adequate ventilation for factories or for any class or description of factory or parts thereof.

(1) Effective provision shall be made for securing and maintaining sufficient and suitable lighting, whether natural or artificial, in every part of a factory in which persons are working or passing.

(2) The Minister may, by regulations, prescribe a standard of sufficient and suitable lighting for factories or for any class or description of factory or parts thereof, or for any process.

(3) Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this section or in any regulations made thereunder shall be construed as enabling directions to be prescribed or otherwise given as to whether any artificial lighting is to be produced by any particular illuminant.

(4) All glazed windows and skylights used for the lighting of workrooms shall, so far as practicable, be kept clean on both the inner and outer surfaces and free from obstruction :

(1) Sufficient and suitable sanitary conveniences for the persons employed in the factory shall be provided, maintained and kept clean, and effective provision shall be made for lighting the conveniences and, where persons of both sexes are or are intended to be employed such conveniences shall afford proper separate accommodation for persons of each sex.

(2) The Minister may make regulations determining for factories or for any class or description of factory what is sufficient and suitable provision for the purposes of this section.

(1) Where it appears to the Commissioner that in any factory or class or description of factory-

(2) The Minister may make regulations as to the arrangements that shall be made in all factories or in any specified class of factories for the purposes of this section.

(1) Every flywheel directly connected to any prime mover and every moving part of any prime mover, except such prime movers as are mentioned in subsection (3) of this section, shall be securely fenced whether the flywheel or prime mover is situated in an engine-house or not.

(2) The head and tail race of every water wheel and of every water turbine shall be securely fenced.

(3) Every part of electric generators, motors and rotary converters, and every flywheel directly connected thereto, shall be securely fenced unless it is in such a position or of such construction as to be as safe to every person employed or working on the premises as it would be if securely fenced.

(1) Every part of the transmission machinery shall be securely fenced unless it is in such a position or of such construction as to be as safe to every person employed or working on the premises as it would be if securely fenced.

(2) Efficient devices or appliances shall be provided and maintained in every room or place where work is carried on, by which the power can promptly be cut off from the transmission machinery in that room or place.

(3) No driving belt when not in use shall be allowed to rest or ride upon a revolving shaft which forms part of the transmission machinery.

(4) Suitable striking gear or other efficient mechanical appliances shall be provided and maintained and used to move driving belts to and from fast and loose pulleys which form part of the transmission machinery, and any such gear or appliances shall be so constructed, placed and maintained as to prevent the driving belt from creeping back on to the fast pulley.

(5) Where the Commissioner is satisfied that owing to special circumstances the fulfilment of any of the requirements of the last three foregoing subsections is unnecessary or impracticable, he may by order direct that that requirement shall not apply in those circumstances.

(1) Every dangerous part of any machinery, other than prime movers and transmission machinery, shall be securely fenced unless it is in such a position or of such construction as to be as safe to every person employed or working on the premises as it would be if securely fenced :

Provided that, in so far as the safety of a dangerous part of any machinery cannot by reason of the nature of the operation be secured by means of a fixed guard, the requirements of this subsection shall be deemed to have been complied with if a device is provided which automatically prevents the operator from coming into contact with that part.

(2) Where the Minister is satisfied that there is available and suitable for use in connection with machinery of any class any type or description of safety device which-

Provided that, in any proceedings in respect of a contravention of this subsection, it shall be a sufficient defence to prove that a device at least equally effective was being used in connection with the machinery in respect of which the contravention occurred.

(3) Any part of a stock-bar which projects beyond the head-stock of a lathe shall be securely fenced unless it is in such a position as to be as safe to every person employed or working on the premises as it would be if securely fenced. The Minister may, as respects any machine or any process in which a machine is used, make regulations requiring the fencing of materials or articles which are dangerous while in motion in the machine.

(a) no account shall be taken of any person carrying out, while the part of machinery is in motion, an examination thereof or any lubrication or adjustment shown by such examination to be immediately necessary, being an examination, lubrication or adjustment which it is necessary to carry out while the part of machinery is in motion ; and

(b) in the case of any part of transmission machinery used in any such process as may be specified in regulations made by the Minister being a process where owing to the continuous nature thereof the stopping of that part would seriously interfere with the carrying on of the process, no account shall be taken of any person carrying out, by such methods and in such circumstances as may be specified in the regulations, any lubrication or any mounting or shipping of belts :

(1) In the case of any machine in a factory being a machine intended to be driven by mechanical power-

(2) Any person who imports, sells or lets on hire, or as agent of the importer, seller or hirer causes or procures to be imported, sold or let on hire, for use in a factory in Sri Lanka any machine intended to be driven by mechanical or electrical power which does not comply with the requirements of this section, shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding fifty thousand rupees.

(3) The Minister may by regulations extend the provisions of the last preceding subsection to machinery or plant which does not comply with such requirements of this Ordinance or of any regulation made thereunder as may be specified in the regulations, and any regulations made under this subsection may relate to machinery or plant in a specified process.

(4) Nothing in this section shall apply to any machine constructed before the appointed date, and regulations under this section shall not apply to any machinery or plant constructed before the making of the regulations.

(1) Every fixed vessel, structure, sump or pit of which the edge is less than three feet above the adjoining ground or platform shall, if it contains any scalding, corrosive or poisonous liquid, either be securely covered or be securely fenced to at least that height, or where by reason of the nature of the work neither secure covering nor secure fencing to that height is practicable, all practicable steps shall be taken by covering, fencing or other means or prevent any person from falling into the vessel, structure, sump or pit.

(2) Where any fixed vessel, structure, sump or pit contains any scalding, corrosive or poisonous liquid but is not securely covered, no ladder, stair or gangway shall be placed above, or across it, which is not-

(3) Where any such vessels, structures, sumps, or pits as are mentioned in subsection (2) adjoin, and the space between, clear of any surrounding brick or other work is less than eighteen inches in width or is not securely fenced on both sides to a height of at least three feet, secure barriers shall be so placed as to prevent passage between them.

(4) For the purpose of this section, a ladder, stair or gangway shall be deemed to be not securely fenced unless it is provided either with sheet fencing or with an upper and a lower rail and with toe boards.

(5)

(6) The Chief Factory Inspecting Engineer may by order exempt from the requirements of this section any class of vessel, structure, sump or pit in the case of which he is satisfied that the requirements are unnecessary or inappropriate.

(1) In any factory or part of a factory to which this subsection applies no traversing part of any self-acting machine and no material carried thereon shall, if the space over which it runs is a space over which any person is liable to pass, whether in the course of his employment or otherwise, be allowed on its outward or inward traverse to run within a distance of eighteen inches from any fixed structure not being part of the machine ;

Provided that nothing in this subsection shall prevent any portion of the traversing carriage of any self-acting spinning mule being allowed to run to a point twelve inches distant from any part of the head-stock of another such machine.

(2) The provisions of subsection (1) shall apply-

(3) All practicable steps shall be taken by instructions to the person in charge of the machine and other wise to ensure that no person employed shall be in the space between any traversing part of a self-acting spinning mule and any fixed part of the machine towards which the traversing part moves on the inward run, except when the machine is stopped with the traversing part on the outward run.

(4) The Commissioner may exempt from the operation of this section any factory or class of factories in which precautions have been taken or safeguards adopted in accordance with the recommendations of the Chief Factory Inspecting Engineer.

(1) No young person shall work at any machine to which this section applies, unless he has been fully instructed as to the dangers arising in connection with the machine and the precautions to be observed, and-

(2) This section applies to such machines as may be declared by order of the Commissioner to be machines which in his opinion are of such a dangerous character that young persons ought not to work at them unless the foregoing requirements are complied with.

(1) Every hoist or lift shall be of good mechanical construction, sound material and adequate strength, and be properly maintained.

(2) Every hoist or lift shall be thoroughly examined by a competent person at least once in every period of twelve months, and a report of the result of every such examination in such form and containing such particulars as may be prescribed shall be signed by the person making the examination and shall within fourteen days be entered in or attached to the general register.

(3) Every hoistway or liftway shall be efficiently protected by a substantial enclosure fitted with gates, being such an enclosure as to prevent, when the gates are shut, any person falling down the way or coming into contact with any moving part of the hoist or lift.

(4) Any such gate as aforesaid shall be fitted with efficient interlocking or other devices to secure that the gate cannot be opened except when the cage or platform is at the landing and that the cage or platform cannot be moved away from the landing until the gate is closed :

Provided that, in the case of a hoist or lift constructed or reconstructed before the appointed date which it is not reasonably practicable to fit with such devices as aforesaid, it shall be sufficient if the gate is provided with such arrangements as will secure the aforesaid objects so far as is reasonably practicable, and in any event is kept closed and fastened except when the cage or platform is at rest at the landing.

(5) Every hoist or lift and every such enclosure as aforesaid shall be so constructed as to prevent any part of any person or any goods carried in the hoist or lift being trapped between any part of the hoist or lift and any fixed structure or between the counter balance weight and any other moving part of the hoist or lift.

(6) There shall be marked conspicuously on every hoist or lift the maximum working load which it can safely carry and no load greater than that load shall be required or permitted to be carried on any hoist or lift.

(7) The following additional requirements shall apply to hoists and lifts used for carrying persons, whether together with goods or otherwise :-

(8) In the case of a continuous hoist or lift, sub sections (3) to (7) inclusive of this section shall not apply and in the case of a hoist or lift not connected with mechanical power subsections (4) and (7) shall not apply.

