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In force since 1937-07-30, as the publisher states.
Copy read on 2026-11-09. The page it was read from
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.
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Save as otherwise expressly provided under this Act, the occupier of a factory shall not in respect of anything to be done or provided by him in pursuance of this Act, make any deduction from the sum contracted to be paid by him to any person employed or receive or allow any person in his employment to receive any payment from any such person.
Propose a change(1) Every enactment for the time being in force relating to weights and measures or weighing or measuring instruments shall extend to weights, measures, and weighing instruments used in a factory for the purpose of checking or ascertaining the wages of any person employed therein, in like manner as if they were used for trade, and the power of the Board of Trade to make general regulations under section five of the Weights and Measures Act, 1904, shall include power to extend any of the provisions of any such enactment to such measuring instruments used in factories for the purposes aforesaid as may be specified in the regulations. (2) Every inspector or other person authorised under the Acts relating to weights and measures or weighing or measuring instruments to inspect or examine weights and measures shall inspect, stamp, mark, search for, and examine the weights and measures and weighing and measuring instruments to which those Acts are extended by or under this section, and for that purpose shall have the same powers and duties as he has with respect to weights, measures and instruments used for trade.
Propose a change(1) The Secretary of State, with the approval of the Treasury as to numbers and salaries, may appoint such inspectors (under whatever title he may from time to time determine) and such clerks and servants as he thinks necessary for the execution of this Act, and may assign to them their duties and award them their salaries, and may appoint a chief inspector with an office in London, and may regulate the cases and manner in which the inspectors, or any of them, are to execute and perform the powers and duties of inspectors under this Act, and may remove such inspectors, clerks, and servants. (2) In the appointment of inspectors of factories in Wales and Monmouthshire, among candidates otherwise equally qualified, persons having a knowledge of the Welsh language shall be preferred. (3) Notice of the appointment of every inspector shall be published in the London Gazette. (4) The salaries of the inspectors, clerks, and servants, and the expenses incurred by them shall be deemed to be expenses of the Secretary of State in carrying this Act into effect. (5) A person who is the occupier of a factory, or is directly or indirectly interested therein or in any process or business carried on therein, or in a patent connected therewith, or is employed in or about a factory, shall not act as an inspector. (6) An inspector shall not be liable to serve on any jury. (7) Such annual report of the proceedings of the inspectors as the Secretary of State directs shall be laid before both Houses of Parliament. (8) Any notice or other document required by this Act to be sent to an inspector shall be sent to such inspector as the Secretary of State directs by declaration published in the London Gazette or otherwise as he thinks expedient for making the direction known to all persons interested.
Propose a change(1) An inspector shall, for the purpose of the execution of this Act, have power to do all or any of the following things, that is to say:— (a) to enter, inspect, and examine at all reasonable times, by day and night, a factory, and every part thereof, when he has reasonable cause to believe that any person is employed therein, and to enter by day any place which he has reasonable cause to believe to be a factory and any part of any building of which a factory forms part and in which he has reasonable cause to believe that explosive or highly inflammable materials are stored or used; (b) to take with him a constable if he has reasonable cause to apprehend any serious obstruction in the execution of his duty; (c) to require the production of the registers, certificates, notices, and documents kept in pursuance of this Act, and to inspect, examine, and copy any of them; (d) to make such examination and inquiry as may be necessary to ascertain whether the provisions of this Act and the enactments for the time being in force relating to public health are complied with, so far as respects a factory and any persons employed in a factory and any young persons to whom section ninety-eight of this Act applies; (e) to require any person whom he finds in a factory to give such information as it is in his power to give as to who is the occupier of the factory; (f) to examine, either alone or in the presence of any other person, as he thinks fit, with respect to matters under this Act, every person whom he finds in a factory, or whom he has reasonable cause to believe to be or to have been within the preceding two months employed in a factory or in any employment mentioned in subsection (1) of the said section ninety-eight, and to require every such person to be so examined and to sign a declaration of the truth of the matters respecting which he is so examined; so, however, that no one shall be required under this provision to answer any question or to give any evidence tending to criminate himself; (g) in the case of an inspector who is a duly qualified medical practitioner, to carry out such medical examinations as may be necessary for the purposes of his duties under this Act; (h) to exercise such other powers as may be necessary for carrying this Act into effect. (2) The occupier of every factory, his agents and servants, shall furnish the means required by an inspector as necessary for an entry, inspection, examination, inquiry, the taking of samples, or otherwise for the exercise of his powers under this Act in relation to that factory. (3) If any person wilfully delays an inspector in the exercise of any power under this section, or fails to comply with the requisition of an inspector in pursuance of this section, or to produce any register, certificate, notice or document which he is required by or in pursuance of this Act to produce, or wilfully withholds any information as to who is the occupier of any factory, or conceals or prevents, or attempts to conceal or prevent, a person from appearing before or being examined by an inspector, that person shall be deemed to obstruct an inspector in the execution of his duties under this Act. (4) Where an inspector is obstructed in the execution of his powers or duties under this Act, the person obstructing him shall be guilty of an offence, and liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds; and where an inspector is so obstructed in a factory, the occupier of that factory shall be guilty of an offence. (5) Any certificate issued by a chief inspector, superintending inspector for a division, or an inspector for a district may be issued for a limited period or without limit of period and may be varied or revoked by that inspector or his successor in office.
Propose a changeAn inspector, if so authorised in writing under the hand of the Secretary of State, may, although he is not of counsel, or a solicitor, prosecute, conduct, or defend before a court of summary jurisdiction or justice, any information, complaint, or other proceeding arising under this Act, or in the discharge of his duty as inspector.
Propose a changeEvery inspector shall be furnished with the prescribed certificate of his appointment, and when visiting a factory or place to which any of the provisions of this Act apply shall, if so required, produce the said certificate to the occupier or other person holding a responsible position of management at the factory.
