S.I. No. 283/1973:

FACTORIES (HIDES AND SKINS) REGULATIONS, 1973.

FACTORIES (HIDES AND SKINS) REGULATIONS, 1973.

I, MICHAEL O'LEARY, Minister for Labour, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by sections 8 , 53 , 56 , 57 , 59 and 71 of the Factories Act, 1955 (No. 10 of 1955), and the Labour (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order, 1966 ( S.I. No. 164 of 1966 ), after consultation with the Minister for Health and after compliance with the Third Schedule to that Act, hereby make the following regulations :

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Factories (Hides and Skins) Regulations, 1973.

2. These Regulations shall come into operation on the 1st day of January, 1974.

3. In these Regulations--

"the Act" means the Factories Act, 1955 (No. 10 of 1955);

"approved" means approved for the time being by the Minister;

"the Minister" means the Minister for Labour.

4. These Regulations shall apply to any factory in which a process specified in the Schedule to these Regulations is carried on.

5. The Hides and Skins Regulations, 1942 ( S. R. & O. No. 7 of 1942 ), and the Order for securing the welfare of the workers employed in factories or parts of factories in which Bichromate of Potassium or Sodium is used in Tanning by the "Two-Bath" process, dated 22nd March, 1918 (S. R. & O. No. 368 of 1918), and made under section 7 (1) of the Police, Factories (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1916, insofar as it affects a factory to which these Regulations apply are hereby revoked.

6. (1) It shall be the duty of the occupier to ensure that the requirements of Regulations 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 of these Regulations are complied with.

(2) It shall be the duty of every person employed at a factory to which these Regulations apply to comply with the requirements of Regulations 15 and 16 hereof.

7. (1) Subject to paragraph (2) of this regulation, there shall be provided and maintained in good condition for the use of all persons employed at a factory in a process mentioned in the First Schedule to these Regulations the protective clothing of suitable design and material, as indicated in respect of such processes in the said Schedule.

(2) It shall not be necessary to provide--

( a ) protective aprons and gloves if and for so long as hides are being moved at pits by means of long hooks and by more than one man,

( b ) protective gloves for persons--

(i) fleshing by hand, or

(ii) employed in any process specified in the Schedule to these Regulations if there is no risk of contact with lime, sodium sulphide or other caustic liquor.

(3) Aprons and leg coverings provided pursuant to this regulation shall be such as to afford effective protection from the wet or damp of the processes for which they are worn, and in addition such leg coverings shall include efficient means of preventing water entering the uppers of the wearer's footwear.

8. (1) The clothing accommodation provided pursuant to section 54 of the Act in a factory to which these Regulations apply shall be separate from the accommodation mentioned in Regulations 9 and 10 of these Regulations.

(2) In addition to the foregoing, there shall be provided at a factory to which these Regulations apply separate and suitable accommodation for the storage of protective clothing provided pursuant to these Regulations, together with adequate arrangements for drying such protective and other clothing.

(3) Accommodation referred to in this regulation shall be kept clean and be placed under the charge of a responsible person.

9. (1) One or more suitable mess-rooms shall be provided and maintained in a factory to which these Regulations apply for the use of all persons who remain on the factory premises during meal intervals.

(2) A mess-room provided pursuant to this regulation shall be--

( a ) apart from any room, shed or other place in which bales of hides or skins are opened or hides or skins are handled after such bales are opened,

( b ) separate from both the accommodation provided in pursuance of Regulation 8 of these Regulations and the accommodation provided pursuant to Regulation 10 of these Regulations,

( c ) furnished with sufficient tables and chairs or benches with back rests,

( d ) provided with adequate means for heating food and boiling water,

( e ) placed under the charge of a responsible person,

( f ) kept clean, and

( g ) adequately heated.

10. (1) As regards a factory to which these Regulations apply, washing facilities to be provided in accordance with section 53 of the Act for the use of persons employed in the factory shall be washing facilities which are adequate and suitable for the use of all persons so employed. The said facilities shall be kept in a clean and orderly condition, placed in the charge of a responsible person and be under cover.

(2) In case the facilities referred to in paragraph 1 of this regulation are provided for the use of persons employed in a process described in the schedule to these Regulations the facilities shall be immediately accessible or, where this is not reasonably practicable, conveniently accessible, from the place in the factory where the process is carried on. The said facilities shall include clean running hot and cold or warm water, together with soap, non-abrasive nail brushes and clean towels or some other suitable means of drying, and either--

( a ) a trough with a smooth impervious surface of such length (or, in the case of a circular or oval trough, of such circumference) as to allow six hundred millimetres of length for every five persons making use thereof and fitted with suitable jets or sprays serving each six hundred millimetres of length or circumference (as the case may be) and with a waste pipe without a plug, or

( b ) for every five such persons at least one basin with a smooth impervious surface of suitable size fitted with suitable jets or sprays and with a waste pipe.

