Factories Act 1961
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1961 c. 34 |
| Year | 1961 |
Factories Act, 1961
(9 & 10 Eliz. 2) CHAPTER 34
An Act to consolidate the Factories Acts, 1937 to 1959, and certain other enactments relating to the safety, health and welfare of employed persons.
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:—
Part I
Health (General Provisions)
1 Cleanliness.
(1) Every factory shall be kept in a clean state and free from effluvia arising from any drain, sanitary convenience or nuisance.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) of this section,—
(a ) accumulations of dirt and refuse shall be removed daily by a suitable method from the floors and benches of workrooms, and from the staircases and passages;
(b ) the floor of every workroom shall be cleaned at least once every week by washing or, if it is effective and suitable, by sweeping or other method.
(3) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) of this section but subject to subsection (4) thereof, the following provisions shall apply as respects all inside walls and partitions and all ceilings or tops of rooms, and all walls, sides and tops of passages and staircases, that is to say,—
(a ) where they have a smooth impervious surface, they shall at least once in every period of fourteen months be washed with hot water and soap or other suitable detergent or cleaned by such other method as may be approved by the inspector for the district;
(b ) where they are kept painted in a prescribed manner or varnished, they shall be repainted in a prescribed manner or revarnished at such intervals of not more than seven years as may be prescribed, and shall at least once in every period of fourteen months be washed with hot water and soap or other suitable detergent or cleaned by such other method as may be approved by the inspector for the district;
(c ) in any other case they shall be kept whitewashed or colourwashed and the whitewashing or colourwashing shall be repeated at least once in every period of fourteen months.
(4) Except in a case where the inspector for the district otherwise requires, the provisions of subsection (3) of this section shall not apply to any factory where mechanical power is not used and less than ten persons are employed.
(5) Where it appears to the Minister that in any class or description of factory or parts thereof any of the foregoing provisions of this section are not required for the purpose of keeping the factory in a clean state, or are by reason of special circumstances inappropriate or inadequate for that purpose, he may, if he thinks fit, by order direct that those provisions shall not apply to factories, or parts of factories, of that class or description, or shall apply as varied by the order.
2 Overcrowding.
(1) A factory shall not, while work is carried on, be so overcrowded as to cause risk of injury to the health of the persons employed in it.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) of this section but subject to subsection (3) thereof, the number of persons employed at a time in any workroom shall not be such that the amount of cubic space allowed for each is less than four hundred cubic feet.
(3) If the chief inspector is satisfied that, owing to the special conditions under which the work is carried on in any workroom in which explosive materials are manufactured or handled, the application of subsection (2) of this section to that workroom would be inappropriate or unnecessary, he may by certificate except the workroom from that subsection subject to any conditions specified in the certificate.
(4) The Minister may make regulations, as respects any class or description of factory or parts thereof or any process, increasing the number of cubic feet which must under this section be allowed for every person employed in a workroom.
(5) In calculating for the purposes of this section the amount of cubic space in any room no space more than fourteen feet from the floor shall be taken into account and, where a room contains a gallery, the gallery shall be treated for the purposes of this section as if it were partitioned off from the remainder of the room and formed a separate room.
(6) Unless the inspector for the district otherwise allows, there shall be posted in the workroom a notice specifying the number of persons who, having regard to the provisions of this section, may be employed in that room.
3 Temperature.
(1) Effective provision shall be made for securing and maintaining a reasonable temperature in each workroom, but no method shall be employed which results in the escape into the air of any workroom of any fume of such a character and to such extent as to be likely to be injurious or offensive to persons employed therein.
(2) In every workroom in which a substantial proportion of the work is done sitting and does not involve serious physical effort a temperature of less than sixty degrees shall not be deemed, after the first hour, to be a reasonable temperature while work is going on, and at least one thermometer shall be provided and maintained in a suitable position in every such workroom.
(3) The Minister may, by regulations for factories or for any class or description of factory or parts thereof, prescribe a standard of reasonable temperature (which may vary the standard prescribed by subsection (2) of this section) and prohibit the use of any methods of maintaining a reasonable temperature which, in his opinion, are likely to be injurious to the persons employed, and direct that thermometers shall be provided and maintained in such places and positions as may be specified.
4 Ventilation.
(1) Effective and suitable provision shall be made for securing and maintaining by the circulation of fresh air in each workroom the adequate ventilation of the room, and for rendering harmless, so far as practicable, all such fumes, dust and other impurities generated in the course of any process or work carried on in the factory as may be injurious to health.
(2) The Minister may by regulations prescribe a standard of adequate ventilation for factories or for any class or description of factory or parts thereof.
5 Lighting.
(1) Effective provision shall be made for securing and maintaining sufficient and suitable lighting, whether natural or artificial, in every part of a factory in which persons are working or passing.
(2) The Minister may by regulations prescribe a standard of sufficient and suitable lighting for factories or for any class or description of factory or parts thereof, or for any process.
(3) Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this section or in any regulations made thereunder shall be construed as enabling directions to be prescribed or otherwise given as to whether any artificial lighting is to be produced by any particular illuminant.
(4) All glazed windows and skylights used for the lighting of workrooms shall, so far as practicable, be kept clean on both the inner and outer surfaces and free from obstruction; but this subsection shall not affect the whitewashing or shading of windows arid skylights for the purpose of mitigating heat or glare.
6 Drainage of floors.
6. Where any process is carried on which renders the floor liable to be wet to such an extent that the wet is capable of being removed by drainage, effective means shall be provided and maintained for draining off the wet.
7 Sanitary Conveniences.
(1) Sufficient and suitable sanitary conveniences for the persons employed in the factory shall be provided, maintained and kept clean, and effective provision shall be made for lighting them and, where persons of both sexes are or are intended to be employed (except in the case of factories where the only persons employed are members of the same family dwelling there) the conveniences shall afford proper separate accommodation for persons of each sex.
(2) The Minister may make regulations determining for factories or for any class or description of factory what is sufficient and suitable provision for the purposes of this section.
8 Enforcement of certain provisions of Part I by district council.
(1) The foregoing provisions of this Part of this Act relating to sanitary conveniences and any regulations made thereunder shall be enforced by the district council.
(2) Subject to subsections (3) and (4) of this section,...
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