Legislation Factory Acts

There is a wide range of legislation laying down standards of safety and health. In the UK, the most notable and wide ranging are the Factories Act 1961, the Health and Safety at Work Act, 1974 and the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Act 1988, breach of any of which can result in liability to civil and/or criminal action against the offenders. 

Employers and others who now have duties under the 1974 Act will have had some form of responsibilities under previous legislation (e.g. the Factories Act 1961) to ensure the health and safety and welfare of people at work. However, a number of employers will be subject to such legislation for the first time. 

In Capital /, p. 270, note 2, there is a reference lo a petition for legislative enactment by 26 firms in the pottery industry. This, however, occurred in 1863, and is irrelevant for the explanation of the Factory Acts. 

Prior to this the main legislation cm health and safety was contained in the 1934 Presidential Decree which was prescriptive l islation in a similar tradition similar to the UK Factories Acts. Curiously, it had quite strong requirements on safety in relaticm to chemical substances including smasures on classification and packaging of dangerous substances as well as special prov ons on die removal of dusts and fumes. 

This legislation came into force in 1990 and replaced earlier regulations such as the Electricity (Factories Act) Special Regulations 1944. Tlie regulations are made under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, and enforced by the Health and Safety Executive. The purpose of the regulations is to require precautions to be taken against the risk of death or personal injury from electricity in work activities . 

The backdrop to much of the legislation passed in this period was the extension of the franchise by the Reform Act of 1832, the rationalisation of poverty relief and the workhouse system by the Poor Law Amendment Act in 1844, and continued opposition to legislation restricting free trade, notably the Corn laws, repealed in 1847 (Ward 1962 302). These trends all contextualise the Factory Acts that were passed in this period they slowly extended protective rights to a wider class of people, gradually systematised the infrastructure of an interventionist state, but... 

The Factory Acts (Extension) Act 1864 expanded the scope of the legislation passed in relation to the textile industry, extending it to other industries including earthenware production, match-making, and explosives manufacture. In 1867, the legislation was again extended to... 

Prior to 1974 the main health and safety Acts were the Factories Act 1961 and the Offices, Shops and Railway Premises Act 1963. Both these Acts applied only in the premises defined in them. Similarly, any subordinate legislation made under either of them applied only in the premises covered by the main Act. However, legislation made since the coming into effect of the Health and Safety at Work, etc Act 1974 now covers all employment except domestic service. 

The current legislation that lays down requirements for the use of any equipment at work is the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER). These Regulations take over the greater part of the requirements contained in the now largely defunct Factories Act 1961 (FA) but extend to include every item of plant, equipment or tool used at work. However, the... 

Legislation in pursuance of health and safety dates from the Health and Morals Apprentices Act (1802) which was designed to protect young children working in cotton woollen mills, and other factories where more than 20 persons were employed. Various minor legislation was passed in ensuing years and in 1833 the Factory Act was passed. In view of the multiplicity of legislation and as a result of recommendations in 1876 by a Factory Commission in 1901, the Factory and Workshop Act was passed... 

Inevitably some legislation has to be interpreted by the courts, to clarify uncertainties, for example, and substantial case law may attach to a statute. Judicial consideration of the effect ofs. 14 of the Factories Act is an example of this (see below 1.17, para. 1.). 

But regulations made under previous legislation continued in force as though made under the 1937 Act. This practice was repeated by the Factories Act 1961 so that some of the provisions and standards related to past times. 

In 1949 the Gower Committee report made recommendations about the health, welfare and safety of employed persons outside the protections of existing legislation. In 1960 an Offices Act was passed. Before it became operative however it was repealed and replaced by the Offices, Shops and Railways Premises Act 1963. This adopted much of the structural content of the Factories Act 1961 but not the regulations, which apply only to factories. 

Case law interpretation has had an adverse effect on some safety legislation. A notorious example is the fencing requirements of s. 14 of the Factories Act, as illustrated by, for example. Close v. Steel Company of Wa/es . With reluctance judges have interpreted the statute so that s. 14 cannot be used where parts of the machine or of the material being worked have been ejected at a workman. 

Relevant statutory provisions. Status of earlier health and safety legislation listed in Schedule 1. Extant provisions of the Factories Act 1961 Offices, Shops and Railway Premises Act 1963 and other Acts applicable to the employer s premises/business. 

An open-ended question asking what health and safety laws respondents had to observe revealed that the HSW Act, 1974, was generally known about. Thirty per cent (36/121) referred spontaneously to the HSW Act, 1974, and when prompted, an additional 54 per cent (65/121) said that they had heard of this Act. The Factories Act and the Offices, Shops and Railway Premises Act were respectively mentioned by just 5 per cent (6/121) of those answering this question. Only 3 per cent (4/121) of respondents were unable to cite any legislation. Many of the responses were vague, such as the following ... 

Many of the provisions of the Factories Act and similar legislation created specific and absolute duties, e.g. Section 14(1) of this Act Every dangerous part of any machineiy shall be securely fenced , and Section 22(2) Every hoist or lift shall be thoroughly examined by a competent person at least once in every period of six months... . However, some of the requirements were qualified by the words practicable or reasonably practicable, e.g. Section 4 ... provision shall be made for securing... adequate ventilation and for rendering harmless so far as practicable, all such fumes, dust.. . as may be injurious to health , and Section 29(1) There shall, as far as is reasonably practicable, be provided and maintained safe means of access to every place at which any person has at atty time to work... . 

The HSWA and consequent regulations, including those implementing EC directives, have replaced much of the Factories Act and associated legislation. 

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