Factories Act 1959
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1959 c. 67 |
| Year | 1959 |
Factories Act , 1959
(7 & 8 Eliz. 2) CHAPTER 67
An Act to amend the Factories Acts, 1937 and 1948, and make further provision as to the health, safety and welfare of persons employed in factories or in premises or operations to which those Acts apply; to revoke Regulation 59 of the Defence (General) Regulations, 1939; and for connected purposes.
Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
1 Cleanliness.
1. In sub-paragraph (ii) of paragraph (c ) of section one of the principal Act (which requires the periodical repainting of certain parts of factories kept painted with oil paint) the words ‘in a prescribed manner’ shall be substituted for the words ‘with oil paint’, the words ‘in a prescribed manner’ shall be inserted after the word ‘repainted’ and the words ‘at such intervals, being intervals of not more than seven years, as may be prescribed’ shall be substituted for the words ‘at least once in every period of seven years’.
2 Dangerous substances.
(1) For the purposes of subsection (1) of section eighteen of the principal Act (which requires certain precautions where the edge of a fixed vessel, structure, sump or pit containing a dangerous liquid is less than three feet above the adjoining ground or platform) the adjoining ground or platform mentioned in that subsection shall be taken to be the highest ground or platform (whether contiguous or not) from which a person might fall into the vessel, structure, sump or pit.
(2) After the said subsection (1) there shall be inserted the following subsections:—
(1A)‘(1a ) Where any fixed vessel, structure, sump or pit contains any scalding, corrosive or poisonous liquid but is not securely covered, no ladder, stair or gangway shall be placed above, across or inside it which is not—
(a ) at least eighteen inches wide, and
(b ) securely fenced on both sides to a height of at least three feet and securely fixed.
(1B) (1b ) Where any such vessels, structures, sumps or pits as are mentioned in subsection (1a ) of this section adjoin, and the space between them, clear of any surrounding brick or other work, is less than eighteen inches in width or is not securely fenced on both sides to a height of at least three feet, secure barriers shall be so placed as to prevent passage between them.
(1C) (1c ) For the purposes of this section a ladder, stair or gangway shall not be deemed to be securely fenced unless it is provided either with sheet fencing or with an upper and a lower rail and toe boards.’
(3) The Minister may by regulations extend any of the provisions of the said section eighteen so as to make them applicable—
(a ) to a vessel or structure, notwithstanding that it is not fixed; or
(b ) to a vessel, structure, sump or pit, notwithstanding that the substance it contains is not a liquid;
and the expression ‘scalding’ in any provision extended under paragraph (b ) of this subsection shall, in relation to a substance which is not a liquid, be taken to refer to the substance as likely to cause burns.
3 Hoists or lifts and lifting machines.
(1) The person making the report of an examination under subsection (2) of section twenty-two or subsection (2) of section twenty-four of the principal Act (which respectively require the periodical examination of hoists or lifts and lifting machines) shall within twenty-eight days of the completion of the examination send to the inspector for the district a copy of the report in every case where the examination shows that the hoist or lift or lifting machine cannot continue to be used with safety unless certain repairs are carried out immediately or within a specified time.
(2) In subsection (2) of the said section twenty-two for the words ‘fourteen days’ (which specify the time within which the report has to be registered) there shall be substituted the words ‘twenty-eight days’.
(3) Without prejudice to the provisions of subsection (7) of the said section twenty-four (which, in cases where a person working on or near the wheel-track of an overhead travelling crane would be liable to be struck by it, requires measures to prevent its close approach), if any person is employed or working in any place above floor level where he would be liable to be struck by an overhead travelling crane, or by any load carried by an overhead travelling crane, effective measures shall be taken to warn him of the approach of the crane, unless his work is so connected with or dependent on the movements of the crane as to make a warning unnecessary.
4 Floors, passages and stairs.
4. At the end of subsection (1) of section twenty-five of the principal Act (which requires floors, steps, stairs, passages and gangways to be of sound construction and properly maintained) there shall be added the words ‘and shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, be kept free from any obstruction and from any substance likely to cause persons to slip’.
5 Safe means of access and safe place of employment.
5. In subsection (1) of section twenty-six of the principal Act (which requires safe means of access to every place of work) there shall be added, at the end, the words ‘and every such place shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, be made and kept safe for any person working there’; and in subsection (2) of that section (which requires precautions where a person is liable to fall more than ten feet) for the words ‘ten feet’ there shall be substituted the words ‘six feet six inches’.
6 Dangerous fumes and lack of oxygen.
6. For section twenty-seven of the principal Act (which requires precautions against dangerous fumes) there shall be substituted the following section:—
27 ‘Dangerous fumes and lack of oxygen.
(1) The provisions of subsections (2) to (8) of this section shall have effect where work in any factory has to be done inside any chamber, tank, vat, pit, pipe, flue or similar confined space, in which dangerous fumes are liable to be present to such an extent as to involve risk of persons being overcome thereby.
(2) The confined space shall, unless there is other adequate means of egress, be provided with a manhole, which may be rectangular, oval or circular in shape, and shall be not less than eighteen inches long and sixteen inches wide or (if circular) not less than eighteen inches in diameter, or in the case of tank wagons and other mobile plant not less than sixteen inches long and fourteen inches wide or (if circular) not less than sixteen inches in diameter.
(3) Subject to subsection (4) of this section, no person shall enter or remain in the confined space for any purpose unless he is wearing a suitable breathing apparatus and has been authorised to enter by a responsible person, and, where practicable, he is wearing a belt with a rope securely attached and a person keeping watch outside and capable of pulling him out is holding the free end of the rope.
(4) Where the confined space has been certified by a responsible person as being, for a specified period, safe for entry without breathing apparatus and the period so specified has not expired, subsection (3) of this section shall not apply, but no person shall enter or remain in the space unless he has been warned when that period will expire.
(5) A confined space shall not be certified under subsection (4) of this section unless—
(a ) effective steps have been taken to prevent any ingress of dangerous fumes, and
(b ) any sludge or other deposit liable to give off dangerous fumes has been removed and the space contains no other material liable to give off dangerous fumes, and
(c ) the space has been adequately ventilated and tested for dangerous fumes and has a supply of air adequate for respiration;
but no account shall be taken for the purposes of paragraph (b ) of this subsection of any deposit or other material liable to give off dangerous fumes in insignificant quantities only.
(6) There shall be provided and kept readily available a sufficient supply of breathing apparatus of a type approved by the chief inspector, of belts and ropes, and of suitable reviving apparatus and oxygen, and the apparatus, belts and ropes shall be maintained and shall be thoroughly examined, at least once a month or at such other intervals as may be prescribed, by a competent person; and a report on every such examination, signed by the person making the examination and containing the prescribed particulars, shall be kept available for inspection.
(7) A sufficient number of the persons employed shall be trained and practised in the use of the apparatus mentioned in subsection (6) of this section and in a method of restoring respiration.
(8) The chief inspector may by certificate grant, subject to any conditions specified in the certificate, exemption from compliance with any of the requirements of the foregoing provisions of this section in any case where he is satisfied that compliance with those requirements is unnecessary or impracticable.
(9) No person shall enter or remain in any confined space in which the proportion of oxygen in the air is liable to have been substantially reduced unless either—
(a ) he is wearing a suitable breathing apparatus; or
(b ) the space has been and remains adequately ventilated and a responsible person has tested and certified it as safe for entry without breathing apparatus.
(10) No work shall be permitted in any boiler-furnace or boiler-flue until it has been sufficiently cooled by ventilation or otherwise to make work safe for the persons employed.’
To continue reading
Request your trial