(9) For the purposes of this section, no lifting machine or appliance shall be deemed to be a hoist or lift unless it has a platform or cage the direction of movement of which is restricted by a guide or guides.

(10) Every teagle opening or similar doorway used for hoisting or lowering goods or materials, whether by mechanical power or otherwise, shall be securely fenced, and shall be provided with a secure hand-hold on each side of the opening or doorway. The fencing shall be properly maintained and shall, except when the hoisting or lowering of goods or materials is being carried on at the opening or doorway, be kept in position.

(11) If it is shown to the satisfaction of the Commissioner that it would be unreasonable in the special circumstances of the case to enforce any requirement of this section in respect of any class or description of hoist, lift, hoistway, liftway, or teagle opening or similar doorway, he may by order direct that such requirement shall not apply as respects that class or description.

(1) following provisions shall be complied with as respects every chain, rope or lifting tackle used for the purpose of raising or lowering persons, goods or materials :-

(2) In this section the expression ” lifting tackle ” means chain slings, rope slings, rings, hooks, shackles, and swivels.

(3) If it is shown to the satisfaction of the Commissioner that it would be unreasonable in the special circumstances of the case to enforce all or any of the provisions of subsection (1) in respect of any class or description of chains, ropes and lifting tackle, he may by order direct that such provisions shall not apply as respects that class or description.

(1) All parts and working gear whether fixed or movable, including the anchoring and fixing appliances, of every lifting machine shall be of good construction, sound material, adequate strength and free from patent defect, and shall be properly maintained.

(2) All such parts and gear as aforesaid shall be thoroughly examined by a competent person at least once in every period of fourteen months and a register shall be kept containing such particulars of every examination as may be prescribed.

(3) All rails on which a travelling crane moves and every track on which the carriage of a transporter or runway moves shall be of proper size and adequate strength and have an even running surface; and any such rails or track shall be properly laid, adequately supported or suspended, and properly maintained.

(4) There shall be plainly marked on every lifting machine the safe working load or loads thereof, except that in the case of a jib crane so constructed that the safe working load may be varied by the raising or lowering of the jib, there shall be attached thereto either an automatic indicator of safe working loads or a table indicating the safe working loads at corresponding inclinations of the jib or corresponding radii of the load.

(5) No lifting machine shall, except for the purpose of a test, be loaded beyond the safe working load as marked or indicated under the last foregoing subsection.

(6) No lifting machine shall be taken into use in any factory for the first time in that factory unless it has been tested and all such parts and working gear of the machine as are specified in subsection (1) of this section have been thoroughly examined by a competent person and a certificate of such a test and examination specifying the safe working load or loads of the machine and signed by the person making the test and examination has been obtained and is kept available for inspection,

(7) If any person is employed or working on or near the wheel-track of an overhead travelling crane in any place where he would be liable to be struck by the crane, effective measures shall be taken by warning the driver of the crane or otherwise to ensure that the crane does not approach within twenty feet of that place.

(8) In this section the expression “lifting machine” means a crane, crab, winch, teagle, pulley block, gin wheel, transporter or runway.

(1) All floors, steps, stairs, passages and gangways shall be of sound construction and properly maintained.

(2) For every staircase in a building or affording a means of exit from a building, a substantial hand-rail shall be provided and maintained, which, if the staircase has an open side shall be on that side, and, in the case of a staircase having two open sides, or in the case of a staircase which, owing to the nature of the construction thereof or the condition of the surface of the steps or other special circumstances, is specially liable to cause accidents, such a hand-rail shall be provided and maintained on both sides. Any open side of a staircase shall also be guarded by the provision and maintenance of a lower rail or other effective means.

(3) All openings in floors shall be securely fenced, except in so far as the nature of the work renders such fencing impracticable.

(4) All ladders shall be soundly constructed and properly maintained.

(1) There shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, be provided and maintained safe means of access to every place at which any person has at any time to work.

(2) Where any person is to work at a place from which he is liable to fall a distance of more than six feet then, unless the place is one which affords secure foothold and, where necessary, secure handhold, means shall be provided, so far as is reasonably practicable, by fencing or otherwise for ensuring his safety.

(1) Where work has to be done inside any chamber, tank, vat, pit, pipe, flue or similar confined space, in which dangerous fumes, toxic substances or harmful liquids are liable to be present or a deficiency of oxygen is liable to occur, to such an extent as to involve risk of persons being overcome thereby-

Provided that the Chief Factory Inspecting Engineer may by certificate grant, subject to any conditions specified in the certificate, exemption from compliance with any of the aforesaid requirements in any case where he is satisfied that compliance with those requirements is unnecessary or impracticable.

(2) No work shall be permitted in any boiler-furnace or boiler-flue until it has been sufficiently cooled by ventilation or otherwise to make work safe for the persons employed.

(3) The Minister may, by regulations, provide for further precautions to be taken where work has to be done in any place referred to in subsection (1).

(1) Where, in connexion with any grinding, sieving, or other process giving rise to dust, there may escape into any workroom dust of such a character and to such an extent as to be liable to explode on ignition, all practicable steps shall be taken to prevent such an explosion by enclosure of the plant used in the process and by removal or prevention of accumulation of the dust, and by exclusion or effective enclosure of possible sources of ignition.

(2) Where there is present in any plant used in any such process as aforesaid dust of such a character and to such an extent as to be liable to explode on ignition, then, unless the plant is so constructed as to with stand the pressure likely to be produced by any such explosion, all practicable steps shall be taken to restrict the spread and effects of such an explosion, by the provision, in connexion with the plant, of chokes, baffles and vents, or other equally effective appliances.

(3) Where any part of a plant contains any explosive or inflammable gas or vapour under pressure greater than atmospheric pressure, that part shall not be opened, except in accordance with the following provisions :-

and if any such fastening has been loosened or removed as aforesaid, no explosive or inflammable gas or vapour shall be allowed to enter the pipe or part of the plant until the fastening has been secured, or, as the case may be, securely replaced :

Provided that this subsection shall not apply to plant installed in the open air.

(4) No plant, tank or vessel which contains or has contained any explosive or inflammable substance shall be subjected to any welding, brazing or soldering operation or to any cutting operation which involves the application of heat, until all practicable steps have been taken to remove the substance and any fumes arising therefrom, or to render them non-explosive or non-inflammable ; and if any plant, tank, or vessel has been subjected to any such an operation as aforesaid, no explosive or inflammable substance shall be allowed to enter the plant, tank or vessel until the metal has cooled sufficiently to prevent any risk of igniting the substance.

(5) The Chief Factory Inspecting Engineer may by certificate grant, subject to any conditions specified in the certificate, exemption from compliance with any of the requirements of the last two foregoing subsections in any case where he is satisfied that compliance with the requirement is unnecessary or impracticable.

(1) Every steam boiler, whether separate or one of a range-

(2) For the purposes of the last foregoing subsection, a lever-valve shall not be deemed a suitable safety valve unless the weight is secured on the lever in the correct position.

(3) No person shall enter or be in any steam boiler which is one of a range of two or more steam boilers unless-

(3A) No person shall attend on or operate any steam boiler unless he is authorized in writing by the holder of a certificate issued under subsection (6). No person shall be authorized under this section unless after compliance with such requirements as may be prescribed.

(3B)

(4) Every part of every steam boiler shall be of good construction, sound material, adequate strength, and free from patent defect.

(5) Every steam boiler and all its fittings and attachments shall be properly maintained.

(6) Every steam boiler and all its fittings and attachments shall be thoroughly examined by a person who is the holder of a certificate issued in that behalf by the Commissioner at least once in every period of twelve months, and also after any extensive repairs:

Provided that, in the case of any range of boiler used at the appointed date for the purposes of a process requiring a continuous supply of steam, any stop-valve on the range which cannot be isolated from steam under pressure need only be examined so far as is practicable without such isolation, but this proviso shall cease to have effect as soon as a reasonable opportunity arises for installing devices to enable the valve to be so isolated and, in any case, at the expiration of a period of three years from the appointed date.

(7) Any examination in accordance with the requirements of the last foregoing subsection shall consists, in the first place, of an examination of the boiler when it is cold and the interior and exterior have been prepared in the prescribed manner, and secondly, except in the case of an economiser or superheater, of an examination when it is under normal steam pressure and the two parts of the examination may be carried out by different persons; the examination under steam pressure shall be made on the first occasion when steam is raised after the examination of the boiler when cold, or as soon as possible thereafter, and the person making the examination shall see that the safety valve is so adjusted as to prevent the boiler being worked at a pressure greater than the maximum permissible working pressure.

(8) A report of the result of every such examination in such form and containing such particulars as may be prescribed (including the maximum permissible working pressure) shall, as soon as practicable and in any case within twenty-eight days of the completion of the examination, be entered in or attached to the general register, and the report shall be signed by the person making the examination, and if that person is an inspector of a boiler-inspecting company or association, countersigned by the chief engineer of the company or association or by such other responsible officer of the company or association as may be authorized in writing in that behalf by the chief engineer. For the purposes of this subsection and the succeeding provisions of this section relating to reports of examinations, the examination of a boiler when, it is cold and its examination when it is under steam pressure shall be treated as separate examinations.

(9)

(10) Where the report of any examination under this section specifies conditions for securing the safe working of a steam boiler, the boiler shall not be used except in accordance with those conditions.

(11) The person making the report of any examination under this section, or, where that person is an inspector of a boiler- inspecting company or association, the chief engineer thereof, shall within twenty-eight days of the completion of the examination send to the District Factory Inspecting Engineer for the district a copy of the report in every case where the maximum permissible working pressure is reduced, or the examination shows that the boiler cannot continue to be used with safety unless certain repairs are carried out immediately or within a specified time.