(3) Where the number of persons employed in a factory to which these Regulations apply is not a multiple of five, for the purposes of this regulation the number of persons so employed shall be regarded as being the next higher number which is a multiple of five.

11. (1) In every factory to which these Regulations apply all wrapping material in which

( a ) hides or skins of African, Asian, Central or South American origin, or

( b ) hides or skins which may contain anthrax bacilli or have anthrax spores thereon,

have been packed shall either be--

(i) destroyed without delay by burning, or

(ii) disinfected either by exposure to steam at a temperature of not less than 100°C for at least thirty minutes in a properly constructed steam disinfecting apparatus or by boiling for at least one hour.

(2) At every factory to which these Regulations apply, certificates of the country of origin of all hides and skins shall be kept available for inspection for a period of not less than six months beginning on the date of arrival of the hides or skins at the factory.

12. (1) The occupier of a factory to which these Regulations apply shall see that an easily read cautionary notice as to anthrax, in an approved form, is kept posted up in a suitable position in the factory.

(2) Where solutions containing chromates or salts of chromium with free acid are used in a factory to which these Regulations apply, the occupier shall see that an approved cautionary notice as to the effects of chrome on the skin is kept posted up in a suitable position in the factory.

13. As regards a factory to which these Regulations apply, there shall be provided and maintained in the first aid boxes required under section 56 of the Act the requisites and appliances described in the Second Schedule to these Regulations. The requirements of this regulation are in addition to, and not in substitution for, the requirements of the First Aid in Factories Regulations, 1956 ( S.I. No. 166 of 1956 ).

14. (1) A responsible person, trained in first aid treatment, shall be placed in charge of each first aid box provided pursuant to the Act and to these Regulations. For the purpose of this regulation, a person shall not be regarded as being trained in first aid treatment unless--

( a ) he is a nurse registered by An Bord Altranais or by a corresponding body, or

( b ) he is the holder of a certificate in first aid issued within the immediately preceding three years by, or is otherwise recognised as being qualified in first aid treatment by, a training organisation, or

( c ) he has held a grade not lower than two star private in the Army Medical Corps.

(2) In this regulation " training organisation " means the Irish Red Cross Society, the St. John Ambulance Brigade of Ireland, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, the Consultative Council on Ambulance Services, the Civil Defence Authority or any other body approved for the purposes of this regulation.

15. It shall be the duty of a person employed in a factory to which these Regulations apply to--

( a ) report to his foreman any cut or sore he may have and, until it has been treated, to abstain from handling at the factory hides or skins or solutions containing chromates or salts of chromium with free acid, and

( b ) if he is employed in the factory in breaking open bales of hides or skins or in handling hides or skins after such bales have been opened, to wash his hands, clean his nails, and leave off protective clothing provided pursuant to these Regulations before partaking of food or leaving the factory premises.

16. A person employed at a factory to which these Regulations apply shall not while so employed keep or partake of food or keep any article of clothing, other than those he is wearing, in any room or shed in which bales of hides or skins are opened or hides or skins are handled after the bales have been opened or in any place in which any of the processes described in the First Schedule to these Regulations are carried on.

FIRST SCHEDULE

SECOND SCHEDULE.

1. A sufficient supply of waterproof plastic wound dressings of a grade or quality not lower than the standards specified in the British Pharmaceutical Codex including any supplement thereto--being a supplement current at the date of commencement of these Regulations or approved for the purposes of these Regulations. Each dressing shall be put up in an individual sealed pack marked clearly to indicate content.

2. A sufficient supply of waterproof plastic self-adhesive plaster of a grade or quality not lower than the standards specified in the British Pharmaceutical Codex including any supplement thereto, being a supplement current at the date of commencement of these Regulations or approved for the purposes of these Regulations.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 5th day of October, 1973.

MICHAEL O'LEARY,

Minister for Labour.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These regulations specify the types of protective clothing to be supplied for persons employed in handling, cleaning, manipulating or processing hide and skin. They prescribe standards for washrooms, messroom and cloakrooms and stipulate first-aid requisites which must be provided. They require the destruction or thorough disinfection of wrapping material in which hides or skins which might contain anthrax bacilli have been packed. They oblige occupiers to keep posted notices as to the effects of anthrax and chrome. The duties of workers concerned are also specified.