Factories Act, 1966

This section gives the Act its short title: the Factories Act.

This section defines when premises count as a “factory” and lets the Commissioner approve treating parts of factories separately or multiple factories as one.

This section defines terms used in the Act, including "article" and "bodily injury".

This section says the Act applies to factories defined by the Act, including factories belonging to or occupied by the Republic, and to certain Republic building and engineering works, unless another part of the Act or a contrary intention says otherwise.

The Commissioner may delegate some or all of his powers under the Act to another public officer, in writing and subject to any restrictions or conditions he chooses.

Inspectors must be appointed as public officers, and each inspector must have an appointment certificate.

Inspectors have broad powers to enter, inspect, examine, request documents, question people, and conduct medical examinations for this Act.

The occupier of a factory, and the occupier’s agents and servants, must provide an inspector with the means needed for entry, inspection, examination, inquiry, or taking samples.

People must not obstruct an inspector carrying out duties under the Act.

Inspectors must not disclose confidential process details or the source of complaints, except when performing their duty or when authorised by the complainant.

The Commissioner must keep a register of factories.

An existing factory occupier must apply to the Commissioner in writing for registration within three months after the Act starts, and the Commissioner must register the factory and issue a registration certificate once the application is received.

New factory premises cannot be used unless they were already in use on commencement of the Act or have a registration certificate under this section.

A factory occupier must promptly tell the Commissioner in writing about any material change in previously notified registered particulars.

Factory buildings, conversions, and extensions must use drawings approved by the Commissioner.

This section establishes an Appeals Board to hear and determine appeals, and says the Judicial Service Commission appoints the chairman and members.

A person aggrieved by certain Commissioner decisions may appeal to the Board, and the appeal notice must be written and state the grounds.

The Board may confirm, vary, or reverse the Commissioner's decision on appeal.

Factories must be kept clean, with dirt and refuse removed daily and workroom floors, walls, and other surfaces cleaned or treated at set intervals.

Factories and workrooms must not be overcrowded in a way that risks injury to workers’ health, must allow at least 12 cubic metres per person in a workroom, and workrooms must be at least 3 metres high.

Workrooms must have effective ventilation by natural or artificial means, with fresh air circulated and harmful fumes, dust, and other impurities made harmless as far as practicable.

Factories must have sufficient, suitable lighting in all parts where people work or pass, and glazed windows and skylights used for workroom lighting should be kept clean and unobstructed where practicable.

Factories must have sufficient, suitable, clean sanitary conveniences, with lighting and separate facilities for each sex where both sexes are employed or intended to be employed.

The Minister may direct by order where section 23 is enforced, and the local authority named in that order must enforce it in those areas.

If an inspector finds a sanitary-related defect or default in a factory that is dealt with by a local authority, the inspector must give written notice to that local authority.

The Minister may require medical supervision arrangements for workers in factories where health risks appear to exist.

Certain machinery parts must be securely fenced, with a limited safety-based exception.

Workplace transmission machinery must be fenced or otherwise made safe, and certain cut-off, starting/stopping, belt-moving, and belt-restraint measures must be provided and used. The Commissioner may grant exemptions from some of these requirements.

Dangerous parts of machinery generally must be securely fenced, unless the part is already as safe as if fenced; the Commissioner may order a safety device instead of or in addition to fencing for specified machinery.

This section says certain work on moving or unfenced machinery can be counted as safe only if specific conditions are met, including certification for some transmission machinery and supervision, training, clothing, and ladder requirements.

Fencing and other safeguards must be substantially built, kept maintained, and left in place while the protected parts are moving or being used, subject to stated exceptions.

Machines driven by mechanical power must be built with required safety fencing and locking arrangements, and non-compliant machines cannot be sold or hired out for factory use after two years from commencement.

Fixed vessels, structures, sumps or pits containing dangerous liquids or molten metal must be covered or fenced, marked with a DANGER notice, and kept safe from falls; the Minister can extend or exempt the rules.

Self-acting machines must be kept at least 500 millimetres from fixed structures in certain passing spaces, and workers must be kept out of a dangerous space around a self-acting spinning mule except when it is stopped on the outward run.

Workers must not be employed at dangerous machines or processes unless they have been fully instructed and either trained or adequately supervised.

Floors, stairs, passages, gangways, ladders, and staircases must be sound, maintained, and made safe against obstruction, slipping, skidding, and falls.

Workplaces must have safe access, safe working areas, enough clear space at moving machines, and fall protection where a fall could exceed two metres unless secure foothold and handhold are already provided.

People must not enter or stay in certain confined spaces with dangerous fumes unless safety conditions are met, and the Commissioner may exempt compliance by certificate.

This section requires practical precautions to prevent explosions or fires from dust, gas, vapour, or other flammable substances in plant and equipment.

