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Wednesday 5 January 2011

Explain the important aspects of Factory Act 1948 i.e. scope, objects with special reference to safety.


Objectives and Applicability of Factory Act:
The Factories Act regulates the conditions of work (health, safety, etc) in factories. It safeguards the interests of the workers and it is for the welfare of the factory workers. The act received the assent of Governor General of India on September 23, 1948 and came into force on April 1, 1949. This act was further amended many times. The act is applicable to any factory in which ten or more than ten workers are working. The act has a provision in respect of:
a)   Employee health and safety,
b)   Hours of work,
c)   Sanitary conditions and wholesome work environments,
d)   Employee welfare,
e)   Leave with wages, etc.

Scope of the Factory Act 1948
o  Regulate working condition in the factories.
o  Basic minimum requirements for ensuring safety, health and welfare of workers
o  Applicable of all workers
o  Applicable to all factories using power and employing 10 or more workers and if not using power, employing 20 or more workers on any day of the preceding 12 months
Main provisions of Factory Act 1948
o  Compulsory approval, licensing and registration of factories
o  Health measures
o  Safety measures
o  Welfare measures
o  Working hours
o  Employment of women and young persons
o  Annual leave provision
o  Accident and occupational diseases
o  Dangerous operations
o  Penalties
o  Obligations and rights of employees
Safety Provisions of the Act:
Fencing of machinery
o  Each and every dangerous hazardous and moving part of machinery shall be securely fenced by safeguards of substantial Construction, which shall be constantly maintained and kept in position while the parts of machinery they are fencing are in motion or in use.
Work on near machinery in motion
o  There in any factory it becomes necessary to examine any part of machinery, such examination or operation shall be made or carried out only by a specially trained adult male worker wearing tight fitting clothing. Such worker shall not handle a belt at a moving pulley unless the belt is not more than fifteen centimetres in width.
o  No woman or young person shall be allowed to clean, lubricate or adjust any part of a prime mover or of any transmission machinery while the prime mover or transmission machinery is in motion.
Employment of young person’s on dangerous machines
o  No young person shall be required or allowed to work at any unless he has been fully instructed as to the dangers arising in connection with the machine and the precautions to be observed and has received sufficient training in work at the machine.
Striking gear and devices for cutting off power
o  In every factory- (a) suitable striking gear or other efficient mechanical appliance 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, such gear or appliances shall be so constructed, placed and maintained as to prevent the belt from creeping back on to the fast pulley.
Self-acting machines
o  No traversing part of a self-acting machine in any factory and no material carried thereon shall, if the apace over which it runs it a space over which any person is liable to pass, whether in the course of his employment or otherwise, be allowed to run on its outward or inward traverse within a distance of forty-five centimetres from any fixed structure which is not part of the machine.
Casing of new machine
o  In all machinery driven by power and installed in any factory after the commencement of this Act, every set screw, bolt or key on any revolving shaft, spindle, and wheel pinion shall be so sunk, encased or otherwise effectively guarded as to prevent danger.
Prohibition of employment of women and children near cotton openers
o  No woman or child shall be employed in any part of a factory for pressing cotton in which a cotton-opener is at work.
Hoists and lifts
o  In every factory every hoist and lift shall be (i) of good mechanical construction, sound material and adequate strength; and (ii) properly maintained, and shall be thoroughly examined by a competent person at least once in every period of six mouths.
o  Every hoist-way and lift-way shall be sufficiently protected by an enclosure fitted with gates, and the hoist or lift and every such enclosure shall be so constructed as to prevent any person or thing from being trapped between any part of the hoist or lift and any fixed structure or moving part.
Revolving machinery
o  In every factory in which the process of grinding is carried on there shall be permanently affixed to or placed near each machine in use a notice indicating the maximum safe working peripheral speed of every grindstone or abrasive wheel, the speed or the shaft or spindle upon which the wheel is mounted, and the diameter of the pulley upon such shaft or spindle necessary to secure such safe working peripheral speed.
Pressure plant
o  If in any factory, any plant or machinery or any part thereof is operated at a pressure above atmospheric pressure, effective measures shall be taken to ensure that the safe working pressure of such plant or machinery or part is not exceeded.
Floors, stairs and means of access
o  All floors, steps, stairs, passages and gangways shall be of sound construction and properly maintained and shall be kept free from obstructions and substances likely to cause persons to slip, and where it is necessary to ensure safety, steps, stairs, passages and gangways shall be provided with substantial handrails.
Pits, sumps, openings in floors etc
o  In every factory fixed vessel, sump, tank, and pit or opening in the ground or in a floor which, by reasons of its depth, situation, construction or contents, is or may be a source of danger, shall be either securely covered or securely fenced.
Excessive weights
o  No person shall be employed in any factory to lift, carry or move any load so heavy as to be likely to cause him injury.
Protection of eyes
o  The State Government may by rules require that effective screens or suitable goggles shall be provided for the protection of persons employed on, or in the immediate vicinity of, the process.
Precautions against dangerous fumes, gasses etc
o  No person shall be required or allowed to enter any chamber, tank, pit, pipe or other confined space in any factory in which any gas, fume, vapour or dust is likely to be present to such an extent as to involve risk to persons employed there.
Explosive or inflammable dust, gas etc
Where in any factory any manufacturing process produces dust, gas, fume or vapour of such character and to such extent as to be likely to explode to ignition, all practicable measures shall be taken to prevent any such explosion by:
o  Effective enclosure of the plant or machinery used in the process;
o  Removal or prevention of the accumulation of such dust, gas, fume or vapour;
o  Exclusion or effective enclosure of all possible sources of ignition
Precautions In case of fire
o  In every factory, all practicable measures shall be taken to prevent outbreak or fire and its spread, both internally and externally, and to provide and maintain safe means of escape for all persons in the event of a fire, and the necessary equipment and facilities for extinguishing fire.
o  Effective measures shall be taken to ensure that in every factory all the workers are familiar with the means of escape in case of fire and have been adequately trained in the routine to be followed in such cases.
Safety of building and machinery
o  If it appears to the Inspector that any building or part of a building or any part of the ways, machinery or plant in a factory is in such a condition that it is dangerous to human life or safety, he may serve on the occupier or manager or both of the factory an order in writing specifying the measures which in his opinion should be adopted, and requiring them to be carried out before a specified date.
Safety officers

o  In every factory, wherein one thousand or more workers are ordinarily employed, or wherein, in the opinion of the State Government, any manufacturing process or opera­tion is carried on, which process or operation involves any risk of bodily injury, poison­ing or disease, or any other hazard to health, to the persons employed in the factory, the occupier shall, if so required by the State Government by notification in the Official Gazette, employ such number of Safety Officers as may be specified in that notification.