(12) If the person employed to make any such examination fails to make a thorough examination as required by this section or makes a report which is false or deficient in any material particular, or if the chief engineer of any boiler-inspecting company or association permits any such report to be made, he shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding twenty-five thousand rupees, and if any such person or chief engineer fails to send to the District Factory Inspecting Engineer for the district a copy of any report as required by the preceding subsection, he shall be guilty of an offence.

(13) If the Chief Factory Inspecting Engineer is not satisfied as to the thoroughness of the examination, he may require the boiler to be re-examined by three persons nominated by him, and the occupier shall give the necessary facilities for such re-examination. If as a result of such examination it appears that the report of the examination was inadequate or inaccurate in any material particular, the cost of the re-examination shall be recoverable from the occupier as a debt due to the State and the report of the re-examination purporting to be signed by the persons making it shall be admissible in evidence and be prima facie evidence of the facts stated therein.

(14) In this Part, the expression “maximum permissible working pressure” means, in the case of a new steam boiler, that specified in the certificate referred to in subsection (9) of this section and in the case of a steam boiler which has been examined in accordance with the provisions of this section, that specified in the report of the last examination; and the expression “steam boiler” means any closed vessel in which for any purpose steam is generated under pressure greater than atmospheric pressure, and includes any hot water boiler working at a temperature of not less than 110 degrees centigrade, any economiser used to heat the water fed to any such vessel, and any super-heater used for heating steam.

(15) This section shall not apply to any boiler belonging to or exclusively used in the service of the State which is exempted therefrom by the Minister on the ground that an efficient staff is employed for keeping such boilers in sound condition.

(1) Every steam receiver, not so constructed and maintained as to withstand with safety the maximum permissible working pressure of the boiler or the maximum pressure which can be obtained in the pipe connecting the receiver with any other source of supply, shall be fitted with-

The safety valve and pressure gauge shall be fitter either on the steam receiver or on the supply pipe between the receiver and the reducing valve or other appliance to prevent the safe working pressure being exceeded.

(2) For the purpose of the provisions of the fore going subsection, except paragraph (e), any set of receivers supplied with steam through a single pipe and forming part of a single machine may be treated as one receiver, and for the purpose of the said pro visions, except paragraphs (d) and (e), any other set of receivers supplied with steam through a single pipe may be treated as one receiver :

Provided that this subsection shall not apply to any such set of receivers unless the reducing valve or other appliance to prevent the safe working pressure being exceeded is fitted on the said single pipe.

(3) Every part of every steam receiver shall be of good construction, sound material, adequate strength, and free from patent defect.

(4) Every steam receiver and its fittings shall be properly maintained and shall be thoroughly examined by a person who is the holder of a certificate issued in that behalf by the Commissioner, so far as the construction of the receiver permits, at least once in every period of twenty-four months.

(4A) If the person employed to make any such examination fails to make a thorough examination required by this section or makes a report which is false or deficient in any material particular or if the chief engineer of any steam receiver inspecting company or association permits any such report to be made, he shall be guilty of an offence and be liable to a fine not exceeding twenty- five thousand rupees.

(5) A report of the result of every such examination containing such particulars as may be prescribed (including particulars of the safe working pressure) shall be entered in or attached to the general register.

(6) Every steam container shall be so maintained as to secure that the outlet is at all times kept open and free from obstruction.

(7) In this section the following expressions have the meanings hereby respectively assigned to them, that is to say ; –

” safe working pressure” means, in the case of a new steam receiver, that specified by the maker, and in the case of a steam receiver which has been examined in accordance with the provisions of this section, that specified in the report of the last examination ;

” steam receiver” means any vessel or apparatus (other than a steam boiler, steam container, a steam pipe or coil, or a part of a prime mover) used for containing steam under pressure greater than atmospheric pressure ;

” steam container” means any vessel (other than a steam pipe or coil) constructed with a permanent outlet into the atmosphere or into a space where the pressure does not exceed atmospheric pressure, and through which steam is passed at atmospheric pressure or at approximately that pressure for the purpose of heating, boiling, drying, evaporating or other similar purpose.

(1) Every air receiver shall-

(2) For the purpose of the provisions of the foregoing subsection relating to safety valves and pressure gauges, any set of air receivers supplied with air through a single pipe may be treated as one receiver: Provided that, in a case where a suitable reducing valve or other suitable appliance to prevent the safe working pressure being exceeded is required to be fitted, this subsection shall not apply unless the valve or appliance is fitted on the said single pipe.

(3) Every air receiver and its fittings shall be of sound construction and properly maintained.

(4) Every air receiver shall be thoroughly cleaned and examined at least once in every period of twenty-four months:

Provided that in the case of a receiver of solid drawn construction-

Every such examination and test shall be carried out by a person who is the holder of a certificate issued in that behalf by the Commissioner and a report of the result of every such examination and test, containing such particulars as may be prescribed (including particulars of the safe working pressure) shall be entered in or attached to the general register.

(4A) If the person employed to make any such examination or test fails to make a thorough examination or test, as the case may be, required by this section or makes a report which is false or deficient in any material particular or if the chief engineer of any air-receiver inspecting company or association permits any such report to be made, he shall be guilty of an offence and be liable to a fine not exceeding twenty-five thousand rupees.

(5) In this section the expression “air receiver” means-

(1) Every gas receiver shall-

(2)

Where for any technical reason it is not possible to install such plug, there may be installed on one of the appliances (pressure gauge or thermometer) a suitable signalling device that will begin to function when the pressure or temperature rises above the safe limit. Such signalling device shall be so constructed as to avoid the possibility of an explosion in the factory premises due to sparking in an explosive atmosphere or other such causes.

(3) In any case where explosive or poisonous gases may be introduced into or may from in the receiver, the irruption of such gases into workplaces shall be reliably prevented such as by means of pipes leading to the outside of the factory premises from safety valves and plugs or other devices. Before poisonous gases are allowed to escape outside the factory premises they shall be rendered harmless by a suitable filter or other device.

(4) On every vessel which is capable of being opened there shall be a reliable working device by means of which the pressure in the vessel will be reduced to atmospheric pressure before the vessel is opened.

(5) The fittings of vessels installed outside any premises shall be protected against atmospheric influences.

(6) Every receiver containing a liquefied gas under pressure or a poisonous gas shall be protected against foreign sources of heat.

(7) Where more than one receiver is in use in any factory, every receiver shall bear a distinguishing mark which shall be easily visible.

(8) For the purpose of the preceding provisions of this section relating to safety valves and pressure gauges, any set of gas receivers supplied with gas through a single pipe may be treated as one receiver: Provided that, in a case where a suitable reducing valve or other suitable appliance to prevent the safe working pressure being exceeded is required to be fitted, the provisions of this subsection shall not apply unless the valve or appliance is fitted on the aforesaid single pipe.

(9) Every gas receiver and its fittings shall be of sound construction properly maintained.

(10) Every gas receiver and its fittings shall be thoroughly cleaned and examined at least once in every period of twelve months:

Provided that where, in the case of a receiver of solid drawn construction, the internal surface cannot be thoroughly examined, a suitable hydraulic test of the receiver shall be carried out in lieu of internal examination. Every such examination shall be carried out by a person who is the holder of a certificate issued in that behalf by the Commissioner, and a report of the result of every such examination containing such particulars as may be prescribed (including particulars of the sale working pressure) shall be entered in or attached to the general register.

(11) If the person employed to make any such examination fails to make a thorough examination, required by this section or makes a report which is false or deficient in any material particular or if the chief engineer of any gas receiver inspecting company or association permits any such report to be made, he shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding twenty-five thousand rupees.

(12) The Minister may by regulations provide for additional safety measures to be taken in respect of different gases.

(13) In this section the expression “gas receiver” means-

(1) Every gasholder shall be of sound construction and shall be properly maintained.

(2) Every gasholder shall be thoroughly examined externally by a person who is the holder of certificate issued in that behalf by the Commissioner at least once in every period of two years, and a record containing such particulars as may be prescribed of every such examination shall be entered in or attached to the general register.

(3) In the case of a gasholder of which any lift has been in use for more than twenty years, the internal state of the sheeting shall, within two years of the coming into operation of this section and thereafter at least once in every period of ten years, be examined by a person authorized by the Commissioner by cutting samples from the crown and sides of the holder or by other sufficient means, and all samples so cut and a report on every such examination signed by the person making it shall be kept available for inspection.

(4) A record signed by the occupier of the factory or by a responsible official authorized in that behalf showing the date of the construction, as nearly as it can be ascertained, of the oldest lift of every gasholder in the factory shall be kept available for inspection.

(5) Where there is more than one gasholder in the factory, every gasholder shall be marked in a conspicuous position with a distinguishing number or letter.

(6) No gasholder shall be repaired or demolished except under the direct supervision of a person who, by his training and experience and his knowledge of the necessary precautions against risks of explosion and of persons being overcome by gas, is competent to supervise such work.

(6A) The Chief Factory Inspecting Engineer may, after taking into consideration the design, construction and capacity of any gasholder or a class of gasholder and the purpose for which such gasholder or class of gasholder is used, by certificate grant in respect of such gasholder or class of gasholder, subject to such conditions as may be specified therein, exemption from compliance with the provisions of this section.

(7) In this section the expression “gasholder” means a water- 1976 sealed gasholder.

(1) The Minister may by regulations make provisions in respect of all matters relating to the issue of certificates referred to in sections 34, 35, 36 36A and 38.

