Pakistan
THE MINES ACT 1923
CHAPTER V: PROVISIONS AS TO HEALTH AND SAFETY
17. There shall be provided and
maintained for every mine
latrine ane urinal accommodation of such kind and on such
scale,
and such supply of water fit for drinking, as may be
prescribed.
17-A. At every mine wherein more
than one hundred persons
are ordinarily employed, a canteen of such standard as may
be
prescribed shall be provided for the use of persons employed
therein.
17-B. There shall be provided and
maintained for use of
persons working above ground in a mine, during intervals for
rest, shelters of such standard and on such scale as may be
prescribed.
18. At every mine such supply of
ambulances or stretchers
and of splints, bandages and other medical requirements, as
may
be prescribed, shall be kept ready at hand in a convenient
place
and in good and serviceable order.
18-A. At every mine in respect of
which the appropriate
Government may, by notification in the official Gazette,
declare
this section to apply, there shall be provides first-aid
rooms
of such size, with such equipment and incharge of such
medical
and nursing staff as may be prescribed.
19.-(1) If, in any respect which is
not provided against
by any express provision of this Act or of the regulations,
rules
or bye-laws or of any orders made thereunder, it appears to
the
Chief Inspector or the Inspector that any mine, or any part
thereof or any matter, thing or practice in or connected
with the
mine, or with the control, management or direction thereof,
is
dangerous to human life health or safety, or defective so as
to
threaten, or tend to, the bodily injury of any person, he
may
give notice in writing thereof to the owner, agent or
manager of
the mine, and shall state in the notice the particulars in
which
he considers the mine, or part thereof, or the matter, thing
or
practice, to be dangerous or defective and require the same
to
be remedied within such time as he may specify in the
notice.
(lA) Without prejudice to the
generality of the provisions
contained in sub-section (1), the Chief Inspector or the
Inspector may, in any area to which the appropriate
Government
may by notification in the official Gazette declare that
this
sub-section applies, by order in writing addressed to the
owner,
agent or manager of a mine,-
prohibit the extraction or
reduction of pillars in any part
of the mine if, in his opinion,
such operation is likely to
cause the crushing of pillars or
the premature collapse of
any part of the workings or
otherwise endanger the mine, or
if, in his opinion, adequate
provision against the outbreak
of fire or flooding has not been
made by providing for the
sealing off and isolation of the
part of the mine in which
such operation is contemplated and
for restricting the area
that might be affected by a fire,
or flooding.
and the provisions of sub-sections (3), (4), (5) and (6)
shall
apply to an order made under this sub-section as they apply
to
an order made under Sub-section (2).
(2) If the Chief Inspector or an
Inspector authorized in
this behalf by general or special order in writing by the
Chief:
Inspector is of opinion that there is urgent and immediate
danger
to the life, health or safety of any person employed in any
mine
or part thereof, he may, by an order in writing containing a
statement of the grounds of his opinion, prohibit, until the
danger is removed, the employment in or about the mine or
part
thereof of any person whose employment is not in his opinion
reasonably necessary for the purpose of removing the danger.
(3) Where an order has been made
under sub-section (2) by
an Inspector, the owner, agent or manager of the mine may,
within
ten days after the receipt of the order, appeal against the
same
to the Chief Inspector who may confirm, modify or cancel the
order.
(4) The Chief Inspector or the
Inspector making a
requisition under sub-section (1) or an order under
sub-section
(2), and the Chief Inspector making an order (other than an
order
of cancellation) in appeal under sub-section (3), shall
forthwith
report the same to the appropriate Government and shall
inform
the owner, agent or manager of the mine that such report has
been
so made.
(5) If the owner, agent or manager
of the mine objects to
a requisition made under sub-section (1) or to an order made
by
the Chief Inspector under sub-section (2), or sub-section
(3) he
may, within twenty days after the receipt of the notice
containing the requisition or of the order or after the date
of
the decision of the appeal, as the case may be, send
his
objection in writing, stating the grounds thereof, to
the
appropriate Government which shall refer the same to a
Committee.
(6) Every requisition made under
sub-section (1), or order
made under sub-section (2), or sub-section (3) to which
objection
is made under sub-section (5), shall be complied with
pending
the receipt at the mine of the decision of the Committee:
Provided that the Committee may, on
the application of the
owner, agent or manager, suspend the operation of a
requisition
under sub-section (1) pending its decision on the
objection.
(7) Nothing in this section shall
affect the powers of a
Magistrate under section 144 of the Code of Criminal
Procedure,
1898.
20.-(1) Whenever there occurs in or
about a mine-
(a) an accident causing loss of
life or serious bodily
injury, or
(b) an accidental explosion,
ignition, spontaneous heating,
outbreak of fire or irruption or inrush of water or other
liquid
matter, or
(c) an influx of inflammable or
noxious gases, or
(d) a breakage of ropes, chains or
other gear by which
persons or materials are lowered or raised in a shaft or an
incline, or
(e) an overwinding of cages or
other means of conveyance in
any shaft while persons or materials are being lowered or
raised,
or
(f) an electric shock or burn
caused by contact with a
conductor carrying more than 25 volts, or
(g) any other accident that may be
prescribed,
(1A) Where a notice given under
sub-section (1) relates to
an accident causing loss of life, the Inspector shall make
or,
where the authority receiving the notice is one other than
the
Inspector, that authority shall cause the Inspector to make,
an
inquiry into the occurrence as early as possible on receipt
of
such notice or on information received otherwise.
