Mines and Quarries Act 1954

Miscellaneous Provisions

131 Register of women and young persons employed

(1) It shall, in the case of every mine and quarry, be the duty of the responsible person to keep at the office at the mine or quarry, or at such other place as may be approved by an inspector, a register in such form as may be specified by the Minister and to enter in that register in such form and manner as may be so specified the name, date of birth, residence and date of first employment at the mine or quarry of all women and young persons employed thereat, indicating, in the case of male young persons employed at a mine, which of them are employed below ground thereat.

(2) It shall, in the case of every mine or quarry, be the duty of the responsible person to produce (if requested so to do) any register kept by him in pursuance of this section to an officer of the local education authority (or, in Scotland, the education authority) within whose area the mine or quarry is situate.

(3) Before a male young person is first employed below ground in a mine his employer (if other than the owner of the mine) shall inform the manager of the mine or some other person appointed in that behalf by the manager, that the young person is to be so employed.

132 Supplemental

(1) For the purposes of this Part of this Act a person employed below ground in a mine shall be deemed to be so employed during the period between the time at which he is required to attend for the purpose of going below ground and the time at which he returns to the surface.

(2) There shall be deemed to be no contravention of any provision of sections one hundred and twenty-six to one hundred and twenty-nine of this Act in relation to a person employed below ground on a shift in a mine of coal, stratified ironstone, shale or fireclay, if there would be no contravention of that provision in relation to him if he left the surface at the same time as the last workman on that shift and returned to the surface at the same time as the first workman on that shift.

(3) This Part of this Act (except subsection (1) of section one hundred and twenty-four) shall not apply to persons holding responsible positions of management or acting as assistants to persons holding such positions or to persons engaged in clerical work above ground, being in each case persons who are not ordinarily engaged in manual work, to persons employed in, or in connection with, the sale or supply of meals or refreshments or to persons employed for the purposes of the treatment of the sick or injured.

(4) Where—

(a) a male young person who has attained the age of sixteen is, by virtue of a direction under subsection (2) of section one hundred and twenty-seven of this Act, employed at a mine other than of coal or at a quarry at a time later than ten o'clock, but not later than eleven o'clock, in the evening; or

(b) a male young person (whether he has attained the age of sixteen or not) is employed below ground at a mine at a time at which his employment would be unlawful apart from subsection (2) of this section ;

his employment at the time mentioned in paragraph (a) or, as the case may be, paragraph (b) of this subsection shall be deemed not to be in contravention of the Employment of Women, Young Persons, and Children Act, 1920.

(5) Save as provided by the last foregoing subsection, the provisions of this Part of this Act shall be in addition to, and not in derogation of, the provisions of any other Act restricting the employment of women and young persons.