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Statutory Instruments
FACTORIES
Made
16th January 1950
Laid before Parliament
16th January 1950
Coming into Operation
2nd April 1950
Whereas the
the calcining, crushing, grinding or sieving of flint or quartz,
the mixing of flint or quartz with clay or other material in the preparation of a pottery body, and
the manufacture of lithographic transfers, frits or glazes for use in the manufacture or decoration of pottery,
are manufactures or processes of such a nature as to cause risk of bodily injury to the persons employed:
And Whereas it appears to the Minister that, owing to the conditions and circumstances of employment or the nature of the processes carried on in factories to which these Regulations apply, provision requires to be made for securing the welfare of persons employed in such factories:
Now, therefore, the Minister by virtue of the powers conferred by
1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Pottery (Health and Welfare) Special Regulations, 1950, and shall come into operation on the 2nd day of April, 1950.
(2) The Regulations made by the Secretary of State on the 2nd January, 1913, for the Manufacture and Decoration of Pottery(2), and the Pottery (Silicosis) Regulations, 1932(3), are hereby revoked.
(3) Factories to which these Regulations apply shall be excluded from the application of the Clay Works (Welfare) Special Regulations, 1948(4), except that where, in any such factory, there is carried on the manufacture of any of the articles mentioned in paragraph (1) of Regulation 4 hereof this exclusion shall relate only to a part of the factory which is not used for the purpose of such manufacture.
2.—(1) The Interpretation Act, 1889, applies to the interpretation of these Regulations as it applies to the interpretation of an Act of Parliament.
(2) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires, the following expressions have the meanings hereby assigned to them:—
“Appointed Doctor” means
“Approved respirator” means
“Damp fettling” means
wholly with a wet sponge or other wet material, or
while the ware being fettled is still so damp that no dust is given off.
“Efficient exhaust draught,” when that expression is used in connection with a process, means
“Fettling”
“Flint or quartz milling”
“Flintless stoneware” means
“Flow material” means
“Galena” means
“Glaze”
“Glost placing”
the placing of ware coated with unfired glaze onto cranks or similar articles prior to their transference to saggars, trucks, ovens or kilns for glost firing;
the placing of such ware into saggars or onto trucks or onto oven-conveyors;
the placing of saggars containing such ware into ovens or kilns or onto trucks; and
the removal and carrying of saggars or cranks from the oven, kiln or truck after glost firing except in the case of tunnel ovens,
“Leadless glaze” means
“Leadless glaze factory” means
“Lithographic transfer making”
“Low solubility glaze” means
“Moist method,” when that expression is used in relation to cleaning, means
“Potters' shops”
“Pottery”
“Scheduled process” means
“Slip-house”
“Stopping of biscuit ware” means
“Suspension” means
“Thimble picking” means
“Ware-cleaning” means
“Wedging of clay” means
3. Subject to the provisions of Regulations 4 and 5, these Regulations shall apply to all factories in which the manufacture or decoration of pottery is carried on or in which, for use in the manufacture or decoration of pottery, lithographic transfers, frits or glazes are made, or flint or quartz is ground or powdered, or ground or powdered flint or quartz is mixed with clay or other material to form the body of the ware.
4.—(1) Nothing in these Regulations shall apply to a factory in which any of the following articles but no other pottery is made:—
(a)unglazed or salt-glazed ware made from natural clay in the plastic state, to which no flint or quartz or other form of free silica is or has been added;
(b)bricks glazed or unglazed;
(c)architectural terra-cotta made from plastic clay and either unglazed or glazed with a leadless glaze only.
(2) Nothing in these Regulations shall apply to the manufacture of potters' colours in a factory in which no pottery is manufactured or decorated.
5.—(1) These Regulations, or such of them as may be specified, shall not apply to a factory or to a part or parts of a factory if a certificate in writing to that effect has been issued by the Chief Inspector.
(2) The Chief Inspector may issue a certificate for the purpose of paragraph (1) of this Regulation if he is satisfied with respect to the Regulations specified therein:—
(a)that they are not necessary for the protection of the persons employed in the factory or part thereof; or
(b)that their application is impracticable in the circumstances; or
(c)that their application is inappropriate by reason of the fact that the industry carried on in the part of the factory to which the certificate relates is separate and distinct from the operations specified in Regulation 3 hereof.
(3) Any such certificate as aforesaid may be issued subject to such conditions as the Chief Inspector thinks fit and may be revoked by him at any time.
(4) Where any such certificate as aforesaid is issued a legible copy thereof showing the conditions subject to which it has been granted shall be kept posted up in the factory to which it relates in a position where it may conveniently be read by the persons employed.
6.—(1) No woman or young person shall be employed or work in the following processes:—
(i)the stopping of biscuit ware with material which yields to dilute hydrochloric acid more than five per cent. of its dry weight of a soluble lead compound calculated as lead monoxide when determined in the manner described in the definition of low solubility glaze;
(ii)the weighing out, shovelling or mixing of unfritted lead compounds in the preparation or manufacture of frits, glazes or colours;
(iii)the preparation or weighing out of flow material;
(iv)the washing of saggars with a wash which yields to dilute hydrochloric acid more than five per cent. of its dry weight of a soluble lead compound calculated as lead monoxide when determined in the manner described in the definition of low solubility glaze;
(v)the cleaning of boards used in any place where dipping, drying after dipping, ware-cleaning or glost placing is done, except in the case of a leadless glaze factory;
(vi)the cleaning of mangles or any part thereof, except in a leadless glaze factory;
(vii)the cleaning or scraping of floors of potters' shops or drying stoves or of any place in which any scheduled process is carried on, but the occasional picking or scraping up of a piece of clay or other material shall not be deemed to be cleaning or scraping for this purpose;
(viii)the grinding of clay dust;
(ix)the wedging of clay;
(x)wheel turning for a thrower;
(xi)flint or quartz milling.
