Factory and Workshop Act 1901

JurisdictionUK Non-devolved
Citation1901 c. 22


Factory and Workshop Act, 1901.

(1 Edw. 7.) CHAPTER 22.

An Act to consolidate with Amendments the Factory and Workshop Acts.

[17th August 1901]

B E it enacted by the King'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:

I Health and Safety.

Part I.

Health and Safety.

Health.

(i.)

S-1 Sanitary condition of factory.

1 Sanitary condition of factory.

(1)1.—(1.) The following provisions shall apply to every factory as defined by this Act, except a domestic factory:—

(a. ) It must be kept in a cleanly state;

(b. ) It must be kept free from effluvia arising from any drain, watercloset, earthcloset, privy, urinal or other nuisance;

(c. ) It must not be so overcrowded while work is carried on therein as to be dangerous or injurious to the health of the persons employed therein;

(d. ) It must be ventilated in such a manner as to render harmless, so far as is practicable, all the gases, vapours, dust or other impurities generated in the course of the manufacturing process or handicraft carried on therein, that may be injurious to health.

(2) (2.) The provisions of section ninety-one of the Public Health Act, 1875 , with respect to a factory, workshop or workplace not kept in a cleanly state, or not ventilated, or overcrowded, shall not apply to any factory to which this section applies.

(3) (3.) For the purpose of securing the observance of the requirements in this section as to cleanliness in factories, all the inside walls of the rooms of a factory, and all the ceilings or tops of those rooms (whether these walls, ceilings or tops are plastered or not), and all the passages and staircases of a factory, if they have not been painted with oil or varnished once at least within seven years, shall (subject to any special exceptions made in pursuance of this section) be limewashed once at least within every fourteen months, to date from the time when they were last limewashed; and, if they have been so painted or varnished, shall be washed with hot water and soap once at least within every fourteen months, to date from the time when they were last washed.

(4) (4.) Where it appears to the Secretary of State that in any class of factories or parts thereof the provisions of this section with respect to limewashing or washing are not required for the purpose of securing therein the observance of the requirements of this Act as to cleanliness, or are by reason of special circumstances inapplicable, he may, if he thinks fit, by Special Order grant to that class of factories or parts thereof a special exception that the said provisions shall not apply thereto.

(5) (5.) A factory in which there is a contravention of this section shall be deemed not to be kept in conformity with this Act.

S-2 Sanitary condition of workshops and workplaces.

2 Sanitary condition of workshops and workplaces.

(1)2.—(1.) The provisions of section ninety-one of the Public Health Act, 1875, with respect to a factory, workshop or workplace not kept in a cleanly state, or not ventilated, or overcrowded, shall apply to every factory, workshop and workplace, except any factory to which the last preceding section applies.

(2) (2.) Every workshop and every workplace within the meaning of the Public Health Act, 1875, must be kept free from effluvia arising from any drain, watercloset, earthcloset, privy, urinal or other nuisance, and, unless so kept, shall be deemed to be a nuisance liable to be dealt with summarily under the law relating to public health.

(3) (3.) Where, on the certificate of a medical officer of health or inspector of nuisances, it appears to any district council that the limewashing, cleansing or purifying of any such workshop or of any part thereof is necessary for the health of the persons employed therein, the council shall give notice in writing to the owner or occupier of the workshop to limewash, cleanse or purify the same or part thereof, as the case may require.

(4) (4.) If the person to whom notice is so given fails to comply therewith within the time therein specified, he shall be liable to a fine not exceeding ten shillings for every day during which he continues to make default, and the council may, if they think fit, cause the workshop or part to be limewashed, cleansed, or purified, and may recover in a summary manner the expenses incurred by them in so doing from the person in default.

(5) (5.) This section shall not apply to any workshop or workplace to which the Public Health (London) Act, 1891 , applies.

S-3 Overcrowding of factory or workshop.

