The Pottery (Health and Welfare) Special Regulations 1950

Interpretation

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 a duly qualified medical practitioner specially appointed under Section 126 of the principal Act (as amended by Section 7 of the Factories Act, 1948), to be Appointed Factory Doctor for the factory for the purposes of these Regulations or, where there is no such special appointment, the Appointed Factory Doctor for the district in which the factory is situated.

“Approved respirator” means a respirator of a type for the time being approved in writing by the Chief Inspector for all or any of the purposes of these Regulations.

“Damp fettling” means fettling done either:—

(a)

wholly with a wet sponge or other wet material, or

(b)

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 an exhaust draught which effectively removes, as near as possible to the point of origin, dust, fume or spray generated in the process.

“Fettling” includes scalloping, towing, sand-papering, sand-sticking and any other process of fettling.

“Flint or quartz milling” includes the calcining of flint and the sieving, crushing, grinding or any other manipulation of flint or quartz in or incidental to the manufacture of ground or powdered flint or quartz.

“Flintless stoneware” means stoneware the body of which consists of natural clay to which no flint or quartz or other form of free silica has been added.

“Flow material” means any material which contains a lead compound and which is placed in saggars with a view to its entire or partial volatilisation during the glost firing of the ware.

“Galena” means the native sulphide of lead containing not more than five per cent. of a soluble lead compound calculated as lead monoxide when determined in the manner described in the definition of low solubility glaze.

“Glaze” does not include an engobe or slip.

“Glost placing” includes:—

(i)

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;

(ii)

the placing of such ware into saggars or onto trucks or onto oven-conveyors;

(iii)

the placing of saggars containing such ware into ovens or kilns or onto trucks; and

(iv)

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 a glaze which does not contain more than one per cent. of its dry weight of a lead compound calculated as lead monoxide.

“Leadless glaze factory” means a factory the occupier of which has given an undertaking to the satisfaction of the Chief Inspector that none but leadless glaze shall be used therein and in which none but leadless glaze is in fact used.

“Lithographic transfer making” includes the wiping of colour from and the subsequent brushing of the transfer sheets.

“Low solubility glaze” means a glaze which does not yield 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 below:— A weighed quantity of the material which has been dried at 100 degrees Centigrade and thoroughly mixed is to be continuously shaken for one hour, at the common temperature, with 1,000 times its weight of an aqueous solution of hydrochloric acid containing 0.25 per cent. by weight of hydrogen chloride. This solution is thereafter to be allowed to stand for one hour and then filtered. The lead salt contained in the clear filtrate is then to be precipitated as lead sulphide and weighed as lead sulphate.

“Moist method,” when that expression is used in relation to cleaning, means a method of cleaning in which damp sawdust or other suitable damp material is used and which prevents dust rising into the air during the cleaning process.

“Potters' shops” includes all places where pottery is formed by pressing or by any other process and all places where shaping, fettling or other treatment of pottery articles prior to placing for the biscuit fire is carried on.

“Pottery” includes china, earthenware and any article made from clay or from a mixture containing clay and other materials.

“Scheduled process” means a process included in Parts I or II of the First Schedule to these Regulations.

“Slip-house” includes any place where blunging is carried on.

“Stopping of biscuit ware” means the filling up of cracks in ware which has been fired but to which glaze has not been applied.

“Suspension” means suspension, by written certificate signed by the Appointed Doctor, from employment in any process for which examination by the Appointed Doctor is required by these Regulations.

“Thimble picking” means the picking over, sorting or rearranging for further use of thimbles, stilts, spurs, strips, saddles or any similar articles which have been used for the support of pottery articles during the process of glost firing.

“Ware-cleaning” means the removal of surplus glaze from ware after the application of the glaze but before glost firing, and includes panelcutting.

“Wedging of clay” means the treatment of clay which has not been pugged or rolled, by raising one piece of clay by hand and bringing it down upon another piece; but does not include the process, frequently known as “slapping of clay,” in which two pieces of clay each small enough to be held in one hand are slapped together.