(2) (a) No woman or young person shall be employed to load, carry or unload clay, clay dust or clay scraps, except that, without prejudice to paragraph (7) of this Regulation:—
(i)a woman or young person may load, carry or unload clay scraps made by that woman or young person or by the maker for whom that woman or young person is working, provided that no such carrying is done to any point more than 50 yards from the place where the scraps were made and the total weight of the scraps and the container in which they are being carried does not exceed 40 lbs.; and
(ii)a woman or a young person who has attained the age of sixteen may carry damp clay for the use of a thrower for whom that woman or young person is employed as an assistant, if the carrying is done from a point not more than 50 yards from the thrower's place of work and on the same floor level and if the total weight of the clay and any container in which it is being carried does not exceed 40 lbs.
(b)For the purposes of sub-paragraph (a) of this paragraph the transfer of clay or clay scraps between the surface of a work-bench and the surface of a conveyor adjacent to the work-bench shall not be deemed to be loading or unloading.
(3) No young person shall be employed or work:—
(i)in any process included in Part I of the First Schedule to these Regulations; or
(ii)as a wheel turner at a press for pressing tiles.
(4) No young person under sixteen years of age shall be employed or work in any process included in Part II of the First Schedule to these Regulations.
(5) No girl under sixteen years of age shall be employed or work as a lathe treader.
(6) A woman shall not be employed:—
(a)to lift or carry by herself any saggar or saggars if the weight thereof, including the contents, exceeds 30 lbs.;
(b)to lift or carry in conjunction with any other person any saggar or saggars if the weight thereof, including the contents, exceeds 50 lbs.;
(c)either by herself or in conjunction with any other person, so to raise or stack any saggar or saggars that the bottom of any of the saggars is more than four feet six inches above the floor level:
(7) Without prejudice to the provisions of subsection (1) of Section 56 of the principal Act (which provides that a young person shall not be employed to lift, carry or move any load so heavy as to be likely to cause injury to him) a young person shall not be employed in lifting or carrying work, except in the lifting or carrying of a weight not exceeding 20 lbs., unless there is a certificate of the Appointed Doctor entered in the Health Register referred to in paragraph (1) of Regulation 8 specifying the maximum weight which that young person may lift or carry, and the young person shall not be employed to lift or carry any weight in excess of that specified in the certificate:
7.—(1) No person shall be employed in a process included in Part I of the First Schedule to these Regulations unless he has within the immediately preceding period of a calendar month been examined by the Appointed Doctor for the purposes of this Regulation and a record of such examination and of the date thereof, signed or initialled by the Appointed Doctor, has been entered in the Health Register referred to in paragraph (1) of Regulation 8 or in that person's portable register referred to in paragraph (2) of that Regulation:
(2) The occupier shall make arrangements:—
(a)for the persons employed at the factory in a process or processes included in Part I of the First Schedule to these Regulations to be examined by the Appointed Doctor for the purposes of this Regulation, and
(b)for the examination by the Appointed Doctor of any person whom he proposes to employ in work for which a certificate of the Appointed Doctor is required under paragraph (7) of Regulation 6 (which relates to the employment of young persons in lifting or carrying work) or under Regulation 25 (which relates to colour blowing, etc.);
due notice of the examinations shall be given by the occupier to all concerned and it shall be the duty of persons so employed to submit themselves for examination by the Appointed Doctor at the appointed times:
(3) The Appointed Doctor shall have power of suspension as respects any person examined by him for the purposes of this Regulation; and no person after suspension shall, in any factory to which these Regulations apply, be employed or work in a process included in Part I of the First Schedule to these Regulations without a certificate signed by the Appointed Doctor that he sanctions such employment.
(4) Where the Appointed Doctor exercises his power of suspension or issues a certificate under paragraph (3) of this Regulation, he shall either:—
(a)enter the certificate in the Health Register for the factory at which the worker is or was last employed in a process included in Part I of the First Schedule to these Regulations, or
(b)enter the certificate in the worker's portable register, or
(c)send the certificate to the occupier of the factory referred to in sub-paragraph (a) of this paragraph, furnishing a copy to the worker;
and in the last-mentioned case the occupier shall, on receiving the certificate, cause it to be attached forthwith to the Health Register for the factory and to be kept so attached until replaced by a personal entry by the Appointed Doctor in that Register.
(5) The occupier shall provide for the purpose of examinations by the Appointed Doctor under any of these Regulations (for the exclusive use of the Appointed Doctor on the occasion of an examination) a room which shall be properly cleaned and adequately warmed and lighted and furnished with a screen, a table (with writing materials) and chairs, and shall afford to the Appointed Doctor facilities to inspect any process or work in or on which a person being examined by the Appointed Doctor is or is proposed to be or has been employed.
8.—(1) A Health Register for the factory shall be kept in a form approved by the Chief Inspector and shall contain the names of all persons who are or who have since the commencement of these Regulations been employed at the factory in a process included in Part I of the First Schedule to these Regulations or in work for which a certificate of the Appointed Doctor is required under paragraph (7) of Regulation 6 (which relates to the employment of young persons in lifting or carrying work) or under Regulation 25 (which relates to colour blowing, etc.). The Register shall be open to inspection by any person employed so far as concerns the entries relating to that person.
(2) The occupier shall, on the application of any casual worker employed by him in a process included in Part I of the First Schedule to these Regulations, supply to that worker free of charge a portable register in a form approved by the Chief Inspector in which the Appointed Doctor may enter records of his examinations of that worker for the purposes of paragraph (1) of Regulation 7 (which relates to certain medical examinations) and any certificates of suspension or sanction given by him under that Regulation.
9.—(1) The occupier shall provide, for the use of all persons employed in the processes or work included in the Second Schedule to these Regulations, protective clothing of suitable design and material as set out in that Schedule.
(2) All protective clothing provided in pursuance of this Regulation shall be maintained by the occupier in good repair and the occupier shall have the overalls and head-coverings washed or renewed weekly, such washing to be done at the factory or at a laundry.
(3) All protective clothing provided in pursuance of this Regulation shall be kept in proper custody when not in use; and for the accommodation of such clothing the occupier shall provide suitable and suitably situated cupboards or rooms and in such cupboards or rooms a separate peg for each worker required to wear such clothing.