The Minister may make fire-safety regulations for factories, and people must not smoke in factory areas where volatile inflammable substances are used.

Factories must have adequate fire escape and warning arrangements, keep exits usable, and mark emergency exits clearly; the Commissioner and Minister can grant exemptions in some cases.

Fire-warning means required under the Act must be tested and examined at least every three months, and also whenever an inspector requires it.

Factories meeting the stated fire-risk conditions must have effective fire-drill steps so workers know escape routes and what to do in a fire.

The Minister may make regulations about fire escape means that must be provided in factories, including particular classes of factories.

The Minister may make fire-prevention regulations for factories, including rules about factory construction and materials.

The Minister may make regulations for factories with accident risks, requiring occupiers to provide special safety supervision and accident investigation arrangements.

Hoists and lifts must be built and maintained safely, examined every six months, protected against falls and trapping, and marked with a maximum working load that must not be exceeded.

Hoists and lifts used to carry persons must have automatic anti-overrun devices, gate interlocks, visible maximum-person markings, and—in certain later cases—two supporting ropes or chains plus protection against breakage.

Teagle openings or similar doorways used for hoisting or lowering goods, materials, or plant must be securely fenced, fitted with a secure hand-hold on each side, and the fencing must be kept maintained and in place except while hoisting is in progress.

This section sets special rules for hoists and lifts and lets the Commissioner exempt a requirement by certificate in special cases.

Chains, ropes, and lifting tackle used for raising or lowering people or goods must meet construction, strength, testing, examination, load-display, and load-limit rules, with some exceptions.

Cranes and other lifting machines must be built, maintained, tested, marked with safe working loads, and used within those loads, with extra warning and clearance rules near overhead cranes.

A register must be kept for the covered chains, ropes, lifting tackle, and lifting machines, with the prescribed particulars; fibre rope slings are excepted.

Steam boilers must be fitted with specified safety and measuring devices, have reliable water-feed arrangements, and be built from sound, adequate materials.

Steam boiler attendants must be instructed, boilers must be maintained and examined, and factory occupiers must notify an inspector and keep boiler records.

A person must not enter or be in a steam boiler that is part of a group of two or more boilers unless the listed isolation and locking conditions are met.

Steam receivers and steam containers must be built, fitted, maintained, examined, and reported on in specified ways.

Air receivers must display safe working pressure and have specified safety equipment, access, construction, maintenance, inspection, and reporting arrangements.

A steam receiver or air receiver must not be used until an inspector has been notified in writing of specified details.

A proposed modification to a pressure part must not be made until an inspector has been notified in writing.

The Commissioner may certify exceptions for certain steam boilers, steam receivers, steam containers, or air receivers when the Part cannot reasonably be applied.

This section defines several technical terms used in Part VIII, including air receiver, steam boiler, steam container, steam receiver, safe working pressure, and maximum permissible working pressure.

Workers must be given adequate wholesome drinking water at accessible points, and unmanned supplies must be in suitable vessels, renewed daily, protected from contamination, and clearly marked.

Employers must provide and maintain suitable washing facilities for employed persons, with soap and means for cleaning or drying, and keep them accessible and clean. The Commissioner may exempt a factory from these requirements by certificate in certain circumstances.

The section requires clothing storage and, in some factories, change rooms for employed persons.

If workers have reasonable opportunities to sit, suitable sitting facilities must be provided and maintained; where much of the work can be done sitting, a suitable seat and foot-rest must be provided and the seat must be properly supported.

Factories must have accessible first-aid equipment, proper marking, trained supervision in some cases, and a posted notice naming and locating the first-aid point.

The Minister may make welfare regulations for workers and can extend the matters covered by this section.

Factories must take practicable steps to protect workers from inhaling dust, fumes, or other impurities, and internal combustion engines may not be used in a room unless exhaust gases are carried outside.

In a room where poisonous or other injurious substances create dust or fumes, no one may eat or drink there.

Factories must have suitable protective clothing, appliances, goggles, or screening where workers face certain harmful exposures or welding-related eye risks.

Workers must not be employed to lift, carry, or move loads that are likely to injure them. The Minister may set maximum weights by regulation for factory workers.

An inspector may order a factory occupier to stop employing a young person if the work is thought to harm health, and the occupier commits an offence if they keep employing the young person after the notice period unless a doctor later certifies the young person fit for the work.

The Minister may make safety and health regulations for risky manufacture, plant, processes, or manual labour.

An inspector may take samples of factory materials for analysis after informing the occupier or responsible person. The occupier or responsible person may require the sample to be split into three parts, and disclosure of analysis results is generally prohibited.

Factory accident notices must be sent to an inspector, and a later death after disablement must also be reported.