Propose a change(1) Subject to any general directions of the Secretary of State, the chief inspector or, in cases where the Secretary of State so directs, a superintending inspector for a division may appoint a sufficient number of duly qualified medical practitioners to be examining surgeons for any of the purposes of this Act, and may revoke any such appointment. (2) Every appointment and revocation of appointment of an examining surgeon may be annulled by the Secretary of State upon appeal to him for that purpose. (3) A medical practitioner who is the occupier of a factory, or is directly or indirectly interested therein, or in any process or business carried on therein, or in a patent connected therewith, shall not act as examining surgeon for that factory : Provided that the Secretary of State may authorise a medical practitioner who is employed by the occupier of the factory in connection with the medical supervision of persons employed in the factory, but is not otherwise interested in the factory, to act as examining surgeon for that factory for the purpose of examining and certifying the fitness of young persons. (4) The examining surgeon for any factory shall have power at all reasonable times to inspect the general register of that factory. (5) The Secretary of State may make rules regulating the duties of examining surgeons. (6) An examining surgeon shall, if so directed by the Secretary of State, make such special inquiry and examination of employed persons as may be directed. (7) Every examining surgeon shall in each year make at the prescribed time a report in the prescribed form to the Secretary of State as to examinations made and other duties performed by him in pursuance of this Act. (8) If and so long as there is no examining surgeon for a factory, the poor law medical officer for the district in which the factory is situate shall act as the examining surgeon for that factory. (9) References in the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1925, to a certifying surgeon shall be construed as references to an examining surgeon appointed under this section, and references to the certifying surgeon for the district in which the workman is employed shall, in a case where a workman is employed in a district for which no examining surgeon is appointed, be construed as references to the medical practitioner (if any) appointed by the Secretary of State to have the powers and duties of a certifying surgeon under Part II of the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1925, in such a case or, if no such appointment has been made, to the poor law medical officer for the district in which the workman is employed.
Propose a changeThe fees to be paid to examining surgeons for carrying out their duties under this Act shall, so far as they relate to any examination or certificate with respect to the fitness of a young person for employment in a factory or to any examination or medical supervision of persons employed in a factory carried out in pursuance of regulations or an order under this Act, be paid by the occupier of that factory, and in any other case shall be defrayed as an expense of carrying this Act into effect, and the fees shall, subject to any agreement between the examining surgeon and the occupier of a factory as respects the fees payable by the occupier, be of such amount as may be determined by the Secretary of State.
Propose a change(1) The expenses of the London County Council under this Act shall be defrayed as expenses for general county purposes. (2) The expenses under this Act of the common council of the City of London and of the council of a metropolitan borough shall be defrayed as part of their general expenses. (3) The medical officer of health of every district council shall— (a) in his annual report to the council report specifically on the administration of, and furnish the prescribed particulars with respect to, the matters under Part I and Part VIII of this Act which are administered by the district council, and shall send a copy of his annual report or so much of it as deals with those matters to the Secretary of State; and (b) give written notice to the inspector for the district of any factory coming to his knowledge in which no abstract of this Act is affixed in accordance with this Act. (4) An officer of any district council appointed for the purpose of inspection of factories shall give a written notice to the inspector for the district of any factory coming to his knowledge in which no abstract of this Act is affixed in accordance with this Act. (5) For the purpose of their duties under this Act, a county council and a district council and their officers shall, without prejudice to their other powers, have all such powers of entry, inspection, taking legal proceedings, or otherwise, as an inspector has, and accordingly in relation to their said duties the provisions of this Act as to furnishing means required by an inspector, and delaying or obstructing an inspector, shall be construed as including references to such officers; but no such powers of entry or inspection shall be exercised except by officers of the council authorised by them in writing in that behalf, either generally or specially, and any such officer shall if so required produce his authority to the occupier or other person holding a responsible position of management at the factory. (6) If any person who, in pursuance of powers conferred by the last foregoing subsection, is admitted into any factory or place discloses to any person any information obtained by him in the factory or place with regard to any manufacturing process or trade secret, he shall, unless such disclosure was made in the performance of his duty, be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months.
Propose a change(1) The following provisions shall apply to regulations and orders made by the Secretary of State under this Act:— (a) all regulations made under this Act shall be laid as soon as may be before Parliament, and if either House within the next twenty-eight days on which that House has sat after the regulations have been laid before it, resolves that the regulations be annulled, the regulations shall be of no effect, but without prejudice to the validity of anything done in the meantime thereunder or to the making of new regulations : (b) the provisions contained in the Second Schedule to this Act shall apply to all such regulations as are in this Act referred to as “special regulations ” : (c) section one of the Rules Publication Act, 1893, shall not apply to any instrument made under this Act except regulations other than special regulations. (2) Any regulations or order made by the Secretary of State under this Act may be made for a limited period or without limit of period and may be made subject to such conditions as he thinks fit, and may contain such supplemental and consequential provisions as he considers necessary for giving full effect to the regulations or order and may, except as herein otherwise expressly provided, be varied or revoked by subsequent regulations or by a subsequent order made in like manner as the original regulations or order.
