Bangladesh
THE FACTORIES ACT, 1965
(Act No. IV of 1965)
An Act to repeal and, with certain amendments, re-enact the Factories Act, 1934
(XXV of 1934)
WHEREAS it is expedient to repeal and, with certain amendments, re-enact the
Factories Act, 1934 for regulating working conditions in factories and for
matters connected therewith:
It is hereby enacted as follows:-
CHAPTER I: PRELIMINARY
1. Short title, extent
and commencement. -
(1) This Act maybe called the Factories Act, 1965.
(2) It extends to the whole of Bangladesh.
(3) It shall come into force at once.
2. Definitions. - In this
Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context, -
(a) 'adolescent' means a person who has completed sixteen
years but has not completed eighteen years of age;
(b) 'adult' means a person who has completed eighteen years
of age;
(c) 'child' means a person who has not completed sixteen
years of age;
(d) 'day' means a period of twenty-four hours beginning at
mid-night;
(e) 'explosive substance' includes any materials for making
any explosive substance;
(f) 'factory' means any premises including the precincts
thereof whereon ten or more workers are working or were
working on any day of the preceding twelve months and in
any part of which a manufacturing process is being
carried on with or without the aid of power, but does not
include a mine subject to the operation of the Mines Act,
1923 (IV of 1923).
Notes
The word "premises" ordinarily includes lands and
"precincts"
means the "limit, bound or exterior line encompassing a place."
In order to make it a factory, it is not necessary that the
workers should be continuously working in any premises. It would
be sufficient if on any one day of the preceding twelve months ten
workers are employed. Nevertheless, the premises will still
continue to be a factory for the next twelve months even if the
number of workers is subsequently reduced.
(g) 'machinery' includes prime movers, transmission
machinery and other appliances whereby power is
generated, transformed, transmitted or applied.
(h) 'manufacturing process' means any process -
(i) for making, altering, repairing, ornamenting,
painting and washing, finishing, or packing, or
otherwise treating any articles or substance with a
view to its use, sale, transport, delivery, display
or disposal, or
(ii) for pumping oil, gas, water, sewage or other fluids
or slurries, or
(iii) for generating, transforming or transmitting
power or gas, or
(iv) for constructing, reconstructing, repairing,
refitting, finishing or breaking up of ships or
vessels, or
(v) for printing by letter press, lithography,
photogravure or other similar work or book-binding
which is carried on by way of trade or for purposes
of gain or incidental to another business so
carried on;
(vi) 'occupier' in relation to a factory means the
person who has ultimate control over the affairs of
the factory:
Provided that where the affairs of a factory are entrusted to
a managing agent, such agent shall be deemed to be the occupier of
the factory.
Note
An occupier is one who has ultimate control over the affairs
of the factory. A person who controls the business side of the
factory is an occupier who may be an owner, a lessee or even a mere
licensee. He must, however, have the right to occupy the property
and dictate how it is to be managed although he may not be in
actual possession of the property.
(j) 'prescribed' means prescribed by rules made by the
Government under this Act;
(k) 'prime mover' means any engine, motor, or other appliance
which generates or otherwise provides power;
(l) 'relay' means where work of the same kind is carried out
by twe or more sets of workers working during different
periods of the day, each of such sets;
(m) 'shift' means, where work of the same kind is carried out
by two or more sets or workers working during different
periods of the day, each of such periods;
(n) 'transmission machinery' means any shaft, wheel, drum
pulley, system of pulleys couplings, clutch driving belt
or other appliance or device by which the motion of a
prime mover is transmitted to or received by any
machinery or plant;
(o) 'week' means a period of seven days beginning with the
preceding mid-night of the day specified as the weekly
holiday;
(p) 'worker' means a person employed directly or through any
agency, whether for wages or not, in any manufacturing
process, or in cleaning any part of the machinery or
premises used for a manufacturing process, or in any
other kind of work incidental to or connected with, the
manufacturing process or the subject of the manufacturing
process, but does not include any person solely employed
in a clerical capacity in any room or place where no
manufacturing process is carried on;
(q) 'young person' means a person who is either a child or an
adolescent;
(r) 'power' means electrical energy and any other form of
energy which is mechanically transmitted and is not
generated by human or animal agency; and
(s) 'wages' means wages as defined in the Payment of Wages
Act, 1936 (IV of 1936).