(2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the powers conferred by subsection (1), such regulations may prescribe-

(1) Every factory to which this section applies shall be certified by a Factory Inspecting Engineer as being provided with such means of escape in case of fire for the persons employed therein as may reasonably be required in the circumstances of each case and, if any premises with respect to which no such certificate is in force are used as a factory, the occupier shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding twenty-five thousand rupees, and if the contravention in respect of which he was so convicted is continued after the conviction, he shall subject to the provisions of section 110, be guilty of a further offence and liable in respect thereof to a fine not exceeding five hundred rupees for each day on which the offence was so continued. It shall be the duty of the District Factory Inspecting Engineer for every district to examine every such factory within the district and, on being satisfied that the factory is so provided as aforesaid, to give such certificate accordingly. The certificate shall specify precisely and in detail the means of escape provided, and shall contain particulars as to the maximum number of persons employed or proposed to be employed in the factory as a whole and, if the Factory Inspecting Engineer thinks fit, in any specified part thereof, and as to any explosive or highly inflammable material stored or used and as to other matters taken into account in granting the certificate. The certificate shall be attached by the occupier to the general register.

(2) All means of escape specified in the certificate as aforesaid shall be properly maintained and kept free from obstruction.

(3) In the case of any factory constructed or converted for use as a factory before the coming into operation of this section no offence shall be deemed to be committed under this section by reason of the use of the factory during any period that may elapse between the coming into operation of this section and the grant or refusal of a certificate by the Factory Inspecting Engineer after examining the factory under this section, and if the Factory Inspecting Engineer refuses to grant a certificate in respect of the factory unless alterations are made, no such offence shall be deemed to be committed while the alterations are being carried out in accordance with the requirements of the Factory Inspecting Engineer.

(4) If, after the grant of a certificate, it is proposed to make any material extension or material structural alteration of the factory premises or to increase materially the number of persons employed in the factory or in any part specified in the certificate, or to begin to store or use explosive or highly inflammable material in the factory or materially to increase the extent of such storage or use, the occupier shall give written notice of the proposal to the Factory Inspecting Engineer.

(5) If the Factory Inspecting Engineer on receipt of the notice mentioned in the last foregoing subsection is of opinion that the conditions in regard to escape in case of fire will be affected, or if at any time he is satisfied that by reason of changed conditions the existing means of escape have become insufficient, he may by notice in writing require the occupier to make such alterations, within such period, as may be specified in the notice.

(6) The occupier shall, within the period specified in any notice of the Factory Inspecting Engineer under this section, carry out any alterations required by the notice, and upon their being carried out the Factory Inspecting Engineer shall amend the certificate or issue a new certificate, and if the alterations are not so carried out, the Factory Inspecting Engineer shall, without prejudice to the taking of other proceedings, cancel the certificate.

(8)* If it appears to an Factory Inspecting Engineer that the conditions in regard to escape in case of fire in any factory to which this section applies are so dangerous that the factory or any part thereof ought not to be used, or ought not to be used for a particular process or work, until steps have been taken to remedy the danger, he may make a complaint to a Magistrate’s Court and the court may, on being satisfied of the matters aforesaid, by order prohibit the use of the factory or part thereof, or its use for the particular process or work until such works have been executed as are in the opinion of the court necessary to remedy the danger. When any works have been executed in pursuance of such an order as aforesaid, the Factory Inspecting Engineer shall amend any certificate in force under this section in respect of the factory, or issue a new certificate, as the case may require-

(9) This section applies to every factory –

(1) The Minister may make regulations as to the means of escape in case of fire to be provided in factories or any class or description of factory.

(2) If a certificate has been issued under section 39 in respect of a factory which is not in conformity with the regulations under this section, the Factory Inspecting Engineer shall serve a notice on the occupier of the factory requiring him to make, within a specified period, such alterations as the inspector may consider necessary to bring the factory into conformity with the regulations, and the provisions of section 39 shall apply in relation to any such notice as they apply to a notice of the Factory Inspecting Engineer under that section.

(1) While any person is within a factory for the purpose of employment or meals, the doors of the factory, and of any room therein in which the person is, and any doors which afford a means of exit for persons employed in the factory from any building or from any enclosure in which the factory is situated, shall not be locked or fastened in such manner that they cannot be easily and immediately opened from the inside.

(2) Any doors opening on to any staircase or corridor from any room in which more than ten per sons are employed, and in the case of any factory constructed or converted for use as a factory after the coming into operation of this section, all other doors affording a means of exit from the factory for persons employed therein, shall except in the case of sliding doors, be constructed to open outwards.

(3) In any factory constructed or converted for use as a factory before the coming into operation of this section, in which more than ten persons are employed in the same building above the ground floor, any door, which is not kept continuously open, at the foot of a staircase affording a means of exit from the building shall, except in the case of sliding doors, be constructed to open outwards.

(4) Every hoist way or lift way inside a building constructed after the coming into operation of this section shall, subject as hereinafter provided, be completely enclosed with fire-resisting materials, and all means of access to the hoist or lift shall be fitted with doors of fire-resisting materials : Provided that any such hoist way or lift way shall be enclosed at the top only by some material easily broken by fire, or be provided with a vent at the top.

(5) The Chief Factory Inspecting Engineer may by certificate grant, subject to any conditions specified in the certificate, exemption from compliance with any of the requirements of the last foregoing subsection in any case where he is satisfied that compliance with those requirements is inappropriate or undesirable.

(6) Every window, door, or other exit affording means of escape in case of fire or giving access thereto other than the means of exit in ordinary use, shall be distinctively and conspicuously marked by a notice printed in red letters of an adequate size.

(7) Where in any factory more than twenty persons are employed in the same building, or explosive or highly inflammable materials are stored or used in any building in which persons are employed, effective provision shall be made for giving warning in case of fire, which shall be clearly audible throughout the building.

(7A) The Minister may by regulations provide for the maintenance and testing of fire warnings referred to in subsection (7).

(8) The contents of any room in which persons are employed shall be so arranged or disposed that there is a free passage-way for all persons employed in the room to a means of escape in case of fire.

(1) Where in any factory more than twenty persons are employed in the same building above the first floor or more than twenty feet above the ground level, or explosive or highly inflammable materials are stored or used in any building where persons are employed, effective steps shall be taken to ensure that all the persons employed are familiar with the means of escape in case of fire and their use and with the routine to be followed in case of fire.

(2) The Minister may make regulations as to the steps to be taken for the said purposes in such factories as aforesaid, or any class or description thereof.

(1) There shall be provided in every factory fire fighting appliances in accordance with the regulations made in that behalf.

(2) The Minister may by regulations provide for the testing and examination of such appliances and for all matters relating to, connected with or incidental to the provision of fire fighting appliances in factories. Such regulations may prescribe different appliances and means to be provided in respect of different classes or descriptions of factories.

(1) If on complaint by any person appointed under section 100 a Magistrate’s Court is satisfied-

(2) Where a complaint is or has been made under subsection (1) of this section, the court may, on application exporter by any person appointed under section 100, and on receiving evidence that the use of any such part of the ways, works, machinery or plant, or as the case may be, the carrying on of any process or work or the doing of anything in such a manner as aforesaid, involves imminent risk of serious bodily injury, make an interim order prohibiting, either absolutely or subject to conditions, the use, carrying on or doing thereof until the earliest opportunity for hearing and determining the complaint.

(1) Where a Magistrate’s Court is satisfied on complaint by any person appointed under section 100 that any premises which are or are part of or are intended to be used as a factory are in such a condition, or are so controlled or placed, that any process or work carried on therein, or intended to be carried on therein, cannot be so carried on with due regard to the safety, health and welfare of the persons employed, the court may by order prohibit the use thereof for the purpose of that process or work and, in the case of premises which are intended to be used as a factory, the court may make the like order if satisfied on complaint by any person under section 100 that the process or work cannot be carried on therein without a contravention of this Ordinance or any regulation or order made hereunder.

(2) The carrying on of any process or work may, by an order under subsection (1) of this section, be prohibited either indefinitely or until such steps have been taken as may be specified in the order to enable the process or work to be carried on with due regard to the safety, health and welfare of the persons employed or without such a contravention as aforesaid, as the case may be ; but any such order may be revoked or varied on the application by way of complaint of the occupier or owner of the premises.

(3) On any application for the revocation or variation of an order under subsection (1) of this section the complainant shall be entitled or to be heard.

(a) be used in a factory unless such machinery is of sound material, good mechanical construction and adequate strength, is fitted with such safety devices and is installed in such manner as may be prescribed by regulation for that type or description of machinery ; or

(b) be operated except in such manner and with such safeguards and precautionary measures as may be prescribed by regulation for the better protection of persons or property from injury or damage likely to be caused by such machinery.

(1) There shall be provided and maintained at suitable points conveniently accessible to all persons employed an adequate supply of wholesome drinking water from a public main or from some other source approved in writing by the District Factory Inspecting Engineer for the district, such approval not to be withheld except on the ground of the unwholesomeness of the water.

(2) A supply of drinking water which is not laid on shall be contained in suitable vessels, and shall be renewed at least daily, and all practicable steps shall be taken to preserve the water and vessels from contamination ; and a drinking water supply (whether laid on or not) shall, in such cases as the District Factory Inspecting Engineer for the district may direct, be clearly marked ” Drinking Water “.

(3) Except where the water is delivered in an upward jet from which the employed persons can conveniently drink, one or more suitable cups or drinking vessels shall be provided at each point of supply with facilities for rinsing them in drinking water.

