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.