3. Power to apply the
provisions of this Act to certain places. -
(1) The Government may, by notification in the official Gazette,
declare that all or any of the provisions of this Act shall apply
to any place wherein a manufacturing process is being carried on or
is ordinarily carried on whether with or without the use of power
whenever five or more workers are working therein or have worked
therein on any day of the twelve months immediately preceding.
(2) A notification under sub-section (1) may be made in
respect of any one such place or in respect of any class of such
places or generally in respect of all such places.
(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in clause (f) of
Section 2, a place to which all or any of the provisions of this
Act are, for the time being, applicable in pursuance of a
declaration under sub-section (l), shall, to the extent to which
such provisions are so made applicable but not otherwise, be deemed
to be a factory.
4. Power to declare
departments to be separate factories. -
The Government may, by order in writing, direct that the different
departments or branches of a specified factory be treated as
separate factories for all or any of the purposes of this Act.
5. Power to exempt. - The
Government may, by notification in
the official Gazette, exempt any factory or any class or
description of factories from all or any of the provisions of this
Act for such period as it may think fit in the public interest:
Provided that no such exemption shall be made for a period
exceeding six months at a time.
6. Notice to Inspector
before commencement of work.
(1) The occupier shall, at least fifteen days before he
begins
to occupy or use any premises as a factory send to the
Chief
Inspector a written notice containing -
(a) the name and situation of the factory;
(b) the name and address of the occupier;
(c) the address to which communications relating to the
factory may be sent;
(d) the nature of the manufacturing process -
(i) carried on in the factory during the last
twelve months in the case of factories in
existence on the date of the commencement of
this Act;
(ii) to be carried on in the factory during the
next twelve months in the case of all
factories;
(e) the nature and quantity of power to be used; the
name of the Manager of the factory for the purposes
of this Act;
(f) the number of workers likely to be employed in the
factory;
(g) the average number of workers per day employed
during the last twelve months in the case of a
factory in existence on the date of the
commencement of this Act; and
(h) such other particulars as may be prescribed.
(2) In respect of all factories which come within the scope
of this
Act for the first time, the occupier shall send a written
notice
to the Chief Inspector containing particulars specified in
sub-section (1) within thirty days from the date of the
commencement of this Act..
(3) Before a factory engaged in a manufacturing process,
which
is ordinarily carried on for less than one hundred and eighty
working
days in the year, resumes working, the occupier shall send
a
written notice to the Chief Inspector containing the particulars
specified in sub-section (1) within thirty days before the date of
the
commencement of work.
(4) Whenever another person is appointed as Manager, the
occupier shall send to the Chief Inspector a written notice of the
change,
within seven days from the date on which such person
assumes
charge.
(5) During any period for which no person has been designated
as
Manager of the factory or during which the person so designated
does
not manage the factory, any person found acting as Manager or
if no
such person is found, the occupier himself shall be deemed to
be the
Manager of the factory for the purposes of this Act.
7. Seasonal Factory. - The
Government may, by notification
in the
official Gazette, declare any factory in which
manufacturing processes are ordinarily carried on for not more
than
one hundred and eighty working days in the year and
cannot
be carried on except during particular seasons or at
times
dependent on the irregular action of natural forces, to
be a
seasonal factory for the purposes of this Act.
8. Approval of plans and
fees for licensing and
registration.
(1) The Government may -
(a) require that previous permission in writing be
obtained in the prescribed manner from the Chief
Inspector for the construction or extension of any
factory or class or description of factories;
(b) require registration and licensing of factories or
any class or description of factories and payment
of fees for such registration and licensing or for
the renewal of licences, in the prescribed manner.
