CHAPTER II The Inspecting Staff

Section 7A. General duties of the occupier.-

(1) Every occupier shall ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and w,elfare of all workers while they are at work in the factory.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the provisions of sub-section (1), the matters to which such duty extends, shall include-

• (a) the provision and maintenance of plant and systems of work in the factory that are safe and without risks to health;
• (b) the arrangement in the factory for ensuring safety and absence of risks to health in connection with the use, handling, storage and transport of articles and substances;
• (c) the provision of such information, instruction, training and supervisions as are necessary to ensure the health and safety of all workers at work;
• (d) the maintenance of all places of work in the factory in a condition that is safe and without risks to health and the provision and maintenance of such means of access to, and egress from, such place as are safe and without such risks;
• (e) the provision, maintenance or monitoring of such working environment in the factory for the workers that is safe, without risks to health and adequate as regards facilities and arrangements for their welfare at work.

(3) Except in such cases as may be prescribed, every occupier shall prepare, and, as often as may be appropriate, revise, a written statement of his general policy with respect to the health and safety of the workers at work and the organisation and arrangements for the time being in force for carrying out thatpolicy, and to bring the statement and any revision thereof to the notice of all the workers in such manner as may be prescribed.

Section 7B. General duties of manufacturers, etc., as regards articles and sub-stancesfor use in factories.-

(1) Every person who designs, manufactures, imports or supplies any article for use in any factory shall-

• (a) ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the article is so designed and constructed as to be safe and withovt risks to the health of the workers when properly used;
• (b) carry out or arrange for tlle carrying out of such tests and examination as may be considered necessary for the effective implementation of the provisions of clause (a);
• (c) take such steps as may be necessary to ensure that adequate information will be available-
  • (i) in connection with the use of the article in any factory;
  • (ii) about the use for which it is designed and tested; and
  • (iii) about any conditions necessary to ensure that the article, when put to such use, will be safe, and without risks to the health of the workers:

Provided that where an article is designed or manufactured outside India, it shall be obligatory on the part of the importer to see-

• (a) that the article conforms to the same standards if such article is manufactuted in India, or
• (b) if the standards adopted in the country outside for the manufacture of such article is above the standards adopted in India, that the article conforms to such standards

(2) Every person, who undertakes to design or manufacture any article for use in any factory, may carry out or arrange for the carrying out of necessary research with a view to the discovery and, so far as is reasonably practicable, the elimination or minimisation of any risks to the health or safety of the workers to which the design or article may give rise.

(3) Nothing contained in sub-sections (1) and (2) shall be construed to require a person to repeat the testing examination or research which has been carried out otherwise than by him or at his instance on so far as it is reasonable for him to rely on the results thereof for the purposes of the said sub-sections.

(4) And duty imposed on any person by sub-sections (1) and (2) shall extend only to things done in the course of business carried on by him and to matters within his control.

(5) Where a person designs, manufactures, imports or supplies an aricle on the basis of a written undertaking by the user of such article to take the steps specified in such undertaking to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the article will be. safe and without risks to the health of the workers when properly used, the undertaking shall have the effect of relieving the person designing, manufacturing, importing or supplying the article from the duty imposed by clause (a) of sub-section (1) to such extent as is reasonably having regard to the terms of the undertaking.

(6) For the purposes of this section, an article is not to be regarded as properly used if it is used without regard to any information or advice relating to its use which as been made available by the person who has designed, manufactured, imported or supplied the article.

Section 8. Inspectors.-

(1) The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint such persons as possessing the prescribed qualification to be Inspectors for the purposes of this Act and may assign to them such local limits as it may think fit.

(2) The State Government may, by notification in the Offlcial Gazette, appoint any person to be a Chief Inspector who shall, in addition to powers conferred on Chief Inspector under this Act, exercise the powers of an Inspector throughout the State.

(2A) The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint as many Additional Chief Inspectors, Joint Chief Inspectors and Deputy Chief Inspectors and as many other offlcers as it thinks fit to assist the Chief Inspector and to exercise such of the powers of the Chief Inspector as may be specified in such notification.

(2B) Every additional Chief Inspector, Joint Chief Inspector, Deputy Chief Inspector and every other officer appointment under sub-section (2A) shall, in addition to the powers of a Chief Inspector specified in the notification by which he is appointed, exercise the power of an Inspector throughout the State.

(3) No person shall be appointed under sub-section (1), sub-section (2), sub-section (2A) or sub-section (5), or having been so appointed, shall continue to hold office, who is or becomes directly or indirectly interested in a factory or in any process or business carried on therein or in any patent or machinery connected therewith.

