FACTORIES ACT, 1948

Group Members:

Arshi Aziz 9024

Aishwarya Tendulkar 9013
Pooja Sharma 88
Swapnali Epte 22
 INTRODUCTION OF THE ACT

• No control over the conditions of the employment of

workmen employed in industries
• Employers used to bargain with the employees
• Child employment was predominant in factories
• Introduction of machines and new processes lead to
accidents and deaths
• There was no stipulated timing of work
 FACTORIES ACT, 1948
• Central legislation enforced by the state government;
• In force since 1.4.1949
• Social legislation
• 120 provisions spread-over under 11 chapters
• Act empowers state to make rules to enlarge the scope and
objectives of the Act.
• Rules are also amended from time to time
• Extends to the whole of India
• Applicable to the premises, which comes under the
definition “Factory”
“Factory” is defined in Section 2(m) of the Act. It means any
premises including the precincts thereof-
i. Whereon ten or more workers are working, or were working
on any day of the preceding twelve months, and
manufacturing process is being carried on with the aid of
power, or is ordinarily so carried on; or
ii. Whereon twenty or more workers are working, or were
working on any day of the preceding twelve months, and the
manufacturing process is being carried on without the aid of
power,
iii. Excludes: a mine , mobile unit belonging to the Armed forces
of the Union, a railway running shed or a hotel, restaurant or
eating place.
The following have held to be a factory:-
i. Salt works
ii. A shed for ginning and pressing of cotton
iii. A Bidi making shed
iv. A Railway Workshop
v. Composing work for Letter Press Printing
vi. Saw Mills
vii. Place for preparation of foodstuff and other eatables
 OBJECTIVES

i. To secure safety of the person

ii. To secure health of the person from hazardous
occupation and process;
iii. To ensure protection from hazardous equipment
iv. To ensure sound working environment
v. To regulate timings of the working hours
 APPLICABILITY
• Limited jurisdiction – applies to “Factories”
• Premises where 10 and more workers;
• Manufacturing process, Power
• Premises where 20 and more workers;
• Manufacturing process; No power

• Act empower state government to declare all or any of the

provisions of the act to apply to any place with an objective
to secure safety, health and welfare or workmen even though
the workers strength is less than the above cited conditions.
 STATISTICS OF THE STATE

1. Total No. of Factories registered : 10,300

2. Total No. of beneficiaries : Around 10 Lakhs
3. Industries ( hazardous processes) : 800
4. Divisional Offices : 20 Districts
5. Accidents (Fatal) : Average 30 to 50
6. Non-fatal accidents : Average 3500 to 4000
7. No. of enforcing Officers : 30
 POWERS OF INSPECTORS
• He has got the power to enter to any premises
• Examinations of the premises, plant and machinery
• Left undisturbed
• Seize any records, take copies
• Measurements, photographs ,recordings
• Call for production of any registers or documents
 Health of workers

• Cleanliness – (Sec 11)

• Disposal of wastes and effluents -(Sec 12)
• Ventilation and temperature dust and fume - Sec 13
• Overcrowding Artificial humidification Lighting – Sec. 16
• Lighting – 17
• Drinking – 18
• Laterines and urinals- Sec 19
• Spittoons. - Sec. 20
 Safety Measures
 
•   Fencing of machinery – Sec. 21
•   Work on near machinery in motion. – Sec 22
•  Employment prohibition of young persons on dangerous
machines. – Sec 23
Self-acting machines.- Sec 25
·    Casing of new machinery.- Sec 26
•·    Prohibition of employment of women and children near

cotton-openers.- Sec 27
·   
 Welfare Measure
• Washing facilities – Sec 42
• Facilities for storing and drying clothing – Sec 43
• Facilities for sitting – Sec 44
• First-aid appliances – one first aid box not less than one for every
150 workers– Sec 45
•Canteens when there are 250 or more workers. – Sec 46
•Shelters, rest rooms and lunch rooms when there are 150 or more
workers. – Sec 47
•Creches when there are 30 or more women workers. – Sec 48
•Welfare office when there are 500 or more workers. – Sec 49
 Working Hours, Spread Over & Overtime of Adults