(2) If, in accordance with the
provisions of sub-section (1)
an application for permission accompanied by the
plans and
specifications is sent to the Chief Inspector and
no order is
communicated to the applicant within two months
from the date of
its receipt by the Chief Inspector, the
permission applied for in
the said application shall be deemed to have been
granted.
(3) Where the Chief Inspector
refuses to grant permission to
the said construction or extension of a factory
or to registration
and licensing of a factory the applicant may,
within sixty days of
the date of such refusal, appeal to the
Government.
Explanation - A factory shall not be deemed to be
extended
within the meaning of this section by reason only
of the
replacement of any plant or machinery or, within
such limits as may
be prescribed, of the addition of any plant or
machinery.
CHAPTER II: CHIEF INSPECTOR, INSPECTORS AND
CERTIFYING SURGEONS
9. Chief Inspector and
Inspectors. -
(1) The Government may, by
notification in the official
Gazette, appoint any person to be the Chief
Inspector, who shall,
in addition to the powers conferred on the Chief
Inspector under
this Act, have the powers of an Inspector
throughout the country
and shall also have powers of supervision and
control over the
Inspectors appointed under sub-section (2):
Provided that the Chief Inspector may authorise
any other
officer or officers under him to exercise all or
any of his powers
for such area or areas as may be specified by
him.
(2) The Government may, by
notification in the official
Gazette, appoint such persons as it thinks
fit, to be Inspectors
for the puposes of this Act within such local
limits as it may
assign to them respectively.
(3) The Government may also, by
notification as aforesaid,
appoint such public officers as it thinks fit to
be Inspectors for
all or any of the purposes of this Act, within
such local limits as
it may assign to them respectively.
(4) Every Deputy Commissioner
shall be an Inspector of his
district.
(5) No person shall be
appointed to be an Inspector under
sub-section (2) or, having been so appointed,
shall continue to
hold office, who is or becomes directly or
indirectly, interested
in a factory or in any process or business
carried on therein or
any patent or machinery connected therein.
(6) In any area where there are
more Inspectors than one, the
Government may, by notification as aforesaid,
declare the powers
which such Inspectors shall respectively
exercise, and the
Inspector to whom the prescribed notices are to
be sent.
(7) The Chief Inspector and
every Inspector shall be deemed
to be a public servant within the meaning of
section 21 of the
Penal Code, (Act XLV of 1860) [as adapted] and
the Inspectors
appointed under sub-section (3) shall be
officially subordinate to
such authority as the Government may specify on
this behalf.
10. Powers of Inspector.
-
(1) For carrying out the
purposes of this Act, an Inspector
may, within the local limits for which he is
appointed -
(a) enter with such assistants, being persons in the
service of Bangladesh or of any municipal or other
local authority, as he thinks fit, inspect and
examine any place which is, or which he has reason
to believe to be, used as a factory under the
provisions of section 3;
(b) require the production of the registers,
certificates, notices and documents kept in
pursuance of this Act, and inspect, examine and
copy any of them;
(c) make such examination and inquiry as may be
necessary to ascertain whether the provisions of
this Act and other laws for the time being in force
relating to health and hygiene, in respect of a
factory and any person employed in a factory are
complied with;
(d) require any person whom he finds in a factory to
give such information as it is in his knowledge
relating to the actual occupier of the factory;
(e) examine, in respect of matters pertaining to this
Act, every person whom he finds in a factory, or
whom he has reasonable cause to be or to have been
within the preceding two months, employed in a
factory;
Provided that no person shall be required
to answer any
questions or to give any evidence tending to
incriminate himself;
and
(f) require every person so examined to sign the record
of such examination by way of verification.
(2) The occupier of every
factory, his agents and servants,
shall furnish the means required by an Inspector
as necessary
for an entry, inspection, examination, enquiry,
the taking of
samples, or otherwise for the exercise of his
powers under
this Act, in relation to that factory.
