Factory inspectors 196. Also

If the incident constitutes a reportable accident as defined in legislation the plant engineer will also ensure that the incident is immediately reported to the Factory Inspectorate. The Inspectorate will decide whether they wish to carry out an enquiry and, particularly if there has been loss of life, the accident site may be compulsorily isolated. Unless this is so, investigation by the insurer or a loss adjuster acting on his behalf may proceed. 

A hundred years ago George E. Davis was the Alkali Inspector for the Midland region of England. His function was to monitor the pollution coming not only from the alkali factories but also from the many other types of chemical plants in the region. He thus obtained access to a wide variety of chemical processes, incidentally forming in his mind the rudiments of modem Chemical Engineering education. 

This act also dealt with hours of work and environmental conditions. Little reference was made to safety, but it did make provision for factory children to receive 12 hours of schooling per week. The first factory inspectors under this act also became the first school inspectors, and their task was soon made clear to than as a result of the severe injuries that led to suffering among the working people. 

Pressure from one of the first national labor unions in the United States, the Knights of St. Crispin, forced the United States to join the movement of reform. Massachusetts was the first American state to establish a State Bureau of Labor. It was the first state to pass a law requiring the appointment of factory inspectors, and it also enforced the 10-hour day for women and the guarding of dangerous moving equipment. 

After discussions and two night time visits from the factory inspector, the improvement notice was lifted when the port operator agreed to invest in high luminosity paint which does provide a benefit for the untrained eye, but as only appropriately trained people are allowed onto the dolphins it is of limited use. The port operator also undertook a trial using photoluminescent strips but this was ineffective, as there was so much background light in blackout conditions that it was impossible to see the strips glowing. 

An important role in reducing hazards and potential accidents and incidents was inspecting facilities, equipment, and operations. Inspectors identified dangers and recommended controls to eliminate or reduce the dangers. During the first half of the twentieth ctntary, factory inspector was the title for many in these positions but there were also other job titles. 

The requirements of this Act apply to sites, or parts of sites, that fall within the description of a quarry, as defined in s.lSOof the Act, the most common example being a borrow pit used in motorway construction, although it can also apply where old quarries are being in-filled with spoil. Enforcement of this Act is split between the Factory Inspectorate who cover building on the surface, and the Mines and Quarries Inspectorate who deal with work within the quarry itself. 

This contrasts with some other regulatory experiences. During an earlier study which also covered factory inspectors and industrial air pollution inspectors, I was told of one multinational company which kept central records of all inspectorate visits and their outcomes. 

Phil Hughes MBE is a well known UK safety professional with over thirty years worldwide experience as Head of Environment Health and Safety at two large multinationals, Courtaulds and Fisons. Phil started in health and safety in the Factory Inspectorate at the Derby District in 1969 and moved to Courtaulds in 1974. He joined lOSH in that year and became Chairman of the Midland Branch, National Treasurer and then President in 1990-91. Phil has been very active on the NEBOSH Board for over ten years and served as Chairman from 1995 to 2001. He is also a Professional Member of the American Society of Safety Engineers and has lectured widely throughout the world. Phil received the RoSPA Distinguished Service Award in May 2001 and became a Director and Trustee of RoSPA in 2003. He received an MBE in the 2005 New Year s Honours List for services to health and safety. 

To enforce the regulations a small but experienced group of 81 factory inspectors work full-time on construction within the Factory Inspectorate. Within this group is a more qualified staff recruited from the industry. The inspectors are assisted by a specialized civil engineering branch, and other specialists at headquarters are also available to them, including the employment medical advisers. The size of the Inspectorate is closely bound up with its role, and it would be wrong for any inspectorate to be regarded as a substitute for the proper assumption of responsibility for safety by the industry itself, in co-operation with the unions and with the help of employers associations and voluntary bodies. 

The engineer must attempt not only to educate the contractor and seek sanctions from the factory inspector by getting him on the site when he is uneasy, he must also educate his own inspectors to his own level. 

In 1863, the British Parliament passed the Alkali Act, which forced the LeBlanc factories to reclaim 95 percent of the hydrochloric acid gas that they produced. Angus Smith, the Alkali Inspector assigned to enforce the law, demonstrated that industrial towns suffered from higher sulfate levels than did the countryside. When Angus Smith also coined the term acid rain, air pollution became a public issue. By the 1870s, Leblanc factories emitted less than 0.1 percent of the hydrochloric acid gas they produced the rest was reclaimed and sold. 

Tiny machines such as Zettl s oscillator may be useful on their own but also in forming the components of more sophisticated instruments such as nanobots. Robotic automation is commonly employed in industrial factories to do jobs that require repetition or extreme precision, such as spot welding. Nanobots would have the added benefit of being able to function in otherwise inaccessibly small locations. Tasks for nanobots include scanning a load-bearing surface and looking for signs of structural failure that would be impossible for a human inspector to see. 

Official analysts are appointed to the Home-office for toxicological work, as well as in connection with the Explosives Department and the Factory Department. The Local Government Board possesses a Department for the inspection of food and a staff of specially qualified inspectors to assist in the administration of the Alkali, Ac., Works Regulation Ac . The Metropolitan Water Board and the Rivers Boards in various parts of the country have their chemical and bacteriological laboratories, and so have the Sewage Boards and Works. The Scottish Office also appoints inspectors under the Alkali Act and Rivers Pollution Prevention Act. 

From the outset, it was clear that the Allies faced difficulties. For a start, they could not inspect the whole of Germany s chemical industry. In fact, Bayer s centre at Elberfeld, and BASF s new ammonia plant at Leuna, as well as most of the Agfa plants, were located in unoccupied Germany, as were all the State Powder Factories of Bavaria, Prussia and Saxony. It was also clear that, owing to the economic crisis, German firms needed French and British troops to maintain order. However, the French and British could also confiscate dyes and other chemicals as reparations for these, companies were to receive compensation from the Reich, but this was not enough to guarantee cooperation with Allied inspectors. 

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