• Weekly hours not more than 48 - Sec: 51

• Daily hours, not more than 9 hours. - Sec: 54
• Intervals for rest at least ½ hour on working for 5 hours. -
Sec: 55
• Spread over not more than 10½ hours. - Sec: 56
• Overlapping shifts prohibited. - Sec: 58
• Extra wages for overtime double than normal rate of wages -
Sec:59
• Restrictions on employment of women before 6AM and
beyond 7 PM. - Sec: 60
 FACTORIES ACT – WOMEN WORKERS

• Prohibits the employment of women from 7 pm to 6 am.

• Prohibits overtime work
• Act permits the Government to notify the factories to
employ women workers up to 10pm with conditions
• Act bars employment of women workers in hazardous
processes
 FACTORIES ACT – CHILD LABOUR
• Bars the employment of persons below the age of 14
• Certificate of fitness from the certifying surgeon.
Child – more than 14 and less 15;
Adolescent – more than 15 and less than 18
• Working hour for child is four and half hour per day
• Double employment of child is prohibited
• Working hours for adolescent is as that of adult.
• Act bars employment of child and adolescent on
dangerous manufacturing processes
PROVISIONS RELATING TO HAZARDOUS
PROCESS
• Constitution of site appraisal committee
• Compulsory disclosure of information by the occupier
• Specific responsibility of the occupier in relation to
hazardous process
• Permissible limits of exposure of chemical and toxic
substances
• Workers participation in safety management
• Right of workers to warn about imminent danger
 INQUIRY COMMITTEE

The central government in the event of an occurrence of any

extra ordinary situation involving a factory engaged in hazardous
process can appoint a committee to inquire in to the standards of
health and safety observed in the factory with a view to find out
the cause of any failure or neglect in the adoption of any
measures or standards prescribed for health and safety.
 MAINTENANCE OF REGISTERS

• Muster roll
• Register of adult workers
• Register of leave with wages
• Inspection book
• Register of accident or dangerous occurrence
• Overtime exemption register
• Health register
 DISPLAY OF NOTICES
• Notice of periods of work
• An abstract of the act and rules
• Cautionary notices
• Safety posters
• Name of the Inspector
• Name of the certifying surgeon
OFFENCE
   For contravention of the Provisions
of the Act or Rules
   On Continuation of contravention
   On contravention of Chapter IV
pertaining to safety or dangerous
operations.
   Obstructing Inspectors
   Wrongful disclosing result
pertaining to results of analysis.
   For contravention of the provisions
of Sec.41B, 41C and 41H pertaining to
compulsory disclosure of information
by occupier, specific responsibility of
occupier or right of workers to work
imminent danger.
PENALTIES Sec.92 to 106
   Imprisonment upto 2 years or fine
upto Rs.1,00,000 or both
   Rs.1000 per day
   Not less than Rs.25000 in case of
death.
   Not less than Rs.5000 in case of
serious injuries.
   Imprisonment upto 6 months or
fine upto Rs.10, 000 or both.
   Imprisonment upto 6 months or
fine upto Rs.10, 000 or both.
   Imprisonment upto 7 years with
fine upto Rs.2, 00,000 and on
continuation fine @ Rs.5, 000 per day.
  Imprisonment of 10 years when
contravention continues for one year.
 Our Analysis of the Act

• Requirement of high degree of safety and health awareness at the

site which is under the ambit of the definition of the Act.
• Stipulates welfare measures in addition to regulation of working
hours.
• Stipulates that the occupier and manager are obliged to
implement the provisions envisaged in the Act to ensure safety at the
site;
• The main intention of the legislator who have designed this
legislation is to protect the huge community who are exposed to
high degree of risks and hazards at their work place.
• The act not only protect the persons inside the premises in
particular but also the environment in general.
 Our Analysis of the Act

