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Housekeeping: A Safety Concern
Section 11 to 20 on Health and Section 42 to 50 on welfare under Factories Act 1948 & respective rules framed under Gujarat Factories Rules1963 have provisions directly or indirectly concerned to good housekeeping.
The provisions includes cleanliness, disposal of wastes, ventilation, lighting, drinking water, washing facilities, first-aid appliances etc.
GUARDS STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS
It is also a statutory requirement to safe guard the moving and protruding parts of machinery. As per the Section 21 of the Factories Act,
1.Every moving part of a prime mover and every fly wheel connected to prime mover,
2. The headrace and tailrace of every water wheel in engine turbine,
3. Any part of stock-bat which projected beyond the head stock of lathe and
4. Unless they are in such position or of construction as to be safe to every persons employed in the factory as they would be if they were securely fenced, the following namely
a. every part of an electric generator, a motor or rotary converter
b. every part of transmission machinery and
c. every dangerous part of any other machinery,
shall be securely fenced by safe guards of substantial construction which shall be constantly maintained and kept in position and the parts of machinery in motion or in use.
PLANT DESIGN STATUTORY REQUIREMENT
Section 6 of Factories Act 1948 & Rule 3 of Gujarat Factories Rules 1963 deals with approval of plans. The outlines are here:
An application for obtaining previous permission for the site on which the factory is to be situated and for the construction & extension of a factory shall be made to Chief Inspector of Factories in Form no.: 1
STATUTORY REQUIREMENT
No building or premises shall be constructed, extended or taken into use as factory or part of factory unless the previous permission in writing is obtained from Chief Inspector of Factories ( 3A)
No manufacturing process shall be carried out untill a stability certificate is issued by a competent person in respect of engineering work construction in form no.: 1A has sent to CIF by the occupier (3C)
Section 41-A of Factories Act refers to Constitution of Site Appraisal Committee for the purpose of advising on grant of permission for initial location of factory involving hazardous process.
Section 38 of Factories Act 1948 & Rules 66, 66A & 67 refers to Fire protection:
-safe means of access to all persons in case of fire
– Fire exits should not be less than 91.4 cm. width nor less than 2 mt. in height.
-Unobstructed access for fire fighting.
MSIHC Rules: Rule no.: 7 Notification of sites:
An occupier shall not undertake any industrial activity unless he has submitted A written report to the concerned authority containing the particulars specified in Schedule 7 at least 3 months before commencing that activity or before such shorter time as the concerned authority may agree and for the purpose of this paragraph an activity in which subsequently there is or is liable to be a threshold quantity or more of an additional hazardous chemical shall be deemed to be a different activity and shall be notified accordingly.
Environmental Clearance as per EIA Notification before installation or extension of a project.
Section 12 of Factories Act 1948 & Rule 18 of GFR 1963 refers to Disposal of Effluents.
Rule no.: 5 of EP rules 1986 refers to Prohibitions and restrictions on the location of industries and the carrying on processes and operations in different areas :
Noise: A Safety Concern
Noise adversely affects the human behavior.
Noise induced hearing loss (exposure to high noise levels) is a notifiable disease under Schedule III ( no.: 22) of Factories Act 1948
Section 89 of Factories Act 1948 and rules framed under it ( GFR No.: 104) demands reporting of the notifiable disease (schedule III) to the statutory authorities.
Schedule 23 of GFR 1963 (Rule no.: 102) namely “Operations involving High Noise Levels” demands for protection against noise, reduction of noise by engineering controls and auditory examination of every worker employed in areas of high noise by a Medical Practitioner.
VENTILATION SYSTEM: STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS
Section 13 under Health of Factories Act 1948 & Rule 18-A of GFR 1963 covers provisions w.r. to ventilation & temperature.
-Effective & suitable provision for adequate ventilation
-The max. WBT of air in a work room at height of 1.5 m above the floor level shall not exceed 300C and adequate air movement of 30 mt./min. shall be provided.
Working at height : Statutory Requirements
Section 32 & 33 of Factories Act 1948 provide precautions regarding floors, stairs, means of access, pits etc.
All should be of sound material of construction & to be free from obstruction.
All pits, sumps to be fenced properly where danger is likely to exist.
CONFINED SPACE
Statutory Requirements Under Section 36 of the Factories Act, 1948:
No person shall enter or be permitted to enter any chamber, tank, vat, pit, pipe, flue or other confined space in which dangerous fumes are likely to be present to such an extent as to involve risk of persons being overcome thereby, unless it is provided with manhole of adequate size or other effective means of egress. Until all practicable measures have been taken to remove any fumes which may be present and to prevent any ingress of fumes and unless either a certificate in writing has been given by a competent person, based on a test carried out by himself that the space is free from dangerous fumes and fit for persons to enter
OR The worker is wearing suitable breathing apparatus and a belt securely attached to a rope, the free end of which is held by a person standing outside the confined space.
