Factories, Works Act ensures workers’ safety

The Factories and Works Act, Chapter 14:08 of 1996, provides for the registration and con­trol of factories, the regulation of conditions of work in factories, supervision of the use of machinery and precautions against accidental injury to persons employed on structural work.
The origins of the Factories and Works Act go back to 1948, when the first legislation was passed in what was then Southern Rhode­sia.
The original Act was amended over the years. The current one was last revised in 1996.
While most people understand a factory to be a place where goods are manufactured, the definition of factory contained in the Act is much broader.
The Factories and Works Act defines a fac­tory as any premises on which any person per­forms any of the following activities: the mak­ing of any article or part of any article; the alter­ing, repairing, renovating, ornament­ing, paint­ing, spraying, polishing, finishing, cleaning, dyeing, washing or breaking up of any                     article.
It also includes the adaptation for sale or use of any article; the sorting, assembling or pack­ing of any articles, including washing or filling bottles or other containers; painting, spraying, construction, reconstruction, assembling, repairing or breaking up of vehi­cles or parts thereof; printing by letterpress, lithography, photogravure or other similar process, includ­ing any activity associated with the printing industry. The production and storage of gas in a holder of more than 150 cubic metres storage capacity; the freezing, chilling or storage in cold storage of any arti­cle; the slaughtering of livestock; the genera­tion of electricity; photo­graphic work.
As can be seen from this list, workshops, abattoirs, power stations, printing presses and places where manufacturing takes place are all considered factories in terms of the Act. They are, therefore, subject to the Act’s provisions.
The Act provides for the appointment of inspectors to administer the Act and to ensure compliance with its requirements. It also speci­fies the powers and duties of the inspector.
All premises on which the activities men­tioned above are carried out must, in terms of the Act, be registered as factories.
This is a legal requirement. It is an offence to carry out factory activities on such prem­ises without a current factory registration certifi­cate. It is the duty of every factory owner, there­fore, to ensure that his premises are registered as prescribed by law.
Any company that is unsure whether or not its premises fall within the scope of the Act can seek guidance on this from the Fac­tory Inspec­tor within the Occupational Safety and Health division of the National Social Security Authority. Boilers and machinery, including elevators and escalators, must be inspected by an inspector appointed by the Minister of Labour and Social Services in terms of the Fac­tories and Works Act.
The inspector will, if the machinery or boiler passes the inspection, issue a certifi­cate.
The regulations require that users should have a current certificate for their equipment.
An inspector should check the equipment at specific intervals as prescribed by the law.
It is the duty of the factory owner (or occu­pier) to maintain an accident register in which to enter accidents that occur within a factory or at a workplace where structural work is being carried out.
All accidents must be reported to the inspec­tor if they result in loss of life, perma­nent injury or the employee being absent from work for at least three days or if they involve people not employed on the premises or if they involve machinery.
It is an offence not to report a reportable accident to the inspector. The Act provides for the minister to make regulations pertain­ing to the administration of the Act. Cur­rently, there are eight sets of regulations that support the Factories and Works Act.
These cover such issues as machinery, elec­trical, general, building structural and exca­vation works, elevators and escalators, boil­ers, pressure-vessels and registration and control of factories. The occupier or user of the factory prem­ises is required to comply with the Act and its regulations as a minimum requirement for ensuring occupational safety and health.  
It pays to comply with the law rather than face the consequences of non-compliance.
Offenders may be punished independently of others or jointly. Therefore, those who offend will not be cushioned by others.
However, it is to be hoped that those who operate from premises that fall within the scope of the Factories and Works Act will com­ply with the Act and subsidiary regulations not just in order to avoid falling foul of the law but to ensure the safety of those they employ, those visiting their premises and themselves.
After all, it is to protect employees that the Act was enacted in the first place. The provi­sions of the Factories and Works Act should be made known to everyone who owns or works at a place that falls within the Act’s definition of a factory.
Occupational safety and health involves everyone. Responsibility for ensuring safety and health at factories lies with the inspector, the employer or occupier and the employee.
It is in the interests of both the employer and employee to familiarise themselves with the obligations and rights that are set out in the Act and subsidiary regulations and to put them into practice.
Talking Social Security is published weekly by the National Social Security Authority as a public service. Readers can e-mail issues they would like dealt with in this column to [email protected] or text them to 0735 041 278. Those with individual queries should contact their local NSSA office or telephone NSSA on (04) 706517-8 or 706523-5.