Propose a change(1) In the event of any contravention in or in connection with or in relation to a factory of the provisions of this Act, or of any regulation or order made thereunder, the occupier, or (if the contravention is one in respect of which the owner is by or under this Act made responsible) the owner, of the factory shall, subject as hereinafter in this Act provided, be guilty of an offence. (2) In the event of a contravention by an employed person of the provisions of Part X of this Act with respect to duties of persons employed or of a contravention by any person of any regulation or order made under this Act which expressly imposes any duty upon him, that person shall be guilty of an offence and the occupier or owner, as the case may be, shall not be guilty of an offence in respect of that contravention unless it is proved that he failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent the contravention. (3) If the occupier of a factory avails himself of any special exception allowed by or under this Act and fails to comply with any of the conditions attached to the exception, he shall be deemed to have contravened the provisions of this Act. (4) If any persons are employed in a factory otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of this Act or of any regulation or order made thereunder, there shall be deemed to be a separate contravention in respect of each person so employed. (5) Where an offence under this Act committed by a company is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to have been facilitated by any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other officer of the company, he, as well as the company, shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
Propose a changeSubject as hereinafter in this Act provided, any person guilty of an offence under this Act for which no express penalty is provided by this Act shall be liable to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds, and, if the contravention in respect of which he was so convicted is continued after the conviction he shall (subject to the provisions of section one hundred and thirty-two of this Act) be guilty of a further offence and liable in respect thereof to a fine not exceeding five pounds for each day on which the contravention was so continued.
Propose a changeWhere the occupier or owner of a factory is convicted of an offence under this Act, the court may, in addition to or instead of inflicting a fine, order him, within the time specified in the order, to take such steps as may be so specified for remedying the matters in respect of which the contravention occurred, and may, on application, enlarge the time so specified, and where such an order is made, the occupier or owner shall not be liable under this Act in respect of the continuation of the contravention during the time allowed by the court, but if, after the expiration of that time as originally specified or enlarged by subsequent order, the order is not complied with, the occupier or owner, as the case may be, shall be liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds for each day on which the non-compliance continues.
Propose a changeIf any person is killed, or dies, or suffers any bodily injury, in consequence of the occupier or owner of a factory having contravened any provision of this Act or of any regulation or order made thereunder, the occupier or owner of the factory shall, without prejudice to any other penalty, be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds; and subject to the provisions of section five of the Criminal Justice Administration Act, 1914, the whole or any part of the fine may be applied for the benefit of the injured person or his family or otherwise as the Secretary of State determines : Provided that— (a) in the case of injury to health, the occupier or owner shall not be liable to a fine under this section unless the injury was caused directly by the contravention; and (b) the occupier or owner shall not be liable to a fine under this section if an information against him under this Act in respect of the act or default by which the death or injury was caused, has been heard and dismissed before the death or injury occurred.
Propose a changeIf a young person is employed in any factory in contravention of the provisions of this Act, the parent of the young person shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds, unless it appears to the court that the contravention occurred without the consent, connivance, or wilful default of the parent.
Propose a changeIf any person— (a) forges or counterfeits any certificate required by, under, or for the purposes of, this Act or any order or regulation made thereunder; (b) gives or signs any such certificate knowing it to be false in any material particular ; (c) knowingly utters or makes use of any such certificate so forged, counterfeited, or false as aforesaid; (d) knowingly utters or makes use of as applying to any person any such certificate which does not so apply; (e) personates any person named in any such certificate; (f) falsely pretends to be an inspector; (g) wilfully connives at any such forging, counterfeiting, giving, signing, uttering, making use, personating or pretending as aforesaid ; (h) wilfully makes a false entry in any register, notice, certificate, or document required by under or for the purposes of this Act or any order or regulation made thereunder to be kept or served or sent; (i) wilfully makes or signs a false declaration required by, under or for, the purposes of this Act or any order or regulation made thereunder; (j) knowingly makes use of any such false entry or declaration as aforesaid ; he shall, without prejudice to any other penalty, be guilty of an offence under this Act, and liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months.
Propose a changeWhere an act or default for which an occupier or owner is liable under this Act is in fact the act or default of some agent, servant, worker or other person, that agent, servant, worker or other person shall be guilty of an offence and liable to the like fine as if he were the occupier or owner, as the case may be.
Propose a change(1) Where the occupier or owner of a factory is charged with an offence under this Act, he shall be entitled, upon information duly laid by him and on giving to the prosecution not less than three days' notice in writing of his intention, to have any other person whom he charges as the actual offender brought before the court at the time appointed for hearing the charge; and if, after the commission of the offence has been proved, the occupier or owner of the factory proves to the satisfaction of the court— (a) that he has used all due diligence to enforce the execution of this Act and of any relevant order or regulation made thereunder; and (b) that the said other person had committed the offence in question without his consent, connivance, or wilful default, that other person shall be summarily convicted of the offence, and the occupier or owner shall not be guilty of the offence, and the person so convicted shall, in the discretion of the court, be also liable to pay any costs incidental to the The prosecution shall have the right in any such case to cross-examine the occupier or owner if he gives evidence and any witnesses called by him in support of his charge, and to call rebutting evidence. (2) When it is made to appear to the satisfaction of an inspector at the time of discovering an offence— (a) that the occupier or owner (as the case may be) of the factory has used all due diligence to enforce the execution of this Act; and (b) by what person the offence has been committed; and (c) that it has been committed without the consent, connivance or wilful default of the occupier or owner and in contravention of his orders, the inspector shall proceed against the person whom he believes to be the actual offender without first proceeding against the occupier or owner of the factory.
Propose a changeWhere, under this Act, any person is substituted for the occupier or owner with respect to any provisions of this Act, any order, summons, notice, or proceeding, which for the purpose of any of those provisions is by or under this Act required or authorised to be served on or taken in relation to the occupier or owner, is hereby required or authorised (as the case may be) to be served on or taken in relation to that person.
Propose a changeWhere in a factory the owner or hirer of a machine or implement moved by mechanical power is some person other than the occupier of the factory, the owner or hirer shall, so far as respects any offence under this Act committed in relation to a person who is employed in or about or in connection with that machine or implement, and is in the employment or pay of the owner or hirer, be deemed to be the occupier of the factory.