(1) There shall be provided and maintained for the use of employed persons adequate and suitable accommodation for clothing not worn during working hours; and such arrangements as are reasonably practicable or, when a standard is prescribed, such arrangements as are laid down thereby shall be made for drying such clothing.

(2) The Minister may by regulations prescribe, either generally or as respects any class or description of factory, a standard of suitable accommodation for such clothing and of arrangements for drying such clothing.

(3) The Registrar may by order provide for the exemption of factories from any of the requirements of this section in cases where by reason of such special circumstances as may be specified in the order the application of the requirement would in his opinion be unreasonable.

(1) There shall be provided and maintained so as to be readily accessible a first-aid box or cupboard of such standard as may be prescribed, and where more than one hundred and fifty persons are employed an additional box or cupboard for every additional one hundred and fifty persons. For the purposes of this provision the number of persons employed in a factory shall be taken to be the largest number of persons employed therein at any one time, and any fraction of one hundred and fifty shall be reckoned as one hundred and fifty. Where the persons employed are employed in shifts the calculation of the number employed shall be according to the largest number at work at any one time.

(2) Nothing except appliances or requisites for first-aid shall be kept in a first-aid box or cupboard.

(3) Each first-aid box or cupboard shall be placed under the charge of a responsible person who shall, in the case of a factory where more than fifty persons are employed, be trained in first-aid treatment, and the person in charge shall always be readily available during working hours. A notice shall be affixed in every workroom stating the name of the person in charge of the first-aid box or cupboard provided in respect of that room.

(4) If an ambulance room is provided at the factory and such arrangements are made as to ensure the immediate treatment there of all injuries occurring in the factory, the Chief Factory Inspecting Engineer may by certificate exempt the factory from the requirements of this section to such extent and subject to such conditions as he may specify in the certificate.

(1) In every factory in which, in connexion with any process carried on, there is given off any dust or fume or other impurity of such a character and to such extent as to be likely to be injurious or offensive to the persons employed, or any substantial quantity of dust of any kind, all practicable measures shall be taken to protect the persons employed against inhalation of the dust or fume or other impurity and to prevent its accumulating in any workroom, and in particular, where the nature of the process makes it practicable, exhaust appliances shall be provided and maintained, as near as possible to the point of origin of the dust or fume or other impurity, so as to prevent it entering the air of any workroom.

(2) No stationary internal combustion engine shall be used unless-

(1) Where ammonia, chlorine, carbon dioxide irritant or other vapour is used or is liable to be present in any factory, the plant or equipment in which such asphyxiate, gas or vapour is used or liable to be present shall be located in such part of the factory premises where persons are not ordinarily employed in any work.

(2) There shall be provided, properly maintained and readily available in any factory where any such asphyxiate gas or vapour is used or liable to be present, breathing apparatus or other equipment of a type approved by the Chief Factory Inspecting Engineer.

(3) No person shall be employed to work at or near the outlet of any slack culvert, drain, flue or sewer or other such place from which dangerous gases or fumes are liable to be discharged-

(1) Where in any room lead, arsenic or other poisonous substance is so used as to give rise to any dust or fume, a person shall not be permitted to partake of food or drink in that room or to remain in that room during the intervals allowed to him for meals or rest other than intervals allowed in the course of a spell of continuous employment.

(2) Where in any room a process prescribed by regulations made by the Minister is carried on, being a process which gives rise to siliceous dust or asbestos dust, a person shall not be permitted to remain in that room during the intervals allowed to him for meals or rest other than intervals allowed in the course of a spell of continuous employment.

(3) Suitable provision shall be made for enabling the persons employed in any such room as is mentioned in the last two foregoing subsections to take their meals elsewhere in the factory.

(4) Where it appears to the Commissioner that, by reason of the nature of any process, it is injurious to health or otherwise undesirable to take meals in rooms where that process is carried on or to remain therein during the intervals allowed for meals or rest, he may, if he thinks fit, by order extend all or any of the provisions of subsections (1) and (3) of this section to rooms where that process is carried on.

(1) Where any process or operation carried on in any factory involves a special risk of injury to the eyes of persons employed in such process or operation or to the eyes of person working close to the place where such process or operation is in progress, there shall be provided suitable eye protection for such persons.

(2) The Minister may by regulations-

(1) No person employed in any factory shall be exposed to ionizing radiation, or laser, ultraviolet or infrared rays or other electro magnetic radiation or be subjected to vibration including ultra-sonic vibrations, to an extent which is more than is necessary for the purposes of the work in which such person is employed.

(2) The Minister may by regulations prescribe specific measures to be taken to minimize the danger to the health of persons employed in such factories.

(1) No person shall use white phosphorus in the manufacture of matches.

(2) For the purposes of this Part of this Ordinance the expression “white phosphorus ” means the substance usually known as white or yellow phosphorus.

(1) No work shall be carried on in any underground room (not being an underground room used only for the purpose of storage or for some purpose excepted by order of the Commissioner) which is certified by the District Factory Inspecting Engineer for the district to be unsuitable for the purpose as regards construction, height, light or ventilation, or on any hygienic ground, or on the ground that adequate means of escape in case of fire are not provided : Provided that, where the Factory Inspecting Engineer certifies as unsuitable any room which is in actual use, he shall suspend the operation of the certificate for such period as he considers reasonable with a view to enabling the occupier to render the room suitable or to obtain other premises.

(2) In the case of any underground room which at the appointed date dose not from part of a factory or is not used as a workroom in a factory or is used only for the purpose of storage or for some purpose excepted as aforesaid-

(4)* In this section the expression “underground room” means any room which or any part of which is so situate that half or more than half the whole height thereof, measured from the floor to the ceiling, is below the surface of the footway of the adjoining street or of the ground adjoining or nearest to the room.

(5) Any certificate issued under this section may be withdrawn by the Chief Factory Inspecting Engineer if such alterations are made as in his opinion to render the room suitable-

(a) effective steps shall be taken by means of a fan or otherwise to regulate the temperature in every ironing room, and to carry away the steam in every wash-house ;

(b) all stoves for heating irons shall be so separated from any ironing room or ironing table as to protect the workers from the heat thereof ;

(c) no gas iron emitting any noxious fumes shall be used.

(1) No person shall be employed to lift, carry or move any load so heavy as to be likely to cause injury to him.

(2) The Minister may make special regulations prescribing the maximum weights which may be lifted, carried or moved by persons employed in factories; and any such regulations may prescribe different weights in different circumstances and may relate either to persons generally or to any class of persons or to persons employed in any class or description of factory or in any process.

(1) No person employed in any factory shall be exposed to noise above a prescribed upper limit, unless such person is provided, with suitable ear defenders.

(2) The Minister may by regulations provide for the measures to be taken to reduce noise in any class or description of factory.

(1) In every factory where electrical energy is generated, transformed, distributed or used. and in every premises referred to in section 80, every electrical apparatus, fitting and conductor-

(2) In respect of factories to which subsection (1) applies, the Minister may in particular make regulations with regard to the following :-

(1) Where the Minister is satisfied that any manufacture, machinery, plant, process, or description of manual labour, used in factories is of such a nature as to cause risk of bodily injury to persons employed in connexion therewith, or any class of those persons, the Minister may, subject to the provisions of this Ordinance, make such special regulations as appear to him to be reasonably practicable and to meet the necessity of the case.

(2) Special regulations so made may, among other things –

and may impose duties on owners, employed persons and other persons, as well as on occupiers.

(3) Special regulations so made may apply to all factories in which the manufacture, machinery, plant, process, or description of manual labour is used or to any specified class or description of such factories, and may provide for the exemption of any specified class or description of factory either absolutely or subject to conditions.

(1) Any District Factory Inspecting Engineer or any person authorized in writing by the Chief Factory Inspecting Engineer may at any time after informing the occupier or if the occupier is not readily available, the manager, or the superintendent (in the case of an estate factory), a foreman or other responsible person in the factory,-

(2) The occupier or the manager or the superintendent (in the case of an estate factory), or the foreman or other responsible person aforesaid may, at the time when a sample is taken under this section, and on providing the necessary appliances, require the District Factory Inspecting Engineer or the person authorized by the Chief Factory Inspecting Engineer to divide the sample into three parts, to mark and seal or fasten up each part in such manner as its nature permits, and-

and any analysis under this section shall, if so required, be carried out by the Government Analyst’s Department or any Government Laboratory or any Government Institution.

(3) A certificate purporting to be a certificate by the Government Analyst or the head of such Government Laboratory or Institution as to the result of an analysis of a sample under this section shall in any proceeding under this Ordinance be admissible as evidence of the matter stated therein but either party may require the person by whom the analysis was made to be called as a witness.

(4) It shall not be lawful for any person, except in so far as is necessary for the purposes of a prosecution for an offence under this Ordinance, to publish or disclose to any person the results of an analysis made under this section, and if any person acts in contravention of this subsection, he shall be liable to a fine not exceeding twenty-five thousand rupees.

(1) Where any accident occurs in a factory Which-

shall forthwith be sent by the occupier or manager or the superintendent (in the case of an estate factory) to the District Factory Inspecting Engineer.

(2) Where any accident causing disablement. is notified under this section, and after notification thereof results in the death of the person disabled, notice in writing of the death shall be sent to the District Factory Inspecting Engineer by the occupier or manager or the superintendent (in the case of an estate factory) as soon as the death comes to his knowledge.