• Act also provides certain rights and highlights the obligations of

the workers in ensuring safety at the work place.
• The occupier and manager carry vicarious responsibilities.
• Two types of responsibilities
• Vicarious (though he is not directly connected, ultimately they
will be held)
• Absolute
 Our Suggestions

Definitely much can be accomplished

• Top management’s strong commitment to ensure safety and health at

the workplace.
• Implementation of safety is not only a few persons’ job
• Everybody should think that individually and collectively they are
responsible to promote safety in the industry
• It is not one time affair, it is continuous and constant
•
• Middle management should carry the mission and vision of the
top management to the grass root level without any laxity and
compromise.

• Continuous effort of providing information, training and

education on safety and health to the persons who are in the
field is required.

• There should be strong behavioural attitude towards safety

•
CASE STUDY
 WORKERS’ DEATH AND WORKING
LIVES

 In one of the most serious industrial accidents in Delhi in recent

years, six workers died from an explosion and fire in a fabric-
washing factory.
 The accident took place at Virgo Washing Co., which operated a
rented premises .
 The factory, owned by a Rathi Varadarajan, washes garments
exclusively for a larger company, Kashika Enterprises, jointly
owned by Rathi and her mother.
 Virgo has about thirty-five workers, most of whom have been
hired through a contractor.
 The parent company Kashika (268 Sant Nagar, East of Kailash)
is a medium-sized, profitable company with around two hundred
workers.

 After the fabrics are made, they are sent to a small number of
such washing units.

 At Virgo, the fabrics are washed in a machine with acetone and

other solvents, which are highly inflammable.
 THE ACCIDENT
 The Virgo factory consisted of one long room long. There was a
door at one end of the room, which was the only exit.

 The first half of the room used to contain the piles of fabric. In
the second half of the room were the cleaning and drying
machines and a work-table .

 The room also had big drums of solvents. Solvents are not merely
highly inflammable, they also vaporize easily.
 THE ACCIDENT

 The accident took place at lunchtime.

 There was a spark, caused either by the drying machine or an

overhead tube - light.

 The solvent fumes ignited and there was an immediate

explosion.

Simultaneously, three drums containing 660 litres of solvent

exploded. The blast was so powerful that the nearest wall was
destroyed
 LEGAL IMPLICATIONS

 The Virgo unit ran illegally.

 In order to start manufacturing or any other activity the owner has to

obtain an Industrial license from the licensing authority.

 Rathi Varadarajan chose not to do so, like countless other factory

owners in this city.

 The local police are usually the first authorities to find out that a
factory is running illegally, they ought to send a complaint about
illegal operations to the Labour Department.
 As for the labour department, under section 9 of the Factories
Act, a factory Inspector has the authority to inspect factories and
machinery, and test any potentially hazardous substances used.

 The inspector told PUDR that the department was unaware of the
existence of Virgo Washing Co. since it was not a listed and
licensed factory.
 The daily attendance register revealed that the workers were
required to report for work every day at 9 a.m. On weekdays,
they were made to work either until 9 p.m., These workers stay in
one-room tenements in villages. Day after day without any
weekly off, since they were made to work even on Sundays, until
7 p.m.
 Thus they were made to work for as many as 90 hours a week on
average, whereas section 54 of the Factories Act states that no
worker should be made to work for more than 48 hours In a
week.
 The lack of safety. Any workplace that uses solvents needs ample
working space for the workers, wide windows and doors, an
adequate number of gas fans, and special lighting facilities that
would prevent a spark from igniting any fumes.

 All thirty-five workers were crowded Into one half of the room
since the first half of the room stocked the garments that came in
and out of the place.
 They were not given any face masks or proper footwear. They
worked like this standing for hours on end in the midst of petrol,
solvents, and fumes.

 In that room with poor ventilation, some spoke of the suffocation

they felt by the end of the day.

 Most of the workers were not given any real idea, as they should
be, about the exact nature of the substances used.
 RESULT - HAPPINESS EVERYWHERE
To be in this beautiful world -
One should work safely