Propose a change(1) All offences under this Act shall be prosecuted and all fines under this Act shall be recovered summarily. (2) In any proceedings under this Act it shall be sufficient in the information to allege that the factory is a factory within the meaning of this Act and to state the name of the ostensible occupier of the factory, or, where the occupier is a firm, the title of the firm. (3) The court shall in any proceedings under this Act, if required by either party, cause minutes of the evidence to be taken and preserved. (4) Where, with respect to or in consequence of any accident in a factory, a report is made by the court appointed to hold a formal investigation under this Act or under the Boiler Explosions Acts, 1882 and 1890, or a coroner's inquest is held, and it appears from the report, or from the proceedings at the inquest, that any of the provisions of this Act, or any orders or regulations made thereunder, were not complied with at or before the time of the accident, summary proceedings against any person liable to be proceeded against in respect, of such noncompliance may be commenced at any time within three months after the making of the report or the conclusion of the inquest. (5) Where any offence is committed under this Act by reason of a failure to make an examination, enter a report, or do any other thing, at or within a time specified by this Act or any regulation or order made thereunder, the offence shall be deemed to continue until the examination is made, or the report entered, or the other thing done, as the case may be. (6) Subject to the provisions of section five of the Criminal Justice Administration Act, 1914, all fines imposed under this Act shall, save as otherwise expressly provided for by this Act, be paid into the Exchequer. (7) Where a proceeding is taken before a court of summary jurisdiction with respect to an offence under this Act alleged to be committed in or with reference to a factory, no person shall be qualified to act as a member of the court who is the occupier or owner of the factory, or the husband, wife, parent, son, daughter, brother, or sister of the occupier or owner of the factory, or a person engaged in, or an officer of any association of persons engaged in, the same trade or occupation as any person charged with the offence.
Propose a changeAny person aggrieved by an order made by a court of summary jurisdiction on determining a complaint under this Act may appeal therefrom to a court of quarter sessions.
Propose a change(1) If a person is found in a factory at any time at which work is going on or the machinery is in motion, except during the intervals for meals or rest, he shall, until the contrary is proved, be deemed for the purposes of this Act to have been then employed in the factory: Provided that this subsection shall not apply to a factory in which the only persons employed are members of the same family dwelling there. (2) Where in any proceedings under this Act with respect to a young person it appears to the court that that young person is apparently of or below the age alleged by the informant, it shall lie on the defendant to prove that the young person is not of or below that age. (3) Where any entry is required by this Act or by any order or regulations made thereunder to be made in the general register or in any other register or record, the entry made by the occupier of a factory or on his behalf shall, as against him, be admissible as evidence of the facts therein stated, and the fact that any entry so required with respect to the observance of any provision of this Act or of any order or regulation made thereunder has not been made, shall be admissible as evidence that that provision has not been observed.
Propose a changeFor the purposes of any proceedings under this Act in respect of the employment of children in contravention of section fourteen of the Education Act, 1918, or section one of the Employment of Women, Young Persons, and Children Act, 1920, or any other enactment prohibiting the employment of children which is incorporated with this Act, references in this Part of this Act to young persons shall be construed as including references to children within the meaning of any such enactment.
Propose a change(1) Any document (including any summons or order) required or authorised to be served under this Act may be served— (a) on any person by delivering it to him, or by leaving it at, or sending it by post to, his residence; (b) on any firm by delivering it to any partner of the firm, or by leaving it at, or sending it by post to, the office of the firm; (c) on the owner or occupier of a factory (including any such owner or occupier being a company to which the Companies Act, 1929, applies), in any such manner as aforesaid, or by delivering it, or a true copy thereof, to any person apparently not under the age of sixteen years at the factory. (2) Any such document may be addressed for the purpose of the service thereof on the occupier of a factory, to “the occupier ” at the proper postal address of the factory, without further name or description. (3) The foregoing provisions of this section shall apply with the necessary modifications to documents required or authorised under this Act to be sent to any person, firm, owner or occupier, and to the sending, addressing, and delivery of such documents.
Propose a changeWhere the age of any person is required to be ascertained or proved for the purposes of this Act any person shall on presenting a written requisition in such form and containing such particulars as may be from time to time prescribed by the Minister of Health and on payment of a fee of sixpence, be entitled to obtain a certified extract under the hand of a registrar or superintendent registrar of the entry in the register under the Births and Deaths Registration Acts, 1836 to 1929, of the birth of that person; and such form of requisition shall on request be supplied without charge by every superintendent registrar and registrar of births, deaths and marriages.
Propose a changeIf by reason of an agreement between the owner and the occupier of premises the whole or any part of which has been let as a factory the said owner or occupier is prevented from carrying out any structural or other alterations in the premises which are necessary to enable him to comply with the provisions of this Act or of any regulation or order made under this Act or in order to conform with any standard or requirement imposed by or under this Act, he may apply in accordance with county court rules to the county court, and the court, after hearing the parties and any witnesses whom they desire to call, may make such an order setting aside or modifying the terms of the agreement as the court considers just and equitable in the circumstances of the case.
Propose a changeWhere in any premises the whole or any part of which has been let as a factory any structural or other alterations are required in order to comply with the provisions of this Act or of any regulation or order made under this Act or in order to conform with any standard or requirement imposed by or under this Act and the owner or occupier as the case may be alleges that the whole or part of the expenses of the alterations ought to be borne by the occupier or owner, the owner or occupier may apply in accordance with county court rules to the county court, and the court, after hearing the parties and any witnesses whom they may desire to call, may make such an order concerning the expenses or their apportionment as the court considers just and equitable in the circumstances of the case, regard being had to the terms of any contract between the parties, or in the alternative the court may at the request of the owner or occupier determine the lease.
Propose a changeThe Arbitration Acts, 1889 to 1934, shall not apply to proceedings under this Act except in so far as they may be applied by regulations made under this Act.
Propose a changeSave as in this Act otherwise expressly provided, the provisions of this Act shall apply only to factories, as defined by this Act, but shall, except where the contrary intention appears, apply to all such factories.