(3) Where any accident to which this section applies occurs to a person employed and the occupier of the factory is not the actual employer of the person killed or injured, the occupier or manager, or the superintendent (in the case of an estate factory), shall obtain from the actual employer of the person killed or injured, written notice of the accident, in such form and accompanied by such particulars as may be prescribed and shall forthwith cause such notice of accident to be sent to the District Factory Inspecting Engineer.

(4) Where an accident occurs in the factory causing the death of any person employed therein, no person shall touch or disturb or cause any other person to touch or disturb, without the permission of a Factory Inspecting Engineer, any machinery or any article which was involved in such accident, other than for the purpose of extricating or attending on any person concerned in such accident.

(1) If the Minister considers that, by reason of the risk of serious bodily injury to persons employed, it is expedient that notice should be given under section 61 in every case of any special class of explosion, fire, collapse of buildings, accidents to machinery or plant, or other occurrences in a factory, the Minister may by regulations extend the provisions of that section to any such class of occurrences, whether death or disablement is caused or not.

(2) The Minister may by any such regulations allow the required notice of any occurrence to which the regulations relate, instead of being sent forthwith, to be sent within the time limited by the regulations.

(1) Every registered medical practitioner attending on or called in to visit a patient whom he believes to be suffering from lead, phosphorous, arsenical or mercurial poisoning, or anthrax, contracted in any factory, shall (unless such a notice has been previously sent) forthwith send addressed to the Chief Factory Inspecting Engineer a notice stating the name and full postal address of the patient and the disease from which, in the opinion of the medical practitioner, the patient is suffering, and the name and address of the factory in which he was last employed, and shall be entitled in respect of every notice sent in pursuance of this section to a fee of two hundred rupees to be paid out of the Consolidated Fund.

(2) If, in contravention of the provisions of this section, any medical practitioner fails to send any notice in accordance with the requirements thereof, he shall be liable to a fine not exceeding five hundred rupees.

(3) Written notice of every case of lead, phosphorous, or arsenical or mercurial poisoning, or anthrax, occurring in a factory shall forthwith be sent by the occupier, in such form and accompanied by such particulars as may be prescribed to the District Factory Inspecting Engineer and to an authorized factory doctor; and the provisions of this Ordinance with respect to the notification of accidents shall apply to any such case in like manner as to any such accident as is mentioned in those provisions.

(4) The Minister may, as respects all factories or any class or description of factory, by regulations apply the provisions of this section to any disease other than those mentioned in this section.

(1) Where it appears to an inquirer holding an investigation under the Code of Criminal Procedure Act, No. 15 of 1979, into the cause of the death of any person that the death of that person may have been caused by any accident or disease of which notice is required by this Ordinance to be given, the inquirer shall adjourn the investigation unless a Factory Inspecting Engineer or some person on behalf of the Commissioner is present to watch the proceedings, and shall, at least four days before holding the adjourned investigation, send to the District Factory Inspecting Engineer for the district notice in writing of the time and place of holding the adjourned investigation :

Provided that-

and the inquirer has sent to the Factory Inspecting Engineer notice of the time and place of holding the investigation at such time as to reach the Factory Inspecting Engineer not less than twenty-four hours before the time of holding the investigation, it shall not be imperative on him to adjourn the investigation in pursuance of this section if he thinks it unnecessary so to adjourn.

(2) At any investigation referred to in subsection (1), the following persons shall, subject to the power of the inquirer to disallow any question which in his opinion is not relevant or is otherwise not a proper question, be entitled to examine any witness either in person or by attorney-at law or agent, that is to say, a Factory Inspecting Engineer, any relation of the person in respect of whose death the investigation is being held, the occupier of the factory in which the accident or disease occurred or was contracted, any person appointed by the order in writing of the majority of the persons employed in the factory, and any person appointed in writing by any trade union, friendly society or other association of persons to which the deceased at the time of his death belonged or to which any person employed in the factory belongs, or by any association of employers of which the occupier is a member.

(3) Where evidence is given at any such investigation at which a Factory Inspecting Engineer is not present of any neglect as having caused or contributed to the accident or disease, or of any defect in or about the factory appearing to the inquirer to require a remedy, the inquirer shall send to the District Factory Inspecting Engineer for the district notice in writing of the neglect or defect.

(4) Any reference in this section to an inquirer shall be deemed to include a reference to a Magistrate.

(1) The Minister may, where he considers it expedient so to do, direct a formal investigation to be held into any accident occurring or case of disease contracted or suspected to have been contracted in a factory and of its causes and circumstances, and with respect to any such investigation the following provisions shall have effect;-

(2) The Minister may cause the report of the court to be made public at such time and in such manner as he thinks fit.

(1) It shall be the duty of the authorized factory doctor to investigate and report-

(2) The authorized factory doctor for the purpose of an investigation under this section, shall have the like powers as a Factory Inspecting Engineer, including power to enter any room in a building to which the person killed, injured, or affected has been removed.

(a) the total hours worked, exclusive of intervals allowed for meals and rest, shall neither exceed nine in any day nor exceed forty-eight in any week;

(b) the period of employment in the case of young persons who have not attained the age of sixteen shall not exceed twelve hours in any day and shall neither begin earlier than six o’clock in the morning nor end later than six o’clock in the evening, and in the case of young persons who have not attained the age of eighteen the period of employment shall not end later than eight o’clock in the evening, and, on not less than one day in the week, one o’clock in the afternoon.

(c) a woman or young person shall not be employed continuously for a spell of more than four and a half hours without an interval of at least half an hour for a meal or rest, so, however, that in respect of regular day time workers, one such interval shall be allowed to commence between the hours of eleven o’clock in the morning and one o’clock in the afternoon, and that where and interval of not less than ten minutes is allowed in the course of a spell, the spell may be increased to five hours.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this Part every woman employed in a factory shall be permitted to work throughout the night.

(2) Employment of a woman at night, in a factory shall be subject to the Following conditions:-

(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of this Part relating to the hours worked and periods of employment, the pressure of work in any factory may be dealt with by the overtime employment of women and young persons who have attained sixteen years of age but have not attained eighteen years of age :

Provided that the overtime worked by a woman shall not exceed in the aggregate sixty hours in any calendar month and overtime worked by a young person who has attained the age of sixteen years but not attained the age of eighteen years, shall not exceed in the aggregate fifty hours in any calendar month.

(2) The overtime employment of a woman or young person shall be subject to the following conditions:-

(2A) An employer shall not engage in overtime

unless she expresses her consent to be engaged in such overtime, in writing.

(3) The provisions of this Part relating to continuous employment and intervals for meals or rest shall apply to overtime employment in like manner as they apply to other employment.

(4) the Minister may by regulation

(5) If representations are made to the Minister with respect to any class or description of factory that, having regard to the particular circumstances and conditions affecting the industry carried on therein, the overtime employment allowed under this section can be reduced without serious detriment to that industry, the Minister may, after consultation with any such association of occupiers or employed persons and any such wages board or similar body as appears to him to be affected, direct an inquiry to be held, and if the Minister is satisfied, as the result of the inquiry, that the overtime employment can be reduced without serious detriment to the industry, the Minister may by regulations make such modifications in the provisions of this section, in their application to the class or description of factory aforesaid, as will secure the reduction of the amount of overtime employment of women and young persons, or of young persons, employed therein.

(6) Where the Minister is satisfied that work in any class or description of factory is subject to seasonal or other special pressure, the Minister may by regulations, as respects that class or description of factory, increase for women, or for women employed in any specified process, during any period of such pressure, the hours of work and the period of employment allowed in a day under this section, so however that the increase shall only take place in such number of weeks, not exceeding eight in any year, as may be specified in the regulations.

(a) the expression ” overtime employment ” means, in relation to any woman or young person, any period during which that woman or young person is at work in the factory in addition to the total number of hours worked by that woman or young person under paragraph (a) of section 67 ;

(b) in, calculating hours of overtime employment any fraction of an hour less than half an hour shall be treated as half an hour and any fraction of an hour greater than half an hour shall be treated as an hour.

(1) A woman or young person shall not, during any interval allowed to that woman or young person for a meal or rest, or any time not included in the period of employment of that woman or young person be employed outside the factory, in the business of the factory or in any other business carried on by the occupier, on any day during which the woman or young person is employed in the factory :

Provided that a woman or young person who has attained the age of sixteen may be so employed in a shop outside the period of employment, but any such employment shall be treated for the purposes of this Part (including the provisions relating to overtime employment) as employment in the factory.

(2) For the purposes of this section, a woman or young person to or for whom any work is given out or who takes out any work to be done by her or him outside the factory, shall be deemed to be employed outside the factory on the day on which the work is so given or taken out.

(1) Subject to such regulations as may be made under subsection (2) or section 76,

(2) If the Minister is satisfied that, by reason of the fact that the materials in course of treatment in any class or description of factory are subject to rapid deterioration, or that by reason of any other circumstances or conditions obtaining in the case of any class or description of factory, the application of the provisions of paragraph (a) of subsection (1), in the case of factories of that class or description would cause serious interference with the efficient performance of work in such factories, the Minister may by regulations exempt factories of that class or description from the provisions of the said paragraph, subject to such conditions as may be prescribed, so, however, that such regulations shall ensure to each woman and young person employed in any such factory at least one whole holiday after each period of not more than six days during which that woman or young person has been employed in that factory.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, a young person who has not attained the age of sixteen and is taken into any employment in a factory, shall not remain in that employment after the expiration of such period, not being less than seven days, as may be prescribed, unless he has been examined by the authorised factory doctor and certified by him to be fit for that employment.