(3) An Inspector may seize any
record, register or any other
documents of any factory, relevant to the
enforcement of the
provisions of this Act, as he may consider
necessary in the
prescribed manner for the purpose of carrying out
his functions
under this Act.
11. Certifying Surgeons. -
(1) The Government may appoint
such registered medical
practitioners as it deems fit to be Certifying
Surgeons, for
the purposes of this Act within such local limits
or for such
factory or class or description of factories as
may be
assigned to them respectively.
(2) No person shall be
appointed to be a Certifying Surgeon,
or having been so appointed, continue to exercise
such powers, who
is or becomes the occupier of a factory or is or
becomes directly
or indirectly interested therein or in any patent
or machinery
connected therewith or is otherwise in the
employment of the
factory.
(3) The Certifying Surgeon will
carry out such duties as may
be prescribed in connection with -
(a) examination and certification of young persons
under this Act;
(b) examination of persons engaged in factories in such
dangerous occupations or processes as may be
prescribed;
(c) such medical supervision as may be prescribed for
any factory or class or description of factory
where -
(i) cases of illness having occurred which it is
reasonable to believe are due to the nature of
the manufacturing process carried on or other
conditions of work prevailing therein;
(ii) by reason of any change in the manufacturing
process carried on or in the substance used
therein or by reason of the adoption of any
new manufacturing process or any new substance
for use in a manufacturing process, there is
likelihood of injury to the health of the
workers employed in that manufacturing
process; and
(iii) young persons are, or are about to be
employed in any work which is likely to
cause injury to their health.
CHAPTER III: HEALTH AND HYGIENE
12. Cleanliness. -
(1) Every factory shall be kept clean and free from
effluvia arising from any drain privy or other nuisance, and in
particular, -
(a) accummulation of dirt and refuge shall be
moved daily by sweeping or by any other
effective method from the floors and benches
of workrooms and from staircases and passages
and disposed of in a suitable manner;
(b) the floor of every workroom shall be cleaned
at least once in every week by washing, using
disinfectant where necessary or by some other
effective method;
(c) where the floor is liable to become wet in the
course of any manufacturing process to such
extent as is capable of being drained,
effective means of drainage shall be provided
and maintained;
(d) all inside walls and partitions, all ceilings
or tops of rooms and walls, sides and tops of
passages and staircases shall-
(i) where they are painted or varnished, be
repainted or revarnished at least once in
every five years;
(ii) where they are painted or varnished and
have smooth impervious surfaces, be
cleaned at least once in every fourteenth
month, by such methods as may be
prescribed;
(iii) in any other case, be kept
white-
washed or colour-washed and the
white-washing or colour-washing
shall be carried out at least once
in every fourteen months; and
(e) the dates on which the processes required by
clause (d) are carried out shall be entered in
the prescribed register.
(2) If, in view of the nature
of the operations carried on in
a factory it is not possible for the occupier to comply with all or
any of the provisions of sub-section (1), the Government may, by an
order, exempt such factory or class or description of factories
from any of the provisions of that sub-section and specify
alternative methods for keeping the factory in a clean state.
13. Disposal of wastes and
effluents. -
(1) Effective arrangements
shall be made in every factory for
the disposal of wastes and effluents due to the manufacturing
process carried on therein.
(2) The Government may make
rules prescribing the
arrangements to be made in accordance with sub-section (1) or
requiring that the arrangement made in accordance with sub-section
(1) shall be approved by such authority as may be prescribed.
14. Ventilation and temperature. -
(1) Effective and suitable
provisions shall be made in every
factory for securing and maintaining in every work-room -
(a) adequate ventilation by the circulation of fresh
air; and
(b) such temperatures as will secure to workers therein
reasonable conditions of comfort and which will
prevent injury to health, and in particular, -
(i) the walls and roof shall be of such material
and so designed that such temperature shall
not be exceeded but be kept as low as
practicable;
(ii) where the nature of the work carried on in the
factory involves, or is likely to involve, the
production of excessively high temperature,
such adequate measures as are practicable,
shall be taken to protect the workers
therefrom by separating the process which
produces such temperature from the work-room
by insulating the hot parts or by other
effective means.