Propose a change(1) This Act applies to factories belonging to or in the occupation of the Crown and to building operations and works of engineering construction undertaken by or on behalf of the Crown; but in case of any public emergency the Secretary of State may, by order, to the extent and during the period named in the order exempt from this Act any factory belonging to the Crown or any building operations or works of engineering construction undertaken by or on behalf of the Crown, or any factory in respect of work which is being done on behalf of the Crown. (2) The powers conferred by this Act on a district council or other local authority shall, in the case of a factory belonging to or in the occupation of the Crown, or building operations or works of engineering construction undertaken by or on behalf of the Crown, be exercised by an inspector under this Act; and any notice required by this Act to be sent to a district council shall in any such case be sent to the inspector for the district.
Propose a change(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, the expression “factory ” means any premises in which, or within the close or curtilage or precincts of which, persons are employed in manual labour in any process for or incidental to any of the following purposes, namely :— (a) the making of any article or of part of any article; or (b) the altering, repairing, ornamenting, finishing, cleaning, or washing, or the breaking up or demolition of any article; or (c) the adapting for sale of any article; being premises in which, or within the close or curtilage or precincts of which, the work is carried on by way of trade or for purposes of gain and to or over which the employer of the persons employed therein has the right of access or control : And (whether or not they are factories by reason of the foregoing definition) the expression “factory ” also includes the following premises in which persons are employed in manual labour, that is to say :— (i) any yard or dry dock (including the precincts thereof) in which ships or vessels are constructed, reconstructed, repaired, refitted, finished or broken up; (ii) any premises in which the business of sorting any articles is carried on as a preliminary to the work carried on in any factory or incidentally to the purposes of any factory; (iii) any premises in which the business of washing or filling bottles or containers or packing articles is carried on incidentally to the purposes of any factory; (iv) any premises in which the business of hooking, plaiting, lapping, making-up or packing of yarn or cloth is carried on; (v) any laundry carried on as ancillary to another business, or incidentally to the purposes of any public institution; (vi) any premises in which the construction, reconstruction or repair of locomotives, vehicles or other plant for use for transport purposes is carried on as ancillary to a transport undertaking or other industrial or commercial undertaking, not being any premises used for the purpose of housing locomotives or vehicles where only cleaning, washing, running repairs or minor adjustments are carried out; (vii) any premises in which printing by letterpress, lithography, photogravure, or other similar process, or bookbinding is carried on by way of trade or for purposes of gain or incidentally to another business so carried on; (viii) any premises in which the making, adaptation or repair of dresses, scenery or properties is carried on incidentally to the production, exhibition or presentation by way of trade or for purposes of gain of cinematograph films or theatrical performances, not being a stage or dressing-room of a theatre in which only occasional adaptations or repairs are made; (ix) any premises in which the business of making or mending nets is carried on incidentally to the fishing industry; (x) any premises in which mechanical power is used in connection with the making or repair of articles of metal or wood incidentally to any business carried on by way of trade or for purposes of gain; (xi) any premises in which the production of cinematograph films is carried on by way of trade or for purposes of gain, so, however, that the employment at any such premises of theatrical performers within the meaning of the Theatrical Employers Registration Act, 1925, and of attendants on such theatrical performers shall not be deemed to be employment in a factory; (xii) any premises in which articles are made or prepared incidentally to the carrying on of building operations or works of engineering construction, not being premises in which such operations or works are being carried on; (xiii) any premises used for the storage of gas in a gasholder having a storage capacity of not less than five thousand cubic feet. (2) Any fine or siding (not being part of a railway or tramway) which is used in connection with and for the purposes of a factory, shall be deemed to be part of the factory; if any such line or siding is used in connection with more than one factory belonging to different occupiers, the line or siding shall be deemed to be a separate factory. (3) A part of a factory may, with the approval in writing of the chief inspector, be taken to be a separate factory and two or more factories may, with the like approval, be taken to be a single factory. (4) Any workplace in which, with the permission of or under agreement with the owner or occupier, two or more persons carry on any work which would constitute the workplace a factory if the persons working therein were in the employment of the owner or occupier, shall be deemed to be a factory for the purposes of this Act, and, in the case of any such workplace not being a tenement factory or part of a tenement factory, the provisions of this Act shall apply as if the owner or occupier of the workplace were the occupier of the factory and the persons working therein were persons employed in the factory. (5) No premises in or adjacent to and belonging to a quarry or mine being premises in which the only process carried on is a process ancillary to the getting, dressing or preparation for sale of minerals shall be deemed to be a factory. (6) Where a place situate within the close, curtilage, or precincts forming a factory is solely used for some purpose other than the processes carried on in the factory, that place shall not be deemed to form part of the factory for the purposes of this Act, but shall, if otherwise it would be a factory, be deemed to be a separate factory. (7) Premises shall not be excluded from the definition of a factory by reason only that they are open air premises. (8) Where the Secretary of State by regulations so directs as respects all or any purposes of this Act, different branches or departments of work carried on in the same factory shall be deemed to be different factories. (9) Any premises belonging to or in the occupation of the Crown or any municipal or other public authority shall not be deemed not to be a factory, and building operations or works of engineering construction undertaken by or on behalf of the Crown or any such authority shall not be excluded from the operation of this Act, by reason only that the work carried on thereat is not carried on by way of trade or for purposes of gain.