(1B) When an accident causing loss
of life occurs, the place
of accident shall not be disturbed or tampered with for
three
clear days from the date of such accident unless the
Inspector
has earlier inspected it or given intimation that it is not
proposed to make an inquiry:
Provided that the place of accident may be disturbed if it
is
necessary for securing the safety of the mine or the persons
employed therein, subject to the following conditions-
(a) the decision that it is
necessary to disturb the place
must be taken by the manager;
(b) the disturbance must not
prejudice subsequent
investigation;
(c) the workers' representative
must have reasonable
opportunity to inspect the place if he wishes,
(d) an accurate plan must be made,
and copies thereof made
available to the Inspector and the workers' representative;
and
(e) everything which is relevant to
the accident must be
preserved, as far as possible, in the condition in which it
was
at the time of the accident.
(2) The appropriate Government may,
by notification in the,
official Gazette, direct that accidents other than those
specified in sub-section (1) which cause bodily injury
resulting
in the enforced absence from work of the person injured for
a
period exceeding forty-eight hours, shall be entered in a
register in the prescribed form or shall be subject to the
provisions of sub-section (1).
(3) A copy of the entries in the
register referred to in
sub-section (2) shall be sent by the owner, agent, or
manager of
the mine, within fourteen days, after the 30th day of June
and
the 31st day of December in each year, to the Chief
Inspector.
20A.- (1) Where any person employed
in a mine contracts or
is believed to have contracted any disease notified by the
appropriate Government in official Gazette as an
occupational
disease peculiar to any mining operation, the owner, agent
or
manager of the mine, as the case may be, shall send notice
thereof to the Chief Inspector and to such other
authorities, in
such form and within such time as may be prescribed.
(2) The appropriate Government may,
by order, appoint such
qualified medical practitioners on such terms and conditions
as
it thinks fit to be certifying doctors for the purpose of
this
section within such local limits as it may specify in the
order.
(3) If the Chief Inspector or an
Inspector has reason to
believe that any person working in a mine has contracted a
disease notified under sub-section(1), he may refer that
person
to the certifying doctor for his opinion.
(4) If any qualified medical
practitioner attends on a
person who is or has been employed in a mine and who is or
is
believed by the medical practitioner to be suffering from
any
disease notified under sub-section (1), the medical
practitioner
shall without delay send a report in writing to the Chief
Inspector stating-
(a) the name and address of the
patient;
(b) the disease from which the
patient is or is believed to
be suffering; and
(c) the name and address of the
mine in which the patient
is or was last employed.
(5) Where the report under
sub-section (4) is confirmed to
the satisfaction of the Chief Inspector by the certificate
of a
certifying doctor that the person is suffering from a
disease
notified under sub-section (1), the Chief Inspector shall
pay to
the medical practitioner such fee as may be prescribed, and
the
fee so paid shall be recoverable as an arrear of land
revenue
from the owner, agent or manager of the mine in which the
person
contracted the disease.
(6) The Chief Inspector or an
Inspector, it so advised by
the certifying doctor, may direct the owner, agent or
manager of
the mine to shift for any specified period a person who has
contracted an occupational disease to such working place
where
there is less or no danger of aggravation of the
disease.
21.-(l) When any accidental
explosion, ignition, outbreak
of fire or irruption of water or other accident has occurred
in
or about any mine, the appropriate Government, if it is of
opinion that a formal inquiry into the causes of, and
circumstances attending, the accident ought to be held, may
appoint a competent person to hold such inquiry, and may
also
appoint any person or persons possessing legal or special
knowledge to act as assessor or assessors in holding the
inquiry.
(2) The person appointed to hold
any such inquiry shall have
all the powers of Civil Court under the Code of Civil
Procedure,
1908, for the purpose of enforcing the attendance of
witnesses
and compelling the production of documents and material
objects;
and every person required by such person as aforesaid to
furnish
any information shall be deemed to be legally bound to do so
within the meaning of section l76 of the Pakistan Penal
Code.
(3) Any person holding an inquiry
under this section may
exercise such of the powers of an Inspector under this Act
as he
may think it necessary or expedient to exercise for the
purposes
of the inquiry.
(4) The person holding an inquiry
under this section shall
make a report to the appropriate Government stating the
causes
of the accident and its circumstances, and adding any
observations which he or any of the assessors may think fit
to
make.
22. The appropriate Government may
cause any report
submitted by a Committee under section 11 and shall cause
every
report submitted by a court of inquiry under section 21 to
be
published at such time and in such manner as it may think
fit.
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