(2) The Government may
prescribe a standard of adequate
ventilation and reasonable temperature for any factory or class or
description of factories or parts thereof and direct that a
thermometer shall be provided and maintained in such place and
position as may be specified.
(3) If it appears to the
Government that in any factory or
class or description of factories excessively high temperature can
be reduced by such methods as white-washing, spraying or insulating
and screening outside walls or roofs or windows or by raising the
level of the roof, or by insulating the roof either by an air space
and double roof or by the use of insulating roofing materials, or
by other methods, it may prescribe such of those or other methods
to be adopted in the factory.
15. Dust and fume. -
(1) In every factory in which,
by reason of the manufacturing
process carried on, there is given off any dust or fumes or other
impurity of such a nature and to such an extent as is likely to be
injurious or offensive to the workers employed therein, effective
measures shall be taken to prevent its accummulation in any work-
room and its inhalation by workers, and if any exhaust appliance is
necessary for this purpose, it shall be applied as near as possible
to the point of origin of the dust, fumes or other impurity, and
such point shall be enclosed so far as is possible.
(2) In any factory no
stationary internal combustion engine
shall be operated unless the exhaust is conducted into open air,
and no internal combustion engine shall be operated in any room
unless effective measures have been taken to prevent such
accummulation of fumes therefrom as are likely to be injurious to
the workers employed in the work-room.
16. Artificial humidification.
-
(1) The Government may, in
respect of all factories in which
humidity of the air is artificially increased, make rules
-
(a) prescribing standards of humidification;
(b) regulating the methods used for artificially
increasing the humidity of the air;
(c) directing prescribed tests determining the humidity
of the air to be correctly carried out and
recorded; and
(d) prescribing methods to be adopted for securing
adequate ventilation and cooling of the air in the
work-rooms.
(2) In any factory in which the
humidity of the air is
artificially increased, the water used for the purpose shall be
taken
from a public supply, or other source of drinking water, or
shall be effectively purified before it is so used.
(3) If it appears to an
Inspector that the water used in a
factory for increasing humidity which is required to be effectively
purified under sub-section (2) is not effectively purified, he may
serve on the Manager 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.
17. Overcrowding. -
(1) No work-room in any factory
shall be overcrowded to the
extent that it is injurious to the health of the workers employed
therein.
(2) Without prejudice to the
generality of the provisions of
sub-section (1), there shall be provided for every worker employed
in a work-room-
(a) at least three hundred and fifty cubic feet of
space in the case of a factory in existence on the
date of the commencement of this Act, and
(b) at least five hundred cubic feet of space in the
case of a factory built after the commencement of
this Act.
Explanation - For the purpose of this sub-section
no account
shall be taken of a space which is more than fourteen feet above
the level of the floor of the room.
(3) If the Chief Inspector by
order in writing so requires,
there shall be posted in each work-room of a factory a notice
specifying the maximum number of workers who may, in compliance
with the provisions of this section, be employed in the room.
(4) The Chief Inspector may, by
order in writing exempt,
subject to the conditions as he may think fit to impose, any work-
room from the provisions of this section if he is satisfied that
compliance therewith in respect of such room is not necessary for
the purpose of health of the workers employed therein.
18. Lighting. -
(1) In every part of a factory
where workers are working or
passing, there shall be provided and maintained sufficient and
suitable lighting, natural or artificial, or both.
(2) In every factory all glazed
windows and skylights used
for the lighting of the work-room shall be kept clean on both the
outer and inner surfaces and free from obstruction as far as
possible under the rules framed under sub-section (3) of section
14.
(3) In every factory effective
provision shall so far as is
practicable, be made for the prevention of -
(a) glare either directly from any source of light or
by reflection from a smooth or polished surface,
and
(b) the formation of shadows to such an extent as to
cause eye strain or risk of accident to any worker.