Propose a change(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, the following expressions have the meanings hereby assigned to them respectively, that is to say :— “Bakehouse ” means any place in which bread, biscuits or confectionery is or are baked by way of trade or for purposes of gain : “Bank holiday ” means a holiday under the Holidays Extension Act, 1875 : “Bodily injury ” includes injury to health : “Building operation ” means the construction, structural alteration, repair or maintenance of a building (including re-pointing, re-decoration and external cleaning of the structure), the demolition of a building, and the preparation for, and laying the foundation of, an intended building, but does not include any operation which is a work of engineering construction within the meaning of this Act: “Calendar year ” means the period of twelve months beginning with the first day of January in any year: “Chief inspector ” means the chief inspector appointed under this Act, and includes a deputy chief inspector: “Class or description ”, in relation to factories, includes a group of factories described by reference to locality: “Contravention ” includes, in relation to any provision, a failure to comply with that provision, and the expression “contravene ” "shall be construed accordingly : “Cotton cloth factory ” means any room, shed or workshop, or part thereof, in which the weaving of cotton cloth is carried on : “Degrees ” means degrees Fahrenheit: “District council ” means the council of a borough or county district: “Driving-belt ” includes any driving strap or rope : “Fume ” includes gas or vapour : “General register ” means the register kept in accordance with the requirements of section one hundred and sixteen of this Act: “Humid factory ” means a factory in which atmospheric humidity is artificially produced by steaming or other means in connection with any textile process : “Inspector ” means, except where otherwise expressed, an inspector appointed under this Act, and a reference to the inspector for the district or to the supermtending inspector for the division refers, as respects any factory, to the inspector in charge of the district, or the superintending inspector in charge of the division, in which the factory is situate : “Machinery ” includes any driving-belt : “Maintained ” means maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order, and in good repair : “Owner ” means the person for the time being receiving the rackrent of the premises in connection with which the word is used, whether on his own account or as agent or trustee for any-other person, or who would so receive the rackrent if the premises were let at a rackrent: “Parent ” means a parent or guardian of, or person having the legal custody of, or the control over a child or young person, and includes, in relation to any child or young person, any person having direct benefit from his wages : “Period of employment ” means the period (inclusive of the time allowed for meals and rest) within which persons may be employed on any day : “Prescribed ” means prescribed by order of the Secretary of State : “Prime mover ” means every engine, motor or other appliance which provides mechanical energy derived from steam, water, wind, electricity, the combustion of fuel or other source : “Process ” includes the use of any locomotive : “Railway ” means any railway used for the purposes of public traffic whether passenger, goods, or other traffic and includes any works of the railway company connected with the railway: “Railway company ” includes the London Passenger Transport Board and a company or person working a railway under lease or otherwise : “Sanitary conveniences ” includes urinals, water-closets, earthclosets, privies, ashpits, and any similar convenience: “Ship, ” “vessel, ” and “harbour ” have the same meaning as in the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894 : “Tenement factory ” means any premises where mechanical power from any prime mover within the close or curtilage of the premises is distributed for use in manufacturing processes to different parts of the same premises occupied by different persons in such manner that those parts constitute in law separate factories : “Tramway ” means a tramway authorised by or under any Act of Parliament and used for the purpose of public traffic : “Transmission machinery ” means every shaft, wheel, drum, pulley, system of fast and loose pulleys, coupling, clutch, driving-belt or other device by which the motion of a prime mover is transmitted to or received by any machine or appliance : “Week ” means the period between midnight on Saturday night and midnight on the succeeding Saturday night: “Woman ” means a woman who has attained the age of eighteen : “Work of engineering construction ” means the construction of any railway line or siding otherwise than upon an existing railway, and the construction, structural alteration or repair (including re-pointing and re-painting) or the demolition of any dock, harbour, inland navigation, tunnel, bridge, viaduct, waterworks, reservoir, pipe-line, aqueduct, sewer, sewage works, or gasholder, except where carried on upon a railway or tramway, and shall include such other works as may be specified by regulations of the Secretary of State : “Young person ” means a person who has attained the age of fourteen and has not attained the age of eighteen but does not include any person whose parent is required under or by virtue of the Education Acts, 1921 to 1937, to cause him (unless there is some reasonable excuse) to attend school or to attend an alternative course within the meaning of the Education Act, 1936. (2) For the purposes of this Act, machinery or plant shall be deemed to have been constructed or reconstructed before the passing of this Act or the making of regulations under this Act, and a factory or building shall be deemed to have been constructed, reconstructed, extended, added to, or converted for use as a factory, before the passing or commencement of this Act or the coming into operation of any provision of this Act, if the construction, reconstruction, extension, addition, or conversion was begun before the passing or commencement of this Act, or the making of regulations under this Act, or the coming into operation of any provision of the Act, as the case may be. (3) For the purposes of this Act, a factory shall not be deemed to be a factory in which mechanical power is used by reason only that mechanical power is used for the purpose of heating, ventilating or lighting the workrooms or other parts of the factory. (4) A woman, young person, or child who works in a factory, whether for wages or not, either in a process or in cleaning any part of the factory used for any process, or in cleaning or oiling any part of the machinery or plant, or in any other kind of work whatsoever incidental to or connected with the process, or connected with the article made or otherwise the subject of the process therein, shall, save as is otherwise provided by this Act, be deemed to be employed therein for the purposes of this Act or of any proceedings thereunder : Provided that any woman employed solely in cleaning a factory or any part thereof, otherwise than in cleaning which is incidental to or connected with any process, shall not be deemed for the purposes of Part VI of this Act to be employed in the factory. (5) For the purposes of this Act, employment shall be deemed to be continuous unless interrupted by an interval of at least half an hour. (6) For the purposes of this Act, an apprentice shall be deemed to be a person employed. (7) This Act shall in its application to London have effect, except when otherwise expressly provided, as if for references to district councils there were substituted, as respects the City of London references to the common council, and as respects the remainder of the administrative county of London references to metropolitan borough councils. (8) References in this Act to any enactment shall be construed as references to that enactment as amended by any subsequent enactment including this Act.
Propose a changeA young person who works in a factory, whether for wages or not, in collecting, carrying or delivering goods, carrying messages or running errands shall be deemed to be employed in the factory for the purposes of this Act or of any proceedings thereunder : Provided that the provisions of Part VI of this Act shall not apply, except as expressly provided, to any such young person who is employed mainly outside the factory.
