S.I. No. 188/1973 - Factories (Spinning by Self-Acting Mules) (Health) Regulations, 1973.


S.I. No. 188 of 1973.

FACTORIES (SPINNING BY SELF-ACTING MULES) (HEALTH) REGULATIONS, 1973.

I, MICHAEL O'LEARY, Minister for Labour, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by sections 6 , 8 , 20 and 71 of the Factories Act, 1955 (No. 10 of 1955), and the Labour (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order, 1966 ( S.I. No. 164 of 1966 ), after consultation with the Minister for Health and after due compliance with the provisions of the Third Schedule to that Act, hereby make the following Regulations:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Factories (Spinning by Self-Acting Mules) (Health) Regulations, 1973 and shall come into operation on the 1st day of August, 1973.

2. The Spinning by Self-Acting Mules Regulations, 1905 (S.R. & O., 1905, No. 1103), are hereby revoked.

3. In these Regulations—

" The Act " means the Factories Act, 1955 (No. 10 of 1955);

" appointed doctor " means, as respects a factory, the certifying doctor for the district in which the factory is situated, or a registered medical practitioner specially appointed by written certificate of the Minister for the purposes of these Regulations;

" approved " means approved for the time being for the purpose of these Regulations by the Minister;

" minder " means the person in charge for the time being of a self-acting mule, being a person employed in a factory to which these Regulations relate;

" the Minister " means the Minister for Labour;

" specified colour " means a colour no darker than water white (0.5) when measured, by the method entitled " colour by the Lovibond Tintometer " with serial designation I.P. 17/52, full particulars of which are set out in pages 84 to 90 of I.P. Standards for Petroleum and its Products, Part I (Thirty First Edition 1972) published by the Institute of Petroleum, London, or such other colour as may be approved from time to time by the Minister;

" specified viscosity " means a viscosity of not less than 16 and not more than 21 centistokes when tested at 5 degrees Celsius by the method entitled Viscosity of Transparent and Opaque Liquids (Kinematic) with serial designation I.P. 71/66, full particulars of which are set out in pages 296 to 312 of I.P. Standards for Petroleum and its Products, Part I (Thirty First Edition 1972) published by the Institute of Petroleum, London, or such other method as may be approved from time to time by the Minister;

" spinning process " means any of the following processes, being processes carried on by means of self-acting mules, namely, the spinning of cotton, the spinning of staple fibre or the spinning of mixtures of cotton and staple fibre;

" white oil " means a hydrocarbon oil of petroleum origin which has been drastically refined with sulphuric acid and conforms to the specified colour and specified viscosity.

4. These Regulations shall apply to any factory in which a spinning process is carried on, other than a factory in which the only process of spinning carried on is the spinning of waste cotton, and in addition to the foregoing, Regulations 6, 9 and 10 of these Regulations shall also apply to any factory in which the spinning of wool is carried on by means of self-acting mules.

5. The Minister may (subject to such conditions, if any, as may be specified therein) by certificates in writing (which he may in his discretion revoke at any time) exempt from all or any of the requirements of these Regulations any factory where he is satisfied that the requirements in respect of which the exemption is granted are not necessary for the protection of persons employed in the factory or are impracticable.

6. In every factory to which this regulation applies, the following parts of any self-acting mule in the factory shall be securely fenced as far as is reasonably practicable, unless it can be shown to the satisfaction of the Minister that by their position or construction the parts, though unfenced, are equally safe as they would be if they were securely fenced, namely,

(a) back shaft scrolls, carrier pulleys and draw band pulleys,

(b) front and back carriage wheels,

(c) faller stops,

(d) quadrant pinions,

(e) back of head-stocks (including rim pulleys) and taking-in scrolls, and

(f) rimband tightening pulleys, other than plate wheels.

7. (1) Oil, which is neither white oil, oil entirely of animal or vegetable origin, nor oil entirely of mixed animal and vegetable origin, shall not be used in a factory to which these Regulations apply for oiling spindles of self-acting mules.

(2) An oil shall not be used in a factory to which these Regulations apply for oiling spindles of self-acting mules in the factory unless there is attached to the general register kept at the factory a certificate from the suppliers of the oil containing a description of the oil, and in the case of white oil there shall be attached in addition a statement that the oil has been tested and found to perform to the specified colour and specified viscosity.

8. (1) Subject to paragraph (2) of this regulation, the occupier of a factory to which these Regulations apply shall arrange for every person who is or has been employed therein in a spinning process to be medically examined by the appointed doctor within six months of being first so employed and to be so examined again at intervals of not more than six months so long as his employment in the spinning process in the factory continues.

(2) In relation to a person who has been employed in a spinning process before the commencement of these Regulations, paragraph (1) of this regulation shall be construed as requiring the relevant occupier to arrange for the person to be medically examined pursuant to this regulation on a day which is not more than six months after such commencement.

(3) The occupier of a factory to which these Regulations apply shall keep at the factory, in a form approved by the Minister, a health register containing the names of all persons who are required by this regulation to be medically examined.

(4) The relevant occupier shall give not less than one week's notice of a medical examination required by this regulation to be given by the occupier to the person concerned and it shall be the duty of that person to submit himself for examination by the appointed doctor at the appointed times.

(5) The occupier of a factory to which these Regulations apply shall provide, for the purpose of enabling the appointed doctor to carry out medical examinations required by this regulation, a room which shall be properly cleaned and adequately warmed and lighted, and furnished with a screen, a table (with writing materials), chairs, an examination couch and a wash basin with a supply of clean running hot and cold or warm water, and when medical examinations required by this regulation are being carried out, the appointed doctor concerned shall be given the exclusive use of the room provided pursuant to this regulation.

9. It shall be the duty of the minder of every self-acting mule to take all reasonable care to ensure—

(a) that a person cleans neither any part nor under any part thereof while such mule is being operated by mechanical power,

(b) that no person works between the fixed and traversing parts thereof while the mule is being so operated,

(c) that no person is in the space between the fixed and traversing parts thereof unless the mule is stopped on the outward run.

10. A self-acting mule shall be neither started nor restarted—

(a) except by the minder or on his express orders, and

(b) until the minder has ascertained that no person is in the space between the fixed and traversing parts of the mule.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 9th day of July, 1973.

MICHAEL O'LEARY,

Minister for Labour,

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These regulations provide that specified parts of self-acting mules must be adequately fenced. They also specify the duties of operators of such machines and require employers to arrange for regular medical examinations for workers employed in cotton-spinning processes.