(2) Where the authorized factory doctor after examining a young person, requires further information or further time for consideration before deciding whether or not to certify him as fit for employment or as to the conditions subject to which the certificate is to be issued, he may issue a provisional certificate authorizing the employment of the young person for such period as may be certified in the certificate, not exceeding twenty-one days from the date on which it was issued.

(3) Any certificate by the authorized factory doctor may be issued-

(4) Where a certificate under this section in respect of any young person is issued by the authorized factory doctor upon any such condition as aforesaid, the young person shall not be employed except in accordance with the condition.

(5) Where the authorized factory doctor so directs in the certificate, any such condition as aforesaid shall, so far as relates to the employment in respect of which the certificate was issued or other employment in a factory in the occupation of the same occupier, continue to have a effect after the young person has attained the age of sixteen; but unless such direction is made, the condition shall cease to have effect when the young person attains the age of sixteen, and shall in any case cease to have effect when the young person attains the age of eighteen.

(6) Where a certificate under this section is subject to a condition requiring re-examination after an interval specified in the certificate, the authorized factory doctor, on such re-examination, may vary the certificate or may revoke the certificate as from such date as he may direct; and, if the certificate of a young person is revoked before he attains the age of sixteen, he shall not remain in any employment to which the certificate relates, and subsection (1) of this section shall thereafter have effect as if no certificate had been issued in respect of that young person.

(7) Where a certificate under this section in respect of any young person is refused or revoked, the authorized factory doctor shall, if requested to do so by the parent of the young person, give to the parent in writing the reasons for the refusal or revocation.

(8) The Minister may make regulations prescribing-

(9) The Minister may by regulations exempt from the operation of this section any class or description of factory in which mechanical power is not used.

(1) Where a part of a building is let off as a separate factory but is not part of a tenement factory-

(2) The said provisions are-

(3) For the purposes of the provisions applied by the foregoing provisions of this section, lifting machines attached to the outside of the building, and chains, ropes and lifting tackle used in connection with those machines, shall be treated as being in the building , but any lifting machine not used for the purposes of the tackle not use in connection with a lifting machine so used, shall be disregarded.

(4) For any contravention (whether as respects the factory or otherwise) of the provisions of Part in with respect to chains, ropes and lifting tackle, cranes and other lifting machines, steam boilers, steam receive and steam containers, air receives and gas receives-

except that the owner shall not be responsible for a contravention of those provisions in so far as they relate to matters outside his control, and for any such contravention as respects the factory the occupier shall be responsible.

(5) The owner shall be responsible by virtue of this section-

(6) The reference in section 44 of this Ordinance (both as it applies in relation to the factory and as it applies by virtue of the foregoing provisions of this section) to the occupier shall be construed as referring to the occupier of the factory or to the owner of the building according as the one or the other is responsible in respect of the matters complained of.

(7) Any reference in the provisions applied by the foregoing provisions of this section to the general register shall, in relation to matters in respect of which the owner of the building is responsible, be construed as a reference to a register to be kept by him, and subsection (3) of section 119 of this Ordinance shall apply in relation to that register as if the owner were the occupier of the factory.

(1) The owner (whether or not he is one of the occupiers) of a tenement factory shall, instead of the occupier, be responsible for any contravention of the following provisions of this Ordinance, that is to say-

(2) For the purpose of the provisions referred to in subsection (1), the whole of a tenement factory shall be deemed to be one factory in the occupation of the owner.

(3) Subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to any contravention arising from the use in a tenement of any fencing, appliances machinery or plant, if the use is a matter outside the control of the owner.

(4) Subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to any contravention in rooms occupied by only one tenant- (

unless the contravention arises from a failure to carry out any necessary structural work or from any defect in any machinery, plant or fixtures belonging to the owners; and does not apply to a contravention in any such room of the provisions of Part VI.

(5) Subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to a contravention of the provisions of Part IV unless it arises from any such failure or defect as is mentioned in subsection (4) of this section.

(6) The provisions of this Ordinance shall, as far as they are applicable and have not been applied by the foregoing provisions of this section, apply to any part of a tenement factory which is not comprised within any of the separate factories as if that part were a factory and the owner were the occupier thereof.

(7) The Minister may by regulations modify the provisions of this section in their application to any class or descriptions of tenement factory.

(1) Subject as hereinafter provided, the provisions of this Ordinance shall apply to any premises in which persons are regularly employed in or in connexion with the processes or operations of generating, transforming or converting, or of switching, controlling or otherwise regulating, electrical energy for supply by way of trade, or for supply for the purposes of any transport undertaking or other industrial or commercial undertaking or of any public building or public institution, or for supply to streets or other public places, as if the premises were a factory and the employer of any person employed in the premises in or in connexion with any such process or operation were the occupier of a factory :

Provided, however, that the Commissioner or the District Factory Inspecting Engineer for the district may, by order, either-

(2) The provisions of this Ordinance hereinafter in this subsection mentioned shall apply to any other premises in which any such processes or operations as aforesaid are carried on or performed for such supply as aforesaid, being premises large enough to admit the entrance of a person after the machinery or plant therein is in position, as if the premises were a factory and the employer of any person employed in the premises in or in connexion with any such process or operation were the occupier of a factory, that is to

(3) The Minister may by special regulations apply any of the provisions of this Ordinance mentioned in the last foregoing subsection to any machinery or plant used elsewhere than in premises mentioned in that subsection or in subsection (1) hereof, being machinery or plant used in the aforesaid processes or operations and for such supply as aforesaid, as if the machinery or plant were machinery or plant in a factory, and the employer of any person employed in connexion with any such use of the machinery or plant were the occupier of a factory.

(4) Subsections (1) and (2) of this section shall not except in so far as the Minister may by special regulations direct, apply to any premises where the aforesaid processes or operations are only carried on or performed for the immediate purpose of working an electric motor or working any apparatus which consumes electrical energy for lighting, heating, transmitting or receiving messages or communications, or other purposes.

(5) For the purposes of the definition in section 126 of the expression ” factory”, electrical energy shall not be deemed to be an article, but save as aforesaid nothing in this section shall affect the application of this Ordinance to factories within the meaning of that definition.

(1) Where, in any premises forming part of an institution carried on for charitable or reformatory purposes or for technical or vocational training, any manual labour is exercised in or incidental to the making, altering, requiring, ornamenting, finishing, washing, cleaning, or adapting for sale, of article not intended for the use of institution, but the premises do not constitute a factory, then, nevertheless, the provisions of this Ordinance shall subject as hereinafter in this section provided, apply to those premises.

(2) If in any institution carried on for charitable or g 36 Law 12 of reformatory purposes, to which this Ordinance applies the 1976] persons having the control of the institution (hereinafter referred to as the managers) satisfy the Commissioner that the only persons working therein are persons who are inmates of and supported by the institution, or persons engaged in the supervision of the work or the management of machinery, and that such work as aforesaid is carried on in good faith for the purposes of the support, education, training, or reformation of persons engaged in it, the Commissioner may by order direct that so long as the order is in force this Ordinance shall apply to the institution subject to the following modifications:-

(3) This Ordinance shall not, except in so far as the Commissioner may by order direct, apply to any premises which do not constitute a factory if the premises are subject to inspection by or under the authority of a Government department.

(1) The provisions of this Ordinance hereinafter in this subsection mentioned shall apply to every dock, wharf or quay (including any warehouse belonging to the owners, trustees or conservators of the dock, wharf or quay and any line or siding used in connexion with and for the purposes of the dock, wharf and quay and not forming part of a railway or tramway) and every other warehouse (not forming part of a factory) in or for the purposes of which mechanical power is used, as if it were a factory and as if the person having the actual use or occupation of it or of any premises within it or forming part of it, were the occupier of a factory, that is to say :-

(2) Subject as hereinafter in this subsection pro vided, the provisions of this Ordinance mentioned in paragraph (aa) (subject to the modification mentioned in that paragraph) and in paragraphs (b), (d), (e), (g), (h) and (i) of the foregoing subsection shall apply to the processes of loading, unloading or coaling of any ship in any dock, harbour or canal, and to all machinery or plant used in those processes, as if the processes were carried on in a factory and the machinery or plant were machinery or plant in a factory, and the person who carries on those processes were the occupier of a factory :

Provided that the provisions of this Ordinance mentioned in the said paragraphs (aa) and (b) shall • [§ 4,54 of 1961] not apply in relation to any such machinery or plant which is on board a ship and is the property of the ship owner. For the purposes of this subsection, the expression ” plant” includes any gangway or ladder used by any person employed to load or unload or coal a ship.

(3) The provisions of Part III with respect to prime movers, transmission machinery, other machinery, provisions as to unfenced machinery, construction and maintenance of fencing, construction and sale of new machinery, cleaning of machinery by women and young persons, training and supervision of young persons working at dangerous machines, hoists and lifts, chains, ropes and lifting tackle, cranes and other lifting machines, construction and maintenance of floors, passages and stairs, and the power of the Commissioner to make orders as to dangerous factories shall apply to every warehouse mentioned in subsection (1) of this section as if the warehouse were a factory and as if the person having the actual use or occupation thereof were the occupier of a factory.

(1) Subject as hereinafter in this section pro- vided, the provisions of this Ordinance hereinafter in this section mentioned shall apply to any work carried out in a harbour or wet dock in constructing, reconstructing, repairing, refitting, painting, finishing or breaking up a ship or in scaling, scurfing or cleaning boilers (including combustion chambers and smoke boxes) in a ship, or in cleaning oil-fuel tanks or bilges in a ship, that is to say ;-

and for the purpose of such provisions the ship shall be deemed to be a factory, and any person undertaking such work shall be deemed to be the occupier of a factory.