Propose a changeWhere in any premises which are subject to inspection by or under the authority of any Government department any manual labour is exercised, otherwise than for the purposes of instruction, in or incidental to the making, altering, repairing, ornamenting, finishing, washing, cleaning, or adapting for sale, of any article, and the premises do not constitute a factory, the Secretary of State may arrange with the department that the premises shall, as respects the matters dealt with by this Act, be inspected by an inspector appointed under this Act, and where such an arrangement is made, such inspectors shall have, as respects such matters as aforesaid, the like right of entry and inspection as is conferred on inspectors or other officers of the department concerned.
Propose a changeThe expenses of the Secretary of State in carrying this Act into effect shall be defrayed out of moneys provided by Parliament.
Propose a change(1) The provisions of this section shall have effect for the purpose of the application of this Act to Scotland. (2) (a) The Department of Health for Scotland shall be substituted for the Minister of Health and the Scottish Education Department shall be substituted for the Board of Education. (b) The expressions “medical officer of health” and “sanitary inspector ” have the like meanings as in the Public Health (Scotland) Act, 1897 , the expression “information” means complaint; the expression “informant ” means prosecutor; the expression “defendant ” means accused person; the expression “summons” means order; the expression “owner ” means the person for the time entitled to receive or who would, if the same were let, be entitled to receive the rents of the premises, and includes a trustee, factor, tutor or curator, and in the case of public or municipal property, applies to the persons to whom the management thereof is entrusted and the expression “young person ” means a person who has attained the age of fourteen and has not attained the age of eighteen, but does not include any person whose parent is required under or by virtue of the Education (Scotland) Acts, 1872 to 1936, to provide efficient education for him. (c) For any reference to a local education authority under the Education Act, 1921, there shall be substituted a reference to an education authority for the purposes of the Education (Scotland) Acts, 1872 to 1936; for any reference to section fourteen of the Education Act, 1918, there shall be substituted a reference to section seventeen of the Education (Scotland) Act, 1918; for any reference to a county court there shall be substituted a reference to the sheriff; for any reference to county court rules there shall be substituted a reference to Act of Sederunt; for any reference to a witness attending before a court of record there shall be substituted a reference to a witness attending an inquiry under the Fatal Accidents Inquiry (Scotland) Act, 1895; for any reference to a master of the Supreme Court there shall be substituted a reference to the auditor of the sheriff court; for the reference in subsection (1) of section one hundred and fifty-seven of this Act to the Ministry of Health Act, 1919, there shall be substituted a reference to the Scottish Board of Health Act, 1919, and to the Reorganisation of Offices (Scotland) Act, 1928; for any reference to the Births and Deaths Registration Acts, 1836 to 1929, there shall be substituted a reference to the Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Scotland) Acts, 1854 to 1934. (3) All matters required by this Act to be published in the London Gazette shall, if they relate to Scotland, be published in the Edinburgh Gazette, either in addition or in substitution, as the case may require. (4) The powers and duties conferred and imposed by this Act on district councils shall be exercised and performed in a county by the county council, and in a burgh by the town council, save that, in so far as those powers and duties relate to the provisions contained in Part II of the Third Schedule to this Act, they shall be exercised and performed in a small burgh by the county council of the county in which such burgh is situate, and references in this Act to a district council and a district shall be construed accordingly. (5) Any expenses incurred under this Act by a county or a town council shall be defrayed in like manner as expenditure for the purposes of the Public Health (Scotland) Act, 1897. (6) The powers conferred by Part II or Part IV of this Act on a court of summary jurisdiction or a justice shall be exercisable only by the sheriff, and any reference in Part VII of this Act to the provisions of Part II with respect to the power of a court of summary jurisdiction shall be construed accordingly. (7) Any offence against this Act for which the maximum penalty that may be imposed does not exceed ten pounds may be prosecuted in any court of summary jurisdiction within the meaning of the Summary Jurisdiction (Scotland) Act, 1908, having jurisdiction in the place where the offence was committed. (8) An offence against any provision of this Act which is directed to be enforced by a county or town council may be prosecuted by the council of the county or town in which such offence was committed and any such council may appear in any proceedings instituted by them under this Act by their clerk or other officer duly authorised in that behalf. (9) It shall not be an objection to the competency of an inspector or of any person prosecuting in pursuance of the power conferred by the last foregoing subsection to give evidence as a witness in any prosecution for an offence against this Act that the prosecution is brought at his instance, or conducted by him. (10) Every person convicted of an offence against this Act may be found liable in expenses. (11) Subsection (10) of section thirty-four, subsection (3) of section fifty-three and subsection (3) of section fifty-four of this Act shall have effect as if the words “by way of complaint ” were omitted. (12) Where, in pursuance of section sixty-eight of this Act, the Secretary of State directs a formal investigation to be held of any fatal accident, no inquiry into any death due to such accident shall, unless the Lord Advocate otherwise directs, be held in pursuance of the Fatal Accidents Inquiry (Scotland) Act, 1895. (13) For subsection (8) of section one hundred and twenty-six the following subsection shall be substituted:— (8) If and so long as there is no examining surgeon for a factory, the medical officer of health for the county or burgh in which the factory is situate, or any medical officer of the council of such county or burgh designated for the purpose by the medical officer of health shall act as the examining surgeon for that factory. For the purposes of this subsection, ' burgh ' means large burgh, and a small burgh shall be included within the county in which it is situate. (14) In subsection (9) of section one hundred and twenty-six for any reference to the poor law medical officer there shall be substituted a reference to such medical officer of health or medical officer as is referred to in the foregoing subsection. (15) Subsection (4) of section one hundred and forty of this Act shall have effect as if for any reference to a coroner's inquest there were substituted a reference to a public inquiry under the Fatal Accidents Inquiry (Scotland) Act, 1895, or the Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths Inquiry (Scotland) Act, 1906. (16) Any provision of this Act with regard to the recovery of any money summarily as a civil debt shall have effect as if the word “summarily ” were omitted therefrom. (17) Section sixty-seven, subsection (5) of section one hundred and twenty-eight so far as it relates to legal proceedings, subsection (1) of section one hundred and thirty-seven, section one hundred and forty-one and section one hundred and forty-eight of this Act shall not apply. (18) References to section five of the Criminal Justice Administration Act, 1914, shall not apply. (19) Section twenty-nine of the Public Health (Scotland) Act, 1897, shall not apply in relation to any factory within the meaning of this Act. (20) The powers conferred by this Act on county and town councils and their officers shall, for the purposes of their duties under the Public Health (Scotland) Acts, 1897 and 1907, extend to factories within the meaning of those Acts. (21) In this section the expressions “large burgh ” and “small burgh ” have the like meanings as in the Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1929, and the expressions “county council ” and “county ” where occurring in any provision for the purposes of which a small burgh is included within a county or which directs that powers and duties shall be exercised and performed by a county council in a small burgh, shall mean respectively, in any case where two counties are combined under subsection (7) of section ten of the Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1929, the joint county council and the combined county.