(4) The accommodation provided in pursuance of paragraph (3) of this Regulation shall not be in a room or place provided for the taking of meals and shall be separate from the accommodation provided for clothing put off during working hours.
10.—(1) Every person employed in any process or work for which protective clothing is required to be provided by Regulation 9 shall wear that clothing when employed in the process or work.
(2) Every person for whom protective clothing is required to be provided by Regulation 9 shall deposit that clothing after use in the accommodation provided in pursuance of paragraph (3) of that Regulation and shall not take it home or into any place provided for the taking of meals.
(3) Every person for whom a waterproof apron is required to be provided by Regulation 9 shall thoroughly clean it daily by sponging or other wet method.
11. Without prejudice to the requirements of Section 43 of the principal Act, the accommodation for clothing put off during working hours and the arrangements for drying such clothing shall be outside any room in which is carried on any scheduled process or any dusty process or shall be enclosed from the general air of any such room and shall not, unless the occupier holds written permission from the Inspector for the District, be in any room or place provided for the taking of meals.
12.—(1) Without prejudice to the requirements of Section 42 of the principal Act, there shall be provided and maintained by the occupier and shall be kept in a clean and orderly condition, for the use of all persons employed in any scheduled process and specifically allocated for the use of such persons, suitable facilities for washing, including a sufficient supply of clean towels, renewed daily, and of soap and nail brushes, and basins or troughs for washing the face, hands and forearms.
(2) The basins and troughs required to be provided and maintained by paragraph (1) of this Regulation shall satisfy the following requirements:—
(a)basins and troughs shall have a smooth impervious upper surface;
(b)each basin shall be fitted with a waste-pipe and plug and shall have a supply of hot and cold water or of warm water laid on and available at all times when employed persons for whose use the basin is reckoned as provided are in or within the precincts of the factory;
(c)each trough shall be fitted with an unplugged waste-pipe and shall have a supply of warm water laid on at points above the trough at intervals of not more than two feet and available at all times when employed persons for whose use the trough or part thereof is reckoned as provided are in or within the precincts of the factory;
(d)basins and troughs shall be so situated as to afford facilities for washing under cover and protected from the weather;
(e)basins and troughs shall be sufficient in number and dimensions to provide at least one unit for every five persons employed in scheduled processes, males and females being reckoned separately for this purpose.
(3) For the purposes of this Regulation:—
(a)a “unit” means
(b)in dividing by five for the purpose of finding the number of units required, any remainder shall be counted as five;
(c)a unit shall not be reckoned as provided for a number of persons unless that unit is conveniently accessible to every one of that number;
(d)a basin or other receptacle shall not be reckoned as a trough unless it measures internally at least four feet over its longest or widest part.
(4) The washing facilities provided under this Regulation shall not be in any room or place provided for the taking of meals; and where both sexes are employed the facilities for females shall be so situated or screened off as to provide privacy.
(5) Before each meal and before the end of the day's work or the end of the turn of the shift, at least five minutes in addition to the regular meal-times shall be allowed for washing to each person employed in any scheduled process.
13.—(1) There shall be provided and maintained for the use of all persons employed in any potters' shop or in any place where clay dust is prepared or where flint or quartz milling or any scheduled process is carried on, a suitable messroom or messrooms which shall be furnished with:—
(a)sufficient tables and chairs or benches with back rests, and
(b)adequate means of warming food and boiling water.
(2) Each room provided as a messroom shall be completely separated from any room in which a process is carried on, shall be placed under the charge of a responsible person, and shall be kept clean and adequately ventilated and lighted and sufficiently warmed for use during meal intervals.
(3) Suitable arrangements shall be made for persons employed in the places and processes specified in paragraph (1) of this Regulation to store their food during working hours.
14.—(1) No person who has been employed in any scheduled process shall partake of food or drink or make use of tobacco or leave the factory unless that person has washed his hands since last actually engaged in such a process.
(2) No person shall during the intervals allowed to him for meals or rest, other than intervals allowed in the course of a spell of continuous employment as defined in subsection (5) of Section 152 of the principal Act, remain in any potters' shop or in any place where clay dust is prepared or where flint or quartz milling or any scheduled process is carried on.
(3) No person shall introduce food or drink into any place in which a scheduled process is carried on, or shall keep, prepare or partake of food or drink or make use of tobacco in any such place.
15.—(1) In the case of every workroom there shall be provided for the admission of fresh air into the room sufficient inlets suitably placed and so constructed or with such arrangements as to prevent a draught blowing directly from the inlet onto a worker.
(2) (a) The drying of pottery articles by means of heat shall, save as provided in sub-paragraphs (b) and (c) of this paragraph, be carried on only in drying stoves or in rooms set apart for that purpose.
(b)In so far as compliance with the foregoing requirement is not reasonably practicable by reason of the nature or size of the article or through lack of space, pottery articles may be left to be dried in a workroom, provided that in any such case (except where sub-paragraph (c) of this paragraph applies) ventilation shall so far as reasonably practicable be so arranged that there is not a flow of air towards the workers from the direction of the sources of artificial heat used for drying the articles.
(c)In the case of a workroom in which sanitary fireclay ware is dried by heat arising from the floor or from pipes near the floor, the requirements of sub-paragraph (b) of this paragraph shall not apply but the arrangements for ventilating the room shall, so far as reasonably practicable, be such as to facilitate the vertically upward movement of air from the articles being dried.
(3) Every drying stove, dryer and mangle shall be so ventilated that there is no flow of hot air from the stove, dryer or mangle into any place where any person works.
(4) In the case of vertical or tower mangles the pipes used for heating shall not be fixed below the level of the top of any opening at which workers put in or take off ware.
(5) The requirements of this Regulation shall be without prejudice to the provisions of Section 4 of the principal Act.
16.—(1) The dry-bulb temperature in any workroom shall not, while work is going on, be above 75 degrees Fahrenheit:
(2) The dry-bulb temperature in any workroom in which pottery is made by the compression of clay dust or is fettled after being so made shall not after the first hour be less than 55 degrees Fahrenheit while work is going on.