(4) The Government may
prescribe standards of sufficient and
suitable lighting for factories or for any class or description of
factories or for any manufacturing process.
19. Drinking water. -
(1) In every factory effective
arrangements shall be made to
provide and maintain at a suitable point conveniently situated for
all workers employed therein, a sufficient supply of wholesome
drinking water.
(2) All such points shall be
legibly marked "Drinking Water"
in a language understood by the majority of the workers and no such
point shall be situated within twenty feet of any washing place,
urinal or latrine, unless a shorter distance is approved in writing
by the Chief Inspector.
(3) In every factory wherein
more than two hundred and fifty
workers are ordinarily employed, provision shall be made for
cooling the drinking water during the hot weather by effective
means and for distribution thereof.
(4) The Government may, in
respect of all factories or any
class or description of factories, make rules for securing
compliance with the provisions of this section.
20. Latrines and urinals. -
(1) In every factory -
(a) sufficient latrines and urinals of prescribed types
shall be provided conveniently situated and
accessible to workers at all times while they are
in the factory;
(b) enclosed latrines and urinals shall be provided
separately for male and female workers;
(c) such latrines and urinals shall be adequately
lighted and ventlated and no latrine or urinal
shall, unless specifically exempted in writing by
the Chief Inspector, communicate with any work-room
except through an intervening open space or
ventilated passage;
(d) all such latrines and urinals shall be maintained
in a clean and sanitary condition at all times with
suitable detergents or disinfectants or with both;
(e) the floors and internal walls of the latrines and
urinals and the sanitary blocks shall, up to a
height of three feet, be finished to provide a
smooth polished impervious surface.
(2) The Government may
prescribe the number of latrines and
urinals to be provided in any factory in proportion to the numbers
of male and female workers ordinarily employed therein and such
further matters in respect of sanitation in the factories.
21. Spittoons. -
(1) In every factory there
shall be provided, at convenient
places, a sufficient number of spittoons which shall be maintained
in a clean and hygienic condition.
(2) The Government may make
rules prescribing the type and
the number of spittoons to be provided and their location in any
factory and such further matters as may be deemed necessary
relating to their maintenance in a clean and hygienic condition.
(3) No person shall spit within
the premises of a factory
except in the spittoons provided for the purpose. A notice
containing this provision and the penalty for its violation shall
be prominently displayed at suitable places in the premises.
(4) Whosoever spits in
contravention of sub-section (3),
shall be punishable with a fine not exceeding Taka Two.
CHAPTER 1V: SAFETY
22. Precautions in case of
fire. -
(1) Every factory will be
provided with such means of escape
in case of fire as may be prescribed.
(2) If it appears to the
Inspector that any factory is not
provided with the means of escape prescribed under sub-section (1),
he may serve on the Manager of the factory an order in writing
specifying the measures which, in his opinion, should be adopted
before a date specified in the order.
(3) In every factory the doors
affording exit from any room
shall not be locked or fastened so that they can be easily and
immediately opened from inside while any person is within the room,
and all such doors, unless they are of the sliding type, shall be
constructed to open outwards, or where the door is between two
rooms, in the direction of the nearest exit from the building and
no such door shall be locked or obstructed while work is being
carried on in the room.
(4) In every factory every
window, door, or other exit
affording means of escape in case of fire, other than the means of
exit in ordinary use, shall be distinctively marked in a language
understood by the majority of the workers and in red letters of
adequate size or by some other effective and clearly understood
sign.
(5) In every factory there
shall be provided effective and
clearly audible means of giving warning in case of fire to every
person employed therein.
(6) A free passage-way giving
access to each means of escape
in case of fire shall be maintained for the use of all workers in
every room of the factory.
(7) In every factory wherein
more than ten workers are
ordinarily employed in any place above the ground floor, or
explosives or highly inflammable materials are used or stored,
effective measures shall be taken to ensure that 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 case.
