Factories Act 1937

81 Exception as to male young persons employed in shifts.

(1) Male young persons who have attained the age of sixteen may, in the industries and processes to which this section applies, be employed on a system of shifts outside the hours specified in this Part of this Act for the beginning and end of the period of employment, subject to the conditions hereinafter specified, and such other conditions as the Secretary of State may, for the purpose of safeguarding their welfare and interests, by regulations direct, on work which is by reason of the nature of the process required to be carried on continuously day and night. The period of employment for any such shift as aforesaid may end on Sunday morning not later than six o'clock or begin on Sunday evening not earlier than ten o'clock, and where the young persons are employed on a system of four shifts with turns of not more than eight hours for each shift, they may be employed in such shifts between six o'clock in the morning and. ten o'clock in the evening on Sundays.

(2) The conditions referred to in the last foregoing subsection are as follows :—

(a) the number of turns worked by any such young person shall not exceed six in any week;

(b) the interval between successive turns of any such young person shall not be less than fourteen hours;

(c) no such young person shall, in two consecutive weeks, be employed between twelve midnight and six o'clock in the morning:

Provided that, as respects young persons employed in a system of four shifts and any young persons employed in the manufacture of glass, the conditions contained in this subsection shall be subject to such modifications as the Secretary of State may by regulations direct.

(3) The total hours worked by young persons employed in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this section may exceed forty-eight in any week, but shall not exceed fifty-six in any week or one hundred and forty-four in any continuous period of three weeks.

(4) A young person who is taken into employment in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this section in any factory shall not continue to be so employed after the expiration of such period, not being less than seven days, as may be prescribed by regulations of the Secretary of State unless he has, in accordance with those regulations, been examined by the examining surgeon and certified by him to be fit for such employment, and the regulations shall provide for the re-examination of young persons so employed at intervals not exceeding six months.

(5) Male young persons who have attained the age of sixteen may, in the industries and processes to which this section applies, be employed on weekdays between six o'clock in the morning and ten o'clock in the evening on a system of shifts, subject to the conditions specified in subsection (2) of this section and such other conditions as the Secretary of State may, for the purpose of safeguarding their welfare and interests, by regulations direct; and the total hours worked by those young persons may exceed forty-eight in any week, but shall not exceed the limits specified in subsection (3) of this section.

(6) The provisions of this Part of this Act with respect to the overtime employment of women and young persons, shall not apply to any young persons employed in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this section.

(7) The industries and processes to which this section applies are—

• the smelting of iron ore;

• the manufacture of wrought iron, steel or tin-plate;

• processes in which reverberatory or regenerative furnaces, necessarily kept in operation day and night in order to avoid waste of material and fuel, are used in connection with the smelting of ores, metal rolling, forges, or the manufacture of metal tubes or rods, or in connection with such other classes of work as may be specified by regulations of the Secretary of State;

• the galvanising of sheet metal or wire (except the pickling process);

• the manufacture of paper;

• the manufacture of glass.