(3) A suitable thermometer shall be provided and maintained in a suitable position in every workroom.
(4) When any person is in an oven for the purpose of drawing, the temperature at his head-height shall not exceed 115 degrees Fahrenheit.
(5) Upon demand being made at any time by persons employed or immediately proposed to be employed in an oven for the purpose of drawing, the temperature in the oven shall be taken by the occupier or his representative and the occupier shall provide a suitable thermometer for the purpose.
(6) The requirements of this Regulation shall be without prejudice to the provisions of Section 3 of the principal Act.
17.—(1) The following processes shall not be carried on without the use of an efficient exhaust draught:—
(i)the manipulation of calcined flint at the mouth of the calcining kiln, unless the material has been made and remains so wet that no dust is given off;
(ii)the sieving of material drawn from the calcining kiln after the calcining of flint, unless the material has been made and remains so wet that no dust is given off;
(iii)the crushing or grinding of flint or quartz, unless the material has been made and remains so wet, or the process is carried on in a machine or plant which is so enclosed, as effectually to prevent the escape of dust into the air of any place where any person works;
(iv)the dry grinding of any material other than flint or quartz for a pottery body, unless the process is carried on in a machine or plant which is so enclosed as effectually to prevent the escape of dust into the air of any place where any person works;
(v)the sifting of clay dust for making tiles or other pottery articles by pressure, unless the material is so damp that no dust is given off;
(vi)the loading or unloading of calcined flint or of quartz or clay dust into or from any container or machine, unless the material is so damp that no dust is given off;
(vii)fettling other than damp fettling;
(viii)damp fettling, unless suitable arrangements are made for collecting scraps from the fettling and, except in the case of sanitary fireclay ware, for preventing them from falling onto the floor;
(ix)the pressing of tiles or (unless the material is so damp that no dust is given off) of other articles from clay dust; and in any such case the exhaust draught shall be applied to the dies of each press and to the stock-boxes containing the dust;
(x)the brushing of earthenware biscuit, including earthenware tile biscuit and sanitary earthenware biscuit, unless the process is carried on in a room provided with a system of general ventilation effected with the aid of mechanical means, being a system which is certified by the Inspector for the District as being adequate in the circumstances of the case if properly maintained and which is in fact properly maintained;
(xi)the placing of china for the biscuit fire if alumina or other powdered material is used;
(xii)the emptying of china biscuit flat-ware from saggars after firing in alumina or other powdered material;
(xiii)flat-knocking;
(xiv)the scouring of china biscuit by brushing or rumbling, if alumina or other powdered substance has been used as a placing material;
(xv)the sieving of alumina or other powdered placing material;
(xvi)the spraying-on of an engobe or slip which contains flint or quartz;
(xvii)ware-cleaning, except where this is done:—
(a)entirely with the use of wet materials, or
(b)while the article is so damp that no dust is given off;
(xviii)the preparation or weighing out of flow material;
(xix)the lawning of dry colours, except where not more than one ounce at a time is lawned for use in painting;
(xx)glaze spraying or glaze blowing;
(xxi)colour blowing or the wiping off of colour after that process;
(xxii)ground laying or colour dusting, or the wiping off of colour after either of those processes;
(xxiii)lithographic transfer making with dry colours;
(xxiv)the polishing of ware;
(xxv)the grinding of ware on a dry sandstone wheel;
(xxvi)the sorting of glost ware with a power-driven tool;
(xxvii)the grinding of tiles on a power-driven wheel in connection with tile-slabbing, unless an efficient water spray is used on the wheel.
(2) Every process for which an exhaust draught is required by this Regulation shall be carried on inside a suitable hood:
(3) All screens and sieves and all chutes, conveyors, elevators and mixers used for manipulating materials containing flint or quartz so dry as to produce dust shall be enclosed and be provided with an efficient exhaust draught.
(4) In connection with ware-cleaning, suitable arrangements shall be made for any glaze dust or glaze scraps not removed by exhaust draught to fall into water.
(5) Every hood in which glaze spraying or glaze blowing or colour blowing is carried on shall be thoroughly cleaned daily by a wet method.
(6) Dust removed by exhaust ventilating plant used in connection with any of the processes specified in paragraph (1) of this Regulation shall be collected in suitable apparatus and shall not be allowed to escape into the air of any workroom:
(i)the brushing of earthenware biscuit;
(ii)ware-cleaning;
(iii)ground laying or colour dusting;
(iv)the polishing of ware;
(v)the sorting of glost ware with a power-driven tool;
(vi)the grinding of tiles on a power-driven wheel.
(7) Air discharged from exhaust ventilating plant used in connection with any of the processes specified in paragraph (1) of this Regulation shall, whether or not it has passed through dust collecting apparatus, be discharged directly into the open air where it is not liable to be drawn into the air of any workroom.
(8) All ventilating plant and dust collecting apparatus required by this Regulation shall be properly maintained and shall at least once in every period of fourteen months be thoroughly examined and tested by a competent person; and a report of the result of every such examination and test signed by the person making the examination and test and including particulars as to the state of the plant and any defects found shall forthwith be entered in a register which shall be kept at the factory in a form approved by the Chief Inspector.
(9) The requirements of this Regulation shall be without prejudice to the provisions of Section 47 of the principal Act (which relates to the removal of dust or fumes).
18.—(1) The floor of every slip-house shall:—
(a)be impervious to water and of even surface;
(b)be so constructed and maintained as to prevent the formation of pools of water or slip; and
(c)be swilled daily and kept clean;
and in connection with every such floor there shall be effective and suitable drainage arrangements for carrying off water from the floor.
(2) The floors of all places where the sieving, crushing or grinding of flint or of quartz is carried on shall:—
(a)be impervious floors of brick, flag or similar hard material;
(b)be kept in good repair; and
(c)be thoroughly cleaned daily by washing or swilling.