(8) The Government may make
rules prescribing in respect of
any factory, or class or description of factories, the means of
escape to be provided in case of fire and the nature and amount of
fire-fighting apparatus to be provided and maintained.
23. Fencing of machinery.
-
(1) In every factory the
following shall be securely fenced
by safeguards of substantial construction which shall be kept in
position while the part of machinery required to be fenced are in
motion or in use, namely -
(a) every moving part of a prime mover, and every fly
wheel connected to a prime mover;
(b) the head-race and tail-race of every water wheel
and water turbine;
(c) any part of a stock-bar which projects beyond the
head stock of a lathe; and
(d) unless they are in such position or of such
construction as to be as safe to every person
employed in the factory as they would be if they
were securely fenced -
(i) every part of an electricity generator, a
motor or rotary convertor;
(ii) every part of transmission machinery; and
(iii) every dangerous part of
any machinery:
Provided that, for the purpose of
determining whether any
part of machinery is in such position or is of such construction as
to be
safe as aforesaid, account shall not be taken of any occasion
when it being necessary to make an examination of the machinery
while it is in motion or, as a result of such examination, to carry
out any mounting or shipping of belts, lubrication or other
adjusting operation while the machinery is in motion, such
examination or operation is made or carried out in accordance with
the provisions of section 24.
(2) Without prejudice to any
other provision of this Act
relating to the fencing of machinery, every set screw, bolt and key
on any revolving shaft, spindle wheel or pinion and all spur, worm
and other toothed or friction gearing in motion with which a worker
would otherwise be liable to come into contact, shall be securely
fenced, to prevent such contact.
(3) The Government may exempt,
subject to such conditions as
may be imposed, for securing the safety of the workers, any
particular machinery or part thereof from the provisions of this
Act.
(4) The Government may, by
rules, prescribe such further
precautions as it may consider necessary in respect of any
particular machinery or part thereof.
24. Work on or near machinery
in motion. -
(1) Where in any factory it
becomes necessary to examine any
part of machinery referred to in section 23 while the machinery is
in motion, or as a result of such examination, to carry out any
mounting or shipping of belts, lubrication or other adjusting
operation while the machinery is in motion, such examination or
operation shall be made or carried out only by a specially trained
adult male worker wearing tight fitting clothing whose name has
been recorded in the register prescribed in this behalf and while
he is so engaged such worker shall not handle a belt at a moving
pulley unless the belt is less than six inches in width and unless
the belt-joint is either laced or flush with the belt.
(2) No woman or child shall be
allowed in any factory to
clean, lubricate or adjust any part of machine while that part is
in motion, or to work between moving parts or between fixed and
moving parts, of any machinery which is in motion.
(3) The Government may, by
notification in the official
Gazette, prohibit, in any specified factory or class or description
of factories, the cleaning, lubricating or adjusting by any person,
of specified parts of machinery when those parts are in motion.
25. Employment of young persons
on dangerous machines.
(1) No young person shall work
at any machine unless he has
been
fully instructed as to the dangers arising in
connection with the machine and the precautions to be
observed, and -
(a) has received sufficient training in work at the
machine, or
(b) is under adequate supervision by a person who has
thorough knowledge and experience of the machine.
(2) This section shall apply to
such machines as may be
notified by the Government to be of such a dangerous character that
young persons ought not to work at them unless the foregoing
requirements are complied with.
26. Striking gear and devices
for cutting off power. -
(1) In every factory -
(a) 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 such gear or appliances
shall be so constructed, placed and maintained as
to prevent the belt from crooping back on the first
pulleys;
(b) driving belts when not in use shall not be allowed
to rest or ride upon shafting in motion.
(2) In every factory suitable
devices for cutting off power
in emergencies from running machinery shall be provided and
maintained in every work-room.
(3) In respect of factories in
operation before the
commencement of this Act the provisions of sub-section (2) shall
apply only to work-rooms in which electricity is used for power.