The section 76 notice rule for factory accidents also applies to dangerous occurrences listed in the First Schedule, even if no death or disablement results.

Occupiers must promptly notify inspectors of specified industrial disease cases in factories, and medical practitioners must promptly report suspected cases linked to factory employment.

The Minister may make regulations that extend section 76 to dangerous occurrences not listed in the First Schedule and section 78 to diseases not listed in the Second Schedule.

The Minister may make regulations shifting responsibility for contraventions from occupiers of tenement factories to owners.

If part of a building is let off as a separate factory, the building owner may be responsible for certain factory-safety contraventions, and in some cases the occupier remains responsible.

This section makes certain parts of the Act apply to specified building and engineering works, and requires the person carrying out the works to keep the general register and post the required abstracts at relevant offices, yards, or shops.

This section says that, for certain mine-related premises and machinery, the Act is applied according to section 131 of the Mines and Minerals Act. It also defines “mine” by reference to that Act.

The Minister may extend the Act’s application to specified classes of premises, processes, or operations by statutory order.

Every factory must keep certain notices and documents posted in a prominent place.

Factory occupiers must keep a general register and provide extracts to an inspector when required.

A factory occupier must send the Commissioner a correct return when required by notice, at the intervals and by the dates stated in the notice.

Registers and records kept under this Act must be preserved and kept available for inspection by any inspector for at least two years after the last entry.

Factory employees must not misuse safety or welfare equipment and must use safety equipment when provided.

A factory occupier must not deduct from an employee’s agreed wages, except where another written law expressly allows it.

This section makes certain factory occupiers, owners, employees, companies, and officers guilty of offences when they contravene the Act or help a contravention.

If an offence under the Act has no express penalty, the person may be fined up to 300 penalty units if employed, or up to 1,500 penalty units otherwise. If the contravention continues after conviction, an extra fine of up to 300 penalty units applies for each day. If the contravention is likely to cause death or bodily injury, the fines increase to 1,200 and 6,000 penalty units.

If someone else actually committed the act or default, that person is guilty of an offence and pays the same fine; for employed persons with no express penalty, the fine is the one in section 92.

A charged person may have the alleged actual offender brought before the court if they give at least three days’ written notice, and the inspector must proceed against the actual offender when satisfied of the relevant conditions.

If a person is substituted for another under this Act, orders, summonses, notices, or proceedings that must or may be served on or taken against the other person are instead served on or taken against the substituted person.

If a factory machine’s owner or hirer is not the occupier, that owner or hirer is treated as the occupier for certain offences linked to workers using that machine.

This section sets rules for prosecuting offences: some proceedings may be started within three months after a report or inquest, and certain offences keep continuing until the required act is done.

This section sets evidentiary presumptions: a person found in a working factory is treated as employed unless the contrary is proved, the accused must disprove a young person’s alleged age in certain cases, and certain register entries or omissions can be used as evidence.

If a factory occupier or owner is convicted, the court may order remedial steps and extend the time to comply.

This section says how documents or orders may be served on a person, a firm, or the owner or occupier of a factory.

The owner or occupier of factory premises may apply to the High Court for help if an agreement blocks necessary alterations, and the High Court may set aside or modify the agreement.

The High Court may decide who should bear alteration expenses, or apportion them between owner and occupier, and may also determine the lease if the owner or occupier asks.

The Chief Inspector of Factories can require dangerous or defective factory conditions to be fixed or stopped, and owners or occupiers must comply unless they object under the section.

Regulations made under this Act may set penalties for breaches, but only up to the level allowed by section 92.

The Minister may make regulations by statutory instrument.

This section is titled “Bursting of a revolving vessel, wheel, grindstone or grinding wheel moved by mechanical power.”

This provision lists a collapse or failure of certain lifting equipment, or the overturning of a crane, as part of the section’s definition.

This section refers to explosion or fire caused by ignition of dust, gas, or vapour.

This provision lists electrical short circuit, electrical machinery failure with explosion or fire, and damage to an underground electrical system caused by excavation or other means.

This provision refers to an explosion or fire in a room where people are employed that causes ordinary work to stop.

This provision refers to the explosion of a receiver or container used to store gas, air, or substances compressed by gas, at pressure greater than atmospheric pressure.

Section 7 is titled “Explosion from a steam boiler or steam receiver.”

This provision defines “toxic jaundice” as jaundice caused by tetrachlorethane, nitro or amido-derivatives of benzene, or another poisonous substance.

This provision defines “epitheliomatous-ulceration” as ulceration caused by tar, pitch, bitumen, mineral oil, paraffin, or related compounds, products, or residues.

This provision defines “chrome ulceration” as ulceration caused by certain acid or bichromate substances in a factory.

This section defines “toxic anaemia” as pathological manifestations caused by radium, other radioactive substances, or X-rays.