(3) (a) In all potters' shops, including such drying stoves as are entered by workpeople, and in all places where any of the following processes is carried on, namely:—
(i)the drying of clay or the preparation of clay dust;
(ii)the making or mixing of frits or glazes containing lead or of colours;
(iii)the preparation or weighing out of flow material;
(iv)colour blowing, or the wiping off of colour after that process;
(v)ground laying or colour dusting, or the wiping off of colour after either of those processes;
(vi)colour grinding for colour blowers;
(vii)lithographic transfer making;
(viii)the application of majolica or other glaze by blowing, painting or any other process except dipping;
there shall, subject to sub-paragraphs (b) and (c) of this paragraph, be provided and maintained either floors having a surface impervious to water or wooden floors with a thoroughly smooth and sound surface constructed in a substantial manner and kept in good repair so that they can be properly cleaned by a moist method and so that no dust can fall through into any room below.
(b)In the case of:—
(i)potters' shops, including such drying stoves as are entered by work people, and
(ii)places where there is carried on the drying of clay or the preparation of clay dust, and
(iii)places where there is carried on the making or mixing of frits or glazes containing lead or of colours or the preparation or weighing out of flow material,
but subject to sub-paragraph (c) of this paragraph and to paragraph (12) of this Regulation, all floors constructed or reconstructed after the commencement of these Regulations shall be impervious to water and of even surface and shall be capable of being washed down by a hose; and all other floors shall after the expiry of five years from the commencement of these Regulations have an even surface impervious to water.
(c)Notwithstanding sub-paragraphs (a) and (b) of this paragraph, there may be grids in floors where they are approved by certificate of the Inspector for the District, but in any such case the spaces below the grids shall be cleared of clay scraps, dust or debris whenever necessary and not less frequently than once in each week by an adult male who shall be provided with an approved respirator, and such cleaning shall only be carried out after work has ceased for the day and before 3 a.m. on the following day.
(d)Subject to the provisions of paragraph (12) of this Regulation, the floors of potters' shops, including such drying stoves as are entered by work-people, and of places where any of the processes specified in sub-paragraph (a) of this paragraph is carried on, shall be thoroughly cleaned either:—
(i)daily by a moist method after work has ceased for the day and before 3 a.m. on the following day and also, in the case of any potters' shop having an impervious floor, by washing or mopping with water on at least one day in each week, or
(ii)daily with an efficient vacuum cleaning apparatus.
(e)All clay scraps and debris, including any which have collected under benches and stillages, shall be removed daily from the floors of potters shops and of such drying stoves as are entered by workpeople.
(f)On each day between 12 noon and 2 p.m., at such time as the number of persons in the workroom is expected to be least, all clay scraps shall be removed from those parts of the floors of potters' shops on which persons are liable to tread.
(g)In all potters' shops and in all drying stoves which are entered by workpeople boxes shall be provided for the reception of clay scraps and broken ware.
(4) The floors of all places in which biscuit placing or glost placing is carried on shall:—
(a)be impervious floors of brick, flag or similar hard material;
(b)be kept in good repair; and
(c)be thoroughly cleaned by a moist method whenever the work of setting in an oven has ceased, and in any case at least once on any day on which biscuit placing or glost placing is done.
(5) Except in the case of a leadless glaze factory, the floors of all places where dipping, drying after dipping or ware-cleaning is done shall:—
(a)be impervious floors;
(b)be maintained in such condition that they can be readily and thoroughly cleaned by washing; and
(c)be thoroughly washed daily.
(6) The floors of all places where dipping, drying after dipping or ware-cleaning is done shall, if the room was erected after the 2nd January, 1913, or if the floor is constructed or reconstructed after the commencement of these Regulations, be properly sloped towards a drain.
(7) The washing and cleaning of floors and removal of clay required by sub-paragraphs (c), (d), (e) and (f) of paragraph (3) and by paragraph (5) of this Regulation shall be carried out by adult males nominated by the occupier for the purpose.
(8) Any steam pipes or other means of heating in drying-rooms or stoves or other places where pottery articles are left to dry shall, if installed after the commencement of these Regulations, and in any case after the expiry of five years from such commencement, be so arranged that they do not interfere with the cleaning of the floor.
(9) Stillages and shelves in any room or place specifically mentioned in any of the foregoing paragraphs of this Regulation shall not be so arranged as to impede the thorough cleaning of the floor underneath them.
(10) The floors of all workrooms or parts of workrooms not specifically mentioned in any of the foregoing paragraphs of this Regulation shall be maintained in such condition that they can be thoroughly cleaned by a moist method or with vacuum cleaning apparatus and shall be so cleaned daily.
(11) The foregoing requirements as to the daily cleaning of floors shall not apply to those parts of floors on or immediately above which pottery articles are necessarily left overnight, but adequate arrangements shall be made for the cleaning of such parts of the floors as soon as the articles are removed.
(12) The requirements of sub-paragraph (b) of paragraph (3) of this Regulation, and so much of the requirements of sub-paragraph (d) of paragraph (3) as relates to the weekly washing or mopping with water of impervious floors, shall not apply to the floors of rooms in which sanitary fireclay ware is dried by heat arising from the floor or from pipes near the floor.
(13) In the case of a slip-house where, at the commencement of these Regulations, the requirements of paragraph (1) of this Regulation as to the construction of the floor (including the requirements of sub-paragraph (a)) are not complied with, the Chief Inspector may be certificate temporarily exempt that slip-house from the application of those requirements if he is satisfied that, at the date of the certificate, the occupier of the factory has taken all reasonable steps towards ensuring compliance with the requirements but that such compliance has not become practicable.
19.—(1) Except in the case of a leadless glaze factory, the surface of every work-bench in any dipping house or other place where glaze is applied and in any room in which ware-cleaning is done and in any place where any of the following processes is carried on, namely:—
(i)the making or mixing of frits or glazes containing lead or of colours;
(ii)the preparation or weighing out of flow material;
(iii)colour blowing, or the wiping off of colour after that process;
(iv)ground laying or colour dusting, or the wiping off of colour after either of those processes;
(v)colour grinding for colour blowers;
(vi)lithographic transfer making;
(vii)glost placing;
shall:—
(a)be constructed of or covered with sheet metal or other smooth material impervious to water;
(b)be maintained in good condition; and
(c)be kept clean by means of a wet sponge or other wet material.