(4) Every District Magistrate shall be an Inspector for his district.

(5) The State Government may also, by notification as aforesaid, appoint such public officers as it thinks fit to be additional Inspectors for all or any of the purposes of this Act, within such local limits as it may assign to them respectively.

(6) In any area where there are more Inspectors than one the State Government may, by notification as aforesaid, declare the powers which such Inspectors shall respectively exercise and the Inspector to whom the prescribed notices are to be sent.

(7) Every Chief Inspector, Additional Chief Inspector, Joint Chief Inspector, Deputy Chief Inspector, Inspector and every other officer appointed under this section, shall be deemed to be a public servant within the meaning of the Indian Penal Code (XLV of 1860), and shall be offlcially subordinate to such authority as the State Government may specify in this behalf.

Section 9. Powers of Inspectors.-

Subject to any rules made in this behalf, an Inspector may, within the local limits for which he is appointed,-

• (a) enter with such assistants, being persons in the service of the Government, or any local or other public authority or with an expert, as he thinks fit, any place which is used, or which he has reason to believe, is used as a factory;
• (b) make examination of the premises, plant, machinery, article or substance;
• (c) inquire into any accident or dangerous occurrence, whether resulting in bodily injury, disability or not, and take on the spot or otherwise statements of any person which he may consider necessary for such inquiry;
• (d) require the production of any prescribed register or any other document relating to the factory;
• (e) seize, or take copies of, any register, record or other document or any portion thereof, as he may consider necessary in respect of any offence under this Act, which he has reason to believe, has been committed;
• (f) direct the occupier that any premises or any part thereof, or anything lying therein, shall be left undisturbed (whether generally or in partticular respects) for so long as is necessary for the purpose of any examination under clause (b);
• (g) take measurements and photographs and make such recordings as he considers necessary for the purpose of any examination under clause (b), taking with him any necessary instrument or equipment;
• (h) in case of any article of substance found in any premises, being an article or substance which appears to him as having caused or is likely to cause danger to the health or safety of the workers, direct it to be dismantled or subject it to any process or test (but not so as to damage or destroy it unless the same is, in the circumstances necessary, for carrying out the purposes of this Act), and take possession of any such article or substance or a part thereof, and detain it for so long as is necessary for such examination;
• (i) exercise such other powers as may be prescribed.

Section 10. Certifying Surgeons.-

(1) The State Government may appoint qualified medical practitioners to be certifying surgeons for the purposes of this Act within such local limits or for such factory or class or description of factories as it may assign to them respectively.

(2) A certifying surgeon may, with the approval of the State Government, authorise any qualified medical practitioner to exercise any of his powers under this Act for such period as the certifying surgeon may specify and subject to such conditions as the State Government may think fit to impose, and references in this Act to a certifying surgeon shall be deemed to include references to any qualified medical practitioner when so authorised.

(3) No person shall be appointed to be, or authorised to exercise the powers of, a certifying surgeon, or having been so appointed or authorised, continue to exercise such powers, who is or becomes the occupier of a factory or is or becomes directly or indirectly interested therein or in any process or business carried on therein or in any patent or machinery connected therewith or is otherwise in the employ of the factory:

Provided that the State Government may, by order in writing and subject to such conditions as may be specified in the order exempt any person or class of persons from the provisions of this sub-section in respect of any factory or class or description of factories.

(4) The certifying surgeon shall carry out such duties as may be prescribed in connection with-

• (a) the examination and certification of young persons under this Act;
• (b) the examination of persons engaged in factories in such dangerous Occupations or processes as may be prescribed;
• (c) the exercising of such medical supervisions as may be prescribed for any factory or class or description of factories where-
  • (i) cases of illness have occurred, which it is reasonable to believe are due to the nature of the manufacturing process carried on, or other conditions of work prevailing, therein;
  • (ii) by reason of any change in the manufacturing process carried on or in the substances used therein or by reason of the adoption of any new manufacturing process, or of any new substance for use in a manufacturing process, there is a likelihood of injury to the health of workers employed in that manufacturing process;
  • (iii) young persons are, or are about to be, employed in any work which is likely to cause injury to their health.

Explanation. - In this section "qualified medical practitioner" means a person holding a qualification granted by an authority specified in the Schedule to the Indian Medical Degrees Act, 1916 (VII of 1916), or in the Schedule to the Indian Medical Council Act, 1933 (XXVI1 of 1933).