Propose a change(1) The provisions contained in Part I of the Third Schedule to this Act (being provisions of the Factory and Workshop Act, 1901, of which the administration was transferred under the Ministry of Health Act, 1919, to the Minister of Health, set out with the necessary modifications) shall have effect in lieu of the corresponding provisions repealed by this Act, and shall be enforced by the district council. (2) The provisions contained in Part II of the Third Schedule to this Act (being provisions of the Factory and Workshop Act, 1901, of which the administration was transferred as aforesaid but which do not apply in England outside the administrative county of London, set out with the necessary modifications) shall have effect in Scotland and in the administrative county of London in lieu of the corresponding provisions repealed by this Act, and shall be enforced by the district council. (3) The section of this Act relating to powers in case of default of a district council shall apply with respect to the provisions specified in the foregoing subsections of this section as it applies with respect to the provisions of Part I of this Act, except that references in that section to the Secretary of State and to an inspector shall, for the purposes of the application thereof under this section, be construed as references to the Minister of Health and to an officer appointed by him, and any such officer shall have the like powers as an inspector.
Propose a change(1) The provisions of the Quarries Act, 1894, shall apply to all quarries of whatever depth, but for the purposes of that Act the expression “quarry ” shall not include any place in which any manufacturing process, other than a process ancillary to the getting, dressing, or preparation for sale of minerals is carried on. (2) The provisions of section nineteen of the Mining Industry Act, 1920 (which empowers the Board of Trade to make general and special regulations with respect to metalliferous mines) shall apply to quarries as they apply to metalliferous mines, but with this modification, that for the reference in that section to the general rules contained in section twenty-three of the Metalliferous Mines Regulation Act, 1872, there shall be substituted a reference to all the provisions of that Act which apply to quarries. (3) Regulations made by the Board of Trade by virtue of the said section nineteen with respect to quarries and metalliferous mines shall apply the provisions of sections ninety-two, ninety-three and ninety-five of the Coal Mines Act, 1911, so far as they relate to employment above ground, to women and young persons employed in connection with any quarry or metalliferous mine, in like manner as the provisions apply to the employment of such persons in connection with the mines mentioned in section one of that Act. (4) The Secretary of State may make arrangements with the Board of Trade, with respect to any premises or place in or adjacent to a quarry or mine, for the exercise and performance by the Board of Trade of any of the powers and duties of the Secretary of State under this Act and for the exercise and performance by the Secretary of State of any of the powers and duties of the Board of Trade relating to quarries and mines, and it shall be lawful for the Board of Trade and their officers and the Secretary of State and his officers respectively to exercise and perform the said powers and duties in accordance with the arrangements.
Propose a change(1) Subject as hereinafter provided the enactments referred to in the Fourth Schedule to this Act are hereby repealed to the extent specified in the third column of that Schedule : Provided that any order, regulation, byelaw, requirement, appointment, or agreement made or certificate (other than a certificate given under section fourteen of the Factory and Workshop Act, 1901) or notice given under any enactment repealed by this Act which is in force at the commencement of this Act shall continue in force and shall have effect as though it had been made or given under this Act, and, in so far as it could have been made or given under a particular provision of this Act, shall be deemed to have been made or given under that provision, and any such order or regulation made by the Secretary of State under a power which is exercisable under a corresponding provision of this Act by a different class of instrument, shall be deemed to be an instrument of that class, so, however, that any order or regulation of the Secretary of State which continues in force by virtue of this proviso may, in so far as may be necessary to bring it into conformity with this Act, be varied or revoked by an order made by him under this Act. (2) References in any enactment to a special order made under section one hundred and twenty-six of the Factory and Workshop Act, 1901, shall be construed as references to regulations made under this Act. (3) Nothing in this Act shall affect the definition of the expressions “factory” and “workshop ” for the purposes of the Rating and Valuation (Apportionment) Act, 1928, but save as aforesaid references in any enactment to a factory or workshop within the meaning of the Factory and Workshop Acts, 1901 to 1929, or any of those Acts, shall be construed as references to a factory within the meaning of this Act. (4) The mention of particular matters in this section shall not be held to prejudice or affect the general application of section thirty-eight of the Interpretation Act, 1889, with regard to the effect of repeals. (5) Section one hundred and six of the Public Health (London) Act, 1936 (which relates to sanitary conveniences for factories), section one hundred and twenty-eight of that Act (which relates to nuisances from certain factories, workshops and workplaces), and section one hundred and twenty-nine of that Act (which relates to the limewashing and washing of certain factories, workshops and workplaces) shall not apply to any factory to which this Act applies.
Propose a change