(2) The surface of every work-bench in any place to which paragraph (1) of this Regulation does not apply shall:—
(a)if not constructed of or covered with sheet metal or other material impervious to water, be strongly and solidly constructed of closely jointed timber and well maintained; and
(b)be thoroughly cleaned by a moist method or with an efficient vacuum cleaning apparatus on every day on which the work-bench is used.
(3) The requirements of sub-paragraph (b) of paragraph (2) of this Regulation shall not apply:—
(a)to work-benches or parts of work-benches on which pottery articles are necessarily left overnight, provided that adequate arrangements are made for the cleaning of such work-benches or parts of work-benches as soon as the articles are removed; or
(b)to work-benches or parts of work-benches used wholly or mainly for the artistic painting of ware with the use of oil colours (including gilding) or the application of designs to ware by means of transfers.
(4) Stands or frames used for supporting sanitary fireclay ware shall not be deemed to be work-benches for the purposes of the foregoing paragraphs of this Regulation, notwithstanding that work is done upon the ware while it is so supported.
20.—(1) Sufficient suitable shelves or other accommodation, so arranged as not to interfere with the thorough cleaning of the floor of the room, shall be provided for moulds in use in potters' shops and in no case shall moulds be left on the floor of a workroom during the night:
(2) Sufficient suitable provision shall be made for the storage of all moulds which are not in use and the tops of drying stoves shall not be used for that purpose:
(3) An approved respirator shall be provided for any person working in a mould store who elects to use it.
21. The following requirements shall apply in relation to the preparation, manipulation and storage of clay dust for use in the making of pottery:—
(a)dried clay shall not be transported from a drying-room or dryer by hand or on the head or shoulder; suitable trucks or other suitable means of conveyance shall be provided and used for the purpose;
(b)dried clay shall not be broken up by hand or by the use of hand tools;
(c)no person shall enter any dust storage ark except:—
(i)for the purpose of cleaning it, or
(ii)for the purpose of carrying out repairs or other similar work and then only if the ark has been cleaned since it was last in use,
and any person entering an ark for any such purpose shall be provided with an approved respirator;
(d)any person who uses a shovel or other hand implement for the purpose of filling boxes, trucks or other containers with dust for the pressing of tiles or of other pottery articles shall be provided with an approved respirator, and after the expiry of seven years from the commencement of these Regulations such filling shall not be done by shovelling or with the use of other hand implements;
(e)dust shall be transported in such a manner as to disperse as little dust as possible into the air and, without prejudice to the generality of this requirement, containers of dust shall not be transported by hand or on the head or shoulder but suitable trucks or other suitable means of conveyance shall be provided and used for the purpose;
(f)any person engaged in the transport of dust shall be provided with an approved respirator:
22. The following requirements shall apply in the case of tile presses used for the making of tiles by the compression of dust:—
(a)the control handle of every tile press shall be placed as near as practicable to table level and in no case shall it be above the shoulder level of the press operator;
(b)in any room in use as a tile press shop at the commencement of these Regulations:—
(i)the number of tile presses shall not exceed one in proportion to every seventy square feet of the floor area of the room;
(ii)the distance between the centres of the dies of any two presses shall not be less than five feet six inches in any direction; and
(iii)gangways used for the conveyance of dust shall not be less than six feet in width;
(c)in any room newly taken into use as a tile press shop after the commencement of these Regulations:—
(i)the number of tile presses shall not exceed one in proportion to every one hundred and twenty square feet of the floor area of the room;
(ii)the distance between the centres of the dies of any two presses shall not be less than nine feet in any direction; and
(iii)gangways used for the conveyance of dust shall not be less than seven feet six inches in width:
23.—(1) Raw lead compounds shall not be handled except with at least five per cent. by weight of added moisture.
(2) Raw lead compounds shall be kept in their original containers until weighed out and the containers shall be kept closed or covered so as to prevent the escape of dust.
(3) An approved respirator shall be provided for any person weighing out, shovelling or mixing unfritted lead compounds (other than galena) for or in the making of frits, glazes or colours or in the preparation of colours for use, unless the weighing out, shovelling or mixing (as the case may be) is carried out with the use of an efficient exhaust draught.
24.—(1) All parts of walls or partitions sufficiently near to any dipping tub to be liable to be splashed with glaze shall be so tiled or painted or shall be otherwise so constructed or treated that they can be readily and thoroughly cleaned by washing.
(2) All such parts of walls or partitions and every dipping tub or other object liable to be splashed with glaze shall be thoroughly washed daily after dipping has ceased for the day.
(3) Every board used in any place where dipping, drying after dipping, ware-cleaning or glost placing is done, other than a board not so used except for the purpose of conveying articles prior to dipping:—
(a)shall be painted red on both sides for a distance of at least six inches from each end, and
(b)shall not be used in any other department unless it has been thoroughly cleaned since last used in such a place as aforesaid.
(4) Every board on which dipped ware has been placed shall, after each occasion on which it has been used for one set of articles and before it is used for another set, be thoroughly washed by an adult male.
(5) Every mangle-shelf or stillage with fixed shelves used for dipped ware shall be thoroughly washed by an adult male at least once in every week in which it is used for that purpose.
(6) A sponge and bowl of clean water for rinsing the fingers shall be provided on the work-bench beside each person employed in majolica painting or in mottling or in applying glaze by any similar method.
(7) All rubber or other washers used to keep articles apart when being dipped, and all wires used in the process of threading up such washers, shall be thoroughly washed after each dipping.
(8) The requirements of this Regulation shall not apply in the case of a leadless glaze factory.
25.—(1) Colour blowing shall not be done with the mouth.