(1A) Any person carrying out any work to which subsection (1) applies shall, not later than seven days after the beginning thereof,, serve on the District Factory Inspecting Engineer for the district a written notice stating the name and postal address of the person so carrying out the work, the place and nature of the work, whether any mechanical power is used, and, if so, its nature, and such other particulars as may be prescribed.

(2) Nothing in this Ordinance shall apply to any such work as aforesaid done by the master or crew of a ship or done on board a ship during a trial run.

(1) Subject to the following provisions of this section, the provisions of this Ordinance specified in subsection (2) of this section shall apply to building and other construction works undertaken by way of trade or business, or for the purpose of any industrial or commercial undertaking, and to any line or siding which is used in connection therewith and for the purposes thereof and is not part of a railway or tramway.

(2) The said provisions are :-

(3) No order made under the provisions of this Ordinance with respect to the power of a Magistrate’s Court to make orders as to dangerous conditions and practices and no special regulations made under Part V of this Ordinance shall operate so as to interfere with the design of any works of engineering construction or with the adoption in the execution of these work of any method not inconsistent with the safety of the works or of the person employed which is prescribed in the specification or in any signed plans issued, or written directions given, by the consulting engineer or the engineer in charge.

(4) The provisions of this Ordinance in their application to building operations or to works of engineering construction shall have effect as if any place where such operations or works are carried on were a factory and any person undertaking any such operations or works to which this Ordinance applies were the occupier of a factory, and with such other adaptations and modifications as may be made by regulations made by the Minister.

(5) The provisions of this Ordinance requiring general registers to be kept and copies of the prescribed abstract of this Ordinance and of special regulations or the prescribed abstract of such regulations to be kept posted up on the premises shall be deemed to be complied with as respects building operations or works of engineering construction if the register is kept at an office of the person undertaking the operations or works and copies of the abstract of this Ordinance and of the regulations or abstract thereof are kept posted up at each office, yard or shop of the person undertaking the operation or works at which persons employed by him on the operations or works attend, and in a position where they can easily be read by those persons.

(6) Subject to subsection (7) of this section, any person undertaking any building operations or works of engineering construction to which this Ordinance applies shall, not later than seven days after the beginning thereof, serve on the District Factory Inspecting Engineer a written notice sating the name and postal address of that person, the place and nature of the operations or works, whether any mechanical power is used and, if so, its nature, the name of the local authority within whose administrative limits the operations or works are situated and such other particulars as may be prescribed.

(7) Subsection (6) of this section shall not apply to any operations or works which the person undertaking them has reasonable grounds for believing will be completed in a period of less than six weeks, except in such cases as the Chief Factory Inspecting Engineer may direct; and where a person undertakes any building operations or works of engineering construction in a place where such operations or works, as the case may be, are in progress, he shall not be required to give notice under that subsection if such a notice was given in respect of the operations or works in progress.

(8) The application of this Ordinance to any building operations or works of engineering construction by virtue of the foregoing provisions of this section shall not be excluded by reason of the fact that they are undertaken on premises to which this Ordinance applies apart form those provisions; and nothing in this section shall be taken as prejudicing the application of this Ordinance to those premises apart from this section.

(a) the provisions relating to the employment of women and young persons in certain processes connected with lead manufacture and in processes involving the use of lead compounds;

(b) the provisions requiring notification to be sent to the Chief Factory Inspecting Engineer, or to the District Factory Inspecting Engineer for the district, of lead poisoning contracted or occurring in factories; and

(c) any provision relating to powers and duties of Factory Inspecting Engineers and to offences, penalties and legal proceedings, shall apply to employment in any such processes as aforesaid in any place other than a factory, as if the place were a factory and the employer were the occupier of the factory and as if the references to young persons included references to all persons who had not attained the age of eighteen.

(1) In the case of persons employed in such classes of work as may from time to time be specified by regulations of the Minister, the occupier of every factory and every contractor employed by any such occupier in the business of the factory shall-

(2) The lists kept by the occupier or contractor shall be open to inspection by any Factory Inspecting Engineer, and by any officer duly authorized by the Minister, and the copies sent to the Factory Inspecting Engineer shall be open to inspection by any Factory Inspecting Engineer or officer of any Government department.

(3) This section shall apply to any place from which any work is given out in connexion with the business of a factory (whether the materials for the work are supplied by the occupier or not), and to the occupier of that place, and to every contractor employed by the occupier in connexion with the said work, as if that place were a factory.

(4) In the event of a contravention of this section by the occupier of a factory or place, or by a contractor, the occupier or contractor shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding five thousand rupees.

(1) Where work in respect of which this section applies is carried on for the purpose of or in connexion with the business of a factory in any place which is in the opinion of a Factory Inspecting Engineer may give notice in writing to the occupier of the factory or to any contractor employed by him setting forth particulars of the respects in which the place is, in his opinion, so injurious or dangerous, and the reasons for that opinion, and may by order in writing prohibit the giving out of work to be done in that place.

(2) The occupier of any factory or any contractor who is aggrieved by any order made under subsection (1) may prefer an appeal, within twenty-one days of the order, to the board of appeal, and the order shall be deemed to be suspended pending the final determination of the appeal.

(3) For the purpose of this section, any place from which work is given out shall be deemed to be a factory.

(4) This section shall apply in respect of such classes of work as may be specified in regulations made by the Minister.

(1) There shall be kept posted at the principal entrances of a factory at which employed persons enter –

Provided that a Factory Inspecting Engineer may direct that all or any of the aforesaid documents shall be posted in such parts of the factory, either in addition to or in substitution for the said principal entrances, as he may direct.

(2) All such documents shall be posted in such characters and in such positions as to be conveniently read by the persons employed in the factory and, if a form has been prescribed for any document, it shall be posted in that form.

(3) If any person pulls down, injures or defaces any abstract, notice, regulations or other document posted in pursuance of this Ordinance, he shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding two thousand five hundred rupees.

(1) Printed copies of all special regulations for the time being in force in any factory or the prescribed abstract of such regulations shall be kept posted in the factory in such characters and in such positions as to be conveniently read by the persons employed in the factory.

(2) A printed copy of all such regulations shall be given by the occupier to any person affected thereby on his application.

(1) There shall be kept in every factory, or in such place outside the factory as may be approved by the District Factory Inspecting Engineer for the district, a register, called the general register, substantially in such form as may be prescribed, and there shall be entered in or attached to that register-

(2) There shall be attached to the general register a copy of the certificate of the Factory Inspecting Engineer relating to means of escape in the case of fire.

(3) The occupier of a factory shall send to a Factory Inspecting Engineer such extracts from the general register as the Factory Inspecting Engineer may from time to time require for the purpose of the execution of his duties under this Ordinance.

(1) The occupier of every factory shall, at intervals of not less than one year, on or before such days as the Commissioner may direct, send to the Chief Factory Inspecting Engineer a correct return specifying, with respect to such day or days, or such period as the Commissioner direct, the number of persons employed in the factory, and giving such particulars as may be prescribed, as to the hours of employment of women and young persons employed, as to the age, sex, and occupation of all persons employed, and as to such other matters, if any, as the Commissioner may direct.

(1A) Every direction by the Commissioner under subsection (1), shall be given by publication in the Gazette and in one Sinhala, one Tamil and one English newspaper.

(2) The occupier of any place to which any of the provisions of this Ordinance apply shall, if so required by the Commissioner, make a like return to the Chief Factory Inspecting Engineer.

(3) The Commissioner may, for the purpose of facilitating the rendering of the returns under this section by occupiers, arrange for the consolidation of those returns with any other returns which any Government department is empowered to call for from occupiers.

(1) No person employed in a factory or in any other place to which any provisions of this Ordinance apply shall wilfully interfere with or misuse any means, appliance, convenience or other thing provided in pursuance of this Ordinance for securing the health, safety or welfare of the persons employed in the factory or place, and where any means or appliance for securing health or safety is provided for the use of any such person under this Ordinance, he shall use the means or appliance.

(2) No person employed in a factory or in any other place to which any provisions of this Ordinance apply shall wilfully and without reasonable cause do anything likely to endanger himself or others.

(1) All the provisions of law, for the time being in force in Sri Lanka relating to weights and measures or weighing or measuring instruments shall extend to weights, measures, and weighing instruments used in a factory for the purpose of checking or ascertaining the wages of any person employed therein, in like manner as if they were used for trade, and the power of the Minister to make regulations under the Weights and Measures Ordinance, shall include power to extend any such provisions to such measuring instruments used in factories for the purposes aforesaid as may be specified in the regulations.

(2) Every inspector or other person authorized under the law for the time being relating to weights and measures or weighing or measuring instruments to inspect or examine weights and measures shall inspect, stamp, mark, search for, and examine the weights and measures and weighing and measuring instruments to which such law is extended by or under this section, and for that purpose shall have the same powers and duties as he has with respect to weights, measures and instruments used for trade.

(1) The Commissioner of Labour shall be the officer in charge of the administration of this Ordinance.

(2) Subject to any general or special directions of the Commissioner, any Deputy or Assistant Commissioner of Labour, the Chief Factory Inspecting Engineer, the Deputy Chief Factory Inspecting Engineer, a Specialist Factory Inspecting Engineer, a Specialist Inspecting Medical Officer, a Specialist District Factory Inspecting Engineer, a Factory Inspecting Engineer or an Inspecting Medical Officer may exercise, perform or discharge any power, duty or function of the Commissioner under this Ordinance or under any regulation made thereunder.