3 Overcrowding of factory or workshop.

(1)3.—(1.) A factory shall, for the purposes of this Act, and a workshop shall, for the purposes of the law relating to public health, be deemed to be so overcrowded as to be dangerous or injurious to the health of the persons employed therein, if the number of cubic feet of space in any room therein bears to the number of persons employed at one time in the room a proportion less than two hundred and fifty or, during any period of overtime, four hundred cubic feet of space to every person.

(2) (2.) Provided that the Secretary of State may, by Special Order, modify this proportion for any period during which artificial light other than electric light is employed for illuminating purposes, and may, by like order, as regards any particular manufacturing process or handicraft, substitute for the said figures of two hundred and fifty and four hundred respectively any higher figures, and thereupon this section shall have effect as modified by the order.

(3) (3.) Where a workshop or workplace, not being a domestic workshop, is occupied by day as a workshop and by night as a sleeping apartment, the Secretary of State may, by Special Order, modify the proportion of cubic feet of space prescribed by this section and substitute therefor any higher figures, and thereupon this section shall have effect as modified by the order.

(4) (4.) There shall be affixed in every factory and workshop a notice specifying the number of persons who may be employed in each room of the factory or workshop by virtue of this section.

S-4 Power of Secretary of State to act in default of local authority.

4 Power of Secretary of State to act in default of local authority.

(1)4.—(1.) If the Secretary of State is satisfied that the provisions of this Act, or of the law relating to public health in so far as it affects factories, workshops and workplaces, have not been carried out by any district council, he may, by order, authorise an inspector to take, during such period as may be mentioned in the order, such steps as appear necessary or proper for enforcing these provisions.

(2) (2.) An inspector authorised in pursuance of this section shall, for the purpose of his duties thereunder, have the same powers with respect to workshops and workplaces as he has with respect to factories, and he may, for that purpose, take the like proceedings for enforcing the provisions of this Act or of the law relating to public health, or for punishing or remedying any default, as might be taken by the district council; and he shall be entitled to recover from the district council all such expenses in and about any proceedings as he may incur and as are not recovered from any other person.

S-5 Powers of inspector as to sanitary defects in factory or workshop remediable by sanitary authority.

5 Powers of inspector as to sanitary defects in factory or workshop remediable by sanitary authority.

(1)5.—(1.) Where it appears to an inspector that any act, neglect or default in relation to any drain, watercloset, earthcloset, privy, ashpit, water-supply, nuisance or other matter in a factory or workshop is punishable or remediable under the law relating to public health, but not under this Act, that inspector shall give notice in writing of the act, neglect or default to the district council in whose district the factory or workshop is situate, and it shall be the duty of the district council to make such inquiry into the subject of the notice, and take such action thereon, as seems to that council proper for the purpose of enforcing the law, and to inform the inspector of the proceedings taken in consequence of the notice.

(2) (2.) An inspector may, for the purposes of this section, take with him into a factory or a workshop a medical officer of health, inspector of nuisances or other officer of the district council.

(3) (3.) Where notice of an act, neglect or default is given by an inspector under this section to a district council, and proceedings are not taken within one month for punishing or remedying the act, neglect or default, the inspector may take the like proceedings for punishing or remedying the same as the district council might have taken, and shall be entitled to recover from the district council all such expenses in and about the proceedings as the inspector incurs and as are not recovered from any other person and have not been incurred in any unsuccessful proceedings.

S-6 Temperature in factories and workshops.

6 Temperature in factories and workshops.

(1)6.—(1.) In every factory and workshop adequate measures must be taken for securing and maintaining a reasonable temperature in each room in which any person is employed; but the measures so taken must not interfere with the purity of the air of any room in which any person is employed.

(2) (2.) The Secretary of State may, by Special Order, direct, with respect to any class of factories or workshops, that thermometers be provided, maintained and kept in working order, in such place and position as may be specified in the order.

(3) (3.) A factory or workshop in which there is any contravention of this section, or of any order...

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