(2) No person shall be employed in colour blowing unless there is in the Health Register referred to in Regulation 8 a certificate of the Appointed Doctor either that that person by reason of short sight should not be so employed when not wearing glasses or (as the case may be) that that person may be so employed without glasses; and in the first mentioned case the person shall not be employed or work in colour blowing unless wearing glasses:
(3) All pieces of cotton wool or similar material which have been used in the process of ground laying or colour dusting shall:—
(a)be kept in a suitable receptacle or receptacles which shall be provided by the occupier for the purpose, and
(b)when no longer required for use, be removed and burnt without unreasonable delay.
26.—(1) Where hydrofluoric acid is used it shall be kept in vessels so constructed as to minimise the risk of accidental spillage and inhalation of its vapour, and implements used for applying the acid shall be so designed as to prevent the acid from running or creeping up the handle onto the fingers of the user.
(2) In any room or place in which such acid is used there shall be affixed a cautionary notice, in terms and in a form approved in writing by the Chief Inspector for the purposes of this Regulation, as to dangers attendant upon the use of the acid and precautions which should be taken.
27.—(1) Machines used in lithographic transfer making shall not be brushed down but shall be cleaned either:—
(a)with moist materials, such as oily rags, in such a manner as not to disperse any dust into the air, or
(b)with an efficient vacuum cleaning apparatus.
(2) All pieces of cotton wool or similar material which have been used in the process of lithographic transfer making shall:—
(a)be kept in a suitable receptacle or receptacles which shall be provided by the occupier for the purpose, and
(b)when no longer required for use, be removed and burnt without unreasonable delay.
(3) The cleaning of pads from lithographic transfer machines in which powdered colour is used shall be done with an efficient vacuum cleaning apparatus.
28.—(1) When a scheduled process is carried on in a room in which thimble picking, threading-up, or any other process which is not scheduled is also carried on, then:—
(a)if the scheduled process is carried on only in a part of the room clearly separated from the rest of that room by a barrier, guard rail or (where neither of these is practicable) a clear line of demarcation, then (unless there is in force a certificate issued under sub-paragraph (b) below) every person employed in that part of the room shall be deemed to be a person employed in a scheduled process;
(b)if the scheduled process is not thus clearly separated or if the Inspector for the District has issued and there remains in force a certificate that the arrangements for separation are not in his opinion satisfactory, then every person employed anywhere in that room shall be deemed to be a person employed in a scheduled process.
(2) (a) Before issuing a certificate under sub-paragraph (b) of paragraph (1) the Inspector for the District shall take into account the size of the room and the spacing between processes.
(b)A legible copy of any such certificate for the time being in force shall be kept posted up in the room to which it relates in a position where it may conveniently be read by the persons employed.
(3) Every slip-house shall for the purpose of excluding dust be effectually separated from:—
(a)any place in which clay is dried,
(b)any place in which clay is taken from a drier, and
(c)any place in which the dry grinding or sieving of materials for pottery bodies is carried on.
29.—(1) The following requirements (which shall be without prejudice to any other requirement of these Regulations) shall apply to potters' shops and to any place where clay is dried or clay dust is prepared:—
(a)All parts of beams, ledges and fixtures more than seven feet six inches above the floor shall be cleaned at least once in every period of fourteen months.
(b)All parts of beams, ledges, fixtures, shelving and furniture not more than seven feet six inches above the floor shall be cleaned:—
(i)in factories or parts of factories in which sanitary fireclay ware or flintless stoneware is made, at least once in every period of fourteen months:
(ii)in factories or parts of factories other than those included in sub-paragraph (i) above, at least once in every period of three months.
(c)The cleaning required by sub-paragraphs (a) and (b) of this paragraph shall be done:—
(i)by adult males nominated by the occupier for the purpose, and
(ii)with an efficient vacuum cleaning apparatus or by some other effective and suitable method, and not by sweeping.
(d)A record of the dates and particulars of such cleaning shall be kept in a form approved in writing by the Chief Inspector.
(2) All practicable means shall be adopted, by damping or otherwise, to prevent dust arising during the handling of shraff, scrap or other waste material.
(3) Every worker shall so conduct his or her work as to avoid, so far as practicable, creating or scattering dust, scrap or refuse or causing accumulations thereof.
(4) All material for thimble picking which is collected from floors or work-benches shall be riddled in an enclosed receptacle before it is taken to the place where the thimble picking is to be done.
30.—(1) The occupier shall provide and maintain sufficient approved respirators for the purposes of these Regulations and shall make arrangements so that each respirator bears a distinguishing mark indicating the person for whose use it is issued.
(2) The occupier shall provide suitable accommodation for the storage of respirators when not in use, a separate cupboard or receptacle being provided for each worker to whom a respirator is issued.
(3) The accommodation provided in pursuance of paragraph (2) of this Regulation shall not be in a room or place provided for the taking of meals and shall be separate from the accommodation provided for clothing put off during working hours.
(4) Every person for whom an approved respirator is provided in pursuance of these Regulations shall make proper use of that respirator and shall deposit it after use in the accommodation provided in pursuance of this Regulation.
31. All parts of yards and passage-ways where persons are liable to pass shall be so paved, concreted or otherwise suitably surfaced as to prevent water standing, and the surfacing shall be maintained in good repair.
32.—(1) Without prejudice to the obligations of the occupier and of other persons under these Regulations, one or more persons shall be specially appointed by the occupier to see to the observance of these Regulations throughout the factory and the occupier may assign different parts or departments of the factory to different persons for this purpose.
(2) Each person so appointed shall be a competent person fully conversant with the meaning and application of the Regulations in so far as they relate to the factory or to those parts or departments of the factory assigned to him as the case may be.
(3) The names of all persons so appointed shall be entered in the Health Register mentioned in Regulation 8 and shall also be given in a notice or notices which shall be kept posted in a prominent position or positions in the factory.
(4) It shall be the duty of each person so appointed to carry out systematic inspections with regard to the observance of these Regulations throughout the factory or in the parts or departments of the factory assigned to him; as the case may be.
(5) Each person so appointed shall be provided by the occupier with a book in which shall be kept a daily record indicating whether any, and if so what, breaches of the Regulations have been seen by the appointed person or have been reported to him, and the steps taken to remedy, or with a view to the remedying of or to prevent a recurrence of, such breach.