27. Self-acting machines. - No
traversing part of a self-
acting machine in any factory 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 to run on its outward or inward traverse
within a distance of eighteen inches from any fixed structure which
is not part of the machine:
Provided that the Chief Inspector may permit the
continued use
of a machine installed before the commencement of this Act which
does not comply with the requirements of this section on such
conditions for ensuring safety as he may think fit to impose.
28. Casing of new machinery. -
(1) In all machinery driven by
power and installed in any
factory after the commencement of this Act -
(a) every set screw, belt or key or any revolving
shaft, spindle, wheel or pinion shall be so sunk,
encased or otherwise effectively guarded as to
prevent danger; and
(b) all spur, worm and other toothed or friction
gearing which does not require frequent adjustment
while in motion, shall be completely encased unless
it is so situated as to be as safe as it would be
if it were completely encased.
(2) Whoever sells or lets on
hire or as agent of a seller or
hirer, causes or procures to be sold or let on hire, for use in a
factory any machinery driven by power which does not comply with
the provisions of sub-section (1), shall be punishable with
imprisonment for a term which may extend to threee months, or with
a fine
which may extend to Taka five hundred or with both.
(3) The Government may make
rules specifying further
afeguards to be provided in respect of any other dangerous part of
any particular machine or class or description of machines.
29. Prohibition of employment
of women and children near
cotton-openers. - No woman or child shall be employed in any part
of a factory for pressing cotton in which a cotton-opener is at
work:
Provided that if the feed-end of a cotton-opener
is in a room
separated from the delivery end by a partition extending to the
roof or to such heights as the Inspector may, in any particular
case, specify in writing, women and children may be employed on the
side of the partition where the feed-end is situated.
30. Cranes and other lifting
machinery. -
(1) The following provisions
shall apply in respect of cranes
and all other lifting machinery, other than hoists and lifts, in
any factory -
(a) every part thereof, including the working gear,
whether fixed or movable, ropes and chains and
anchoring and fixing appliances shall be -
(i) of good construction, sound material and
adequate strength;
(ii) properly maintained;
(iii) thoroughly examined by a
competent person
at least once in every period of twelve
months, and a register shall be kept
containing the prescribed particulars of
every such examination;
(b) no such machinery shall be loaded beyond the safe
working load which shall be plainly marked thereon;
and
(c) while any person is employed or working on or near
the wheel-tract of a travelling crane in any place
where he would be liable to be struck by the crane,
effective measures shall be taken to ensure that
the crane does not approach within twenty feet of
that place.
(2) The Government may make
rules in respect of any lifting
machinery or class or description of lifting machinery in factories
(a) prescribing requirements to be complied with in
addition to those set out in this section; or
(b) exempting from compliance with all or any of the
requirements of this section, where, in its
opinion, such compliance is unnecessary or
impracticable.
31. Hoists and lifts.-
(1) In every factory-
(a) every hoist and lift shall be -
(i) of good mechanical construction, sound
material and adequate strength,
(ii) properly maintained, and shall be thoroughly
examined by a competent person at least once
in every period of six months, and a register
shall be kept containing the prescribed
particulars of every such examination;
(b) every hoistway and liftway 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;
(c) the maximum safe working load shall be plainly
marked on every hoist or lift, and no load greater
than such load shall be carried thereon;
(d) the cage of every hoist or lift used for carrying
persons shall be fitted with a gate on each side
from which access is afforded to a landing;
(e) every gate referred to in clause (b) or clause (d)
shall be fitted with interlocking or other
efficient device to secure the gate so that it
cannot be opened except when the cage is at the
landing and to ensure that the cage cannot be moved
unless the gate is closed.
(2) the following additional
requirements shall apply to
hoists and lifts used for carrying persons and installed or
reconstructed in a factory after the commencement of this Act,
namely-
(a) where the cage is supported by rope or chain there
shall be at least two ropes or chains separately
connected to the cage and balance weight, and each
rope or chain with its attachments shall be capable
of carrying the whole weight of the cage together