(6) Each entry in the book shall be dated and initialled by the person so appointed and at the end of each week there shall be posted in each workroom a copy of any of the recorded entries which relate to that workroom.
(7) It shall be the duty of every person employed to co-operate in the carrying out of these Regulations and, if he discovers any defect in the plant or appliances, to remove such defect or report it without unreasonable delay to his employer or foreman, or to a person appointed by the occupier under the foregoing requirements of this Regulation.
G. A. Isaacs
Minister of Labour and National Service
Dated this 16th day of January, 1950
(Regulations 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 28)
The making or mixing of frits or glazes containing lead or of colours.
The preparation or weighing out of flow material.
Colour blowing, or the wiping off of colour after that process.
Ground laying or colour dusting, or the wiping off of colour after either of those processes.
Colour grinding.
Lithographic transfer making.
Any other process in which any material, other than glaze, which contains more than five per cent. of its dry weight of a soluble lead compound (calculated in the manner described in the definition of low solubility glaze) is used or handled in a dry state or in the form of spray or in suspension in liquid other than oil or similar medium.
The following processes when carried on in factories other than leadless glaze factories:—
(i)Dipping or other process carried on in the dipping house.
(ii)The application of majolica or other glaze by blowing, painting or any other process except dipping.
(iii)Drying after the application of glaze by dipping, blowing or any other process.
(iv)Ware-cleaning after the application of glaze by dipping, blowing or any other process.
(v)Glost placing.
(vi)Any other process in which glaze is used or in which pottery articles treated with glaze are handled before glost firing.
(Regulation 9)
(1) Protective clothing shall be provided by the occupier in pursuance of Regulation 9 for the use of all persons employed in the processes or work included in column (a) of the table below and the clothing provided shall (subject to paragraphs (3) and (4) below) be that indicated opposite the respective processes or work in columns (b), (c), (d), and (e) of that table.
(2) For the purposes of the table below:—
“WO” means
“WA” means
“IA” means
“WH” means
(3) For persons employed in any process or work for which washable aprons with bibs are required under column (c) of the table below, the occupier may instead provide either:—
(i)washable overalls, or
(ii)aprons with bibs and made of material impervious to water,
and shall provide such overalls or aprons, as the case may be, if the Inspector for the District has issued and there remains in force a certificate in respect of a factory or a particular part of a factory that they are in his opinion needed having regard to the conditions under which the process or work is carried on in that factory or that particular part of it.
(4) For persons employed in any process or work for which impervious aprons are required under column (d) of the table below and for which washable overalls are not required under column (b) of that table, the occupier shall provide such overalls in addition to the aprons if the Inspector for the District has issued and there remains in force a certificate that overalls are in his opinion needed having regard to the conditions under which the process or work is carried on in the factory to which the certificate relates.
Protective clothing to be provided | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
(a) | (b) | (c) | (d) | (e) |
Process or work | Washable overalls | Washable aprons | Aprons with bibs and made of material impervious to water | Washable head coverings |
(1) Any process involving the manipulation of dry calcined flint or of dry quartz | WO | WH | ||
(2) Flint or quartz milling, or any process involving exposure to ground or powdered flint or quartz | WO | |||
(3) The grinding or tempering of fireclay or grog | WO | |||
(4) Work in the slip-house | WO | IA | ||
(5) The making, mixing or storage of leadless glaze or of engobe or slip | WO | |||
(6) The making or mixing of frits or glazes containing lead or of colours | WO | WH | ||
(7) The preparation of clay dust, including drying, breaking, grinding and mixing | WO | WH | ||
(8) The loading, carrying, conveying or unloading of clay dust | WO | WH | ||
(9) The loading, carrying, conveying or unloading of clay or clay scraps | WO | |||
(10) Throwing, jiggering, jollying, jolly-throwing or hollow-ware pressing | WA | |||
(11) The casting or pressing of sanitary fireclay ware or of flintless stoneware | WA | |||
(12) The casting or pressing of ware other than sanitary fireclay ware or flintless stoneware | WO | IA | ||
(13) Earthenware towing | WO | IA | WH | |
(14) Dust-tile pressing | WO | WH | ||
(15) Dust-tile fettling | WO | IA | WH | |
(16) Damp fettling | WA | |||
(17) All other fettling | WO | IA | ||
(18) All other processes in potters' shops not specifically mentioned above | WA | |||
(19) The application of engobe or slip, or the application to sanitary fireclay ware of glaze in leadless glaze factories | WO | IA | ||
(20) Biscuit placing | WO | |||
(21) Work in the biscuit ware-house | WO | |||
(22) Work as dippers or dippers' assistants, or otherwise in the application of glaze to ware (other than sanitary fireclay ware), in leadless glaze factories | IA | |||
(23) Work as dippers or dippers' assistants, or otherwise in the application of glaze, in factories other than leadless glaze factories | WO | IA | WH | |
(24) Ware-cleaning in leadless glaze factories | IA | |||
(25) Ware-cleaning in factories other than leadless glaze factories | WO | IA | WH | |
(26) All scheduled processes other than those specifically mentioned above | WO (except for persons engaged in drawing a glost oven) | WH (except for glost placing) | ||
(27) Cleaning any part of the factory or plant where there is liable to be flint or quartz or clay dust, or emptying the collectors of dust extraction plants | WO | WH |
These Regulations make provision for the health and welfare of workers employed in factories in which there is carried on the manufacture or decoration of pottery or certain allied manufactures or processes.
The Regulations contain prohibitions as to processes in which women and young persons may be employed; provide for the medical examination of all persons employed in certain processes; make provision for cleaning, for the suppression of dust, as to ventilation, and as to the temperature in which certain work is to be carried on; and require the provision of protective clothing, respirators, washing facilities and mess-rooms.
The Regulations supersede the Regulations made by the Secretary of State on 2nd January, 1913 for the Manufacture and Decoration of Pottery and the Pottery (Silicosis) Regulations, 1932.
p.1006.
S.R. & O. 1913 (No. 2) p. 131.
p.472.
I, p.995.
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