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9 1980

SAFETY IN INDUSTRY ACT, 1980

PART IV

Miscellaneous Amendments of Principal Act

Amendment of sections 2 and 3 of Principal Act.

40. —(1) Section 2 (1) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by—

(a) the substitution in the definition of “work of engineering construction” for “include such other works as may be prescribed” of—

“include—

(a) except where carried out in the course of a building operation or on a railway or tramway:

(i) the construction, structural alteration or the repair (including re-pointing and re-painting) or demolition of any of the following:

(A) a steel or reinforced concrete structure or a similar structure,

(B) a road,

(C) an airfield,

(D) any sea defence works or river works,

(E) any other works which are similar to any of the foregoing,

(ii) the construction (whether by laying or otherwise), the structural alteration, the repair (including re-painting) or the demolition of,

(A) a pipe-line for conveying any solid, liquid or gas,

(B) an underground electricity or telecommunications cable system,

(b) such other works as may be prescribed, other than works carried out in a factory or on premises to which this Act applies by virtue of section 83 (1)”;

(b) the substitution for the definition of “young person” of “‘young person’ means a person whose age is less than eighteen years and who has reached the age at which the School Attendance Act, 1926 , ceases to apply;”;

and the said definition of “work of engineering construction”, as amended by paragraph (a) of this subsection is set out in the Table to this section.

(2) Section 3 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (9):

“(10) Premises belonging to or in the occupation of An Chomhairle Oiliúna shall not be regarded as not being a factory for the purposes of this Act either by reason only that they so belong or are so occupied or by reason only that the work carried on thereat is not carried on by way of trade or for purposes of gain.”.

TABLE

work of engineering construction” means the construction of any railway line or siding otherwise than upon an existing railway, and the construction, structural alteration or repair (including re-pointing and re-painting) or the demolition of any dock, harbour, inland navigation, tunnel, bridge, viaduct, waterworks, reservoir, pipe-line, aqueduct, sewer, sewage works or gasholder, except where carried on upon a railway or tramway, and shall include—

(a) except where carried out in the course of a building operation or on a railway or tramway:

(i) the construction, structural alteration or the repair (including re-pointing and re-painting) or demolition of any of the following:

(A) a steel or reinforced concrete structure or a similar structure,

(B) a road,

(C) an airfield,

(D) any sea defence works or river works,

(E) any other works which are similar to any of the foregoing,

(ii) the construction (whether by laying or otherwise), the structural alteration, the repair (including re-painting) or the demolition of,

(A) a pipe-line for conveying any solid, liquid or gas,

(B) an underground electricity or telecommunications cable system,

(b) such other works as may be prescribed, other than works carried out in a factory or on premises to which this Act applies by virtue of section 83 (1).

Application of section 37 of Principal Act to certain electrical stations.

41. Section 37 of the Principal Act, as amended by section 12 of this Act, shall apply to premises described in section 83 of the Principal Act (which applies certain provisions of that Act to certain electrical stations) as if the premises were a factory.

Amendment of sections 39 , 72 and 85 of Principal Act.

42. —(1) Section 39 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by—

(a) the substitution of “gas, vapour or liquid” for “gas or vapour” in each place where it occurs in subsection (3);

(b) the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (4):

“(4) Subsection (3) of this section, in so far as it applies to plant containing explosive or inflammable gas or vapour under pressure, shall not apply to plant installed in the open air.”,

and the said subsection (3), as so amended, is set out in paragraph 1 of the Table to this section.

(2) Section 72 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by—

(a) the substitution in both subsections (2) and (3) of “the State Chemist or a person who is for the time being approved for the purposes of this section by the Minister” for “the State Chemist”, and

(b) the insertion of “, other than the Minister,” before “the results” in subsection (4),

and the said subsections (2) and (3), as so amended, and the said subsection (4), as amended by this subsection and by section 56 (d) of this Act, are set out in paragraphs 2, 3 and 4, respectively, of the Table to this section.

(3) Section 85 (2) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution of “subsection (2)” for “subsection (3)”.

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1. Where any part of a plant contains any explosive or inflammable gas, vapour or liquid under pressure greater than atmospheric pressure, that part shall not be opened, except in accordance with the following provisions—

(a) before the fastening of any joint of any pipe connected with the part of the plant or the fastening of the cover of any opening into the part is loosened, any flow of the gas, vapour or liquid into the part or into any such pipe shall be effectively stopped by a stop-valve or otherwise,

(b) before any such fastening as aforesaid is removed, all practicable steps shall be taken to reduce the pressure of the gas, vapour or liquid in the pipe or part of the plant to atmospheric pressure,

and if any such fastening has been loosened or removed as aforesaid, no explosive or inflammable gas, vapour or liquid shall be allowed to enter the pipe or part of the plant until the fastening has been secured, or, as the case may be, securely replaced.

2. The occupier or the foreman or other responsible person referred to in subsection (1) of this section may, at the time when a sample is taken under this section, and on providing the necessary appliances, require the inspector to divide the sample into three parts, to mark and seal or fasten up each part in such manner as its nature permits, and—

(a) to deliver one part to the occupier, or the foreman or other responsible person,

(b) to retain one part for future comparison,

(c) to submit one part to the analyst,

and any analysis under this section shall, if so required, be carried out by or under the direction of the State Chemist or a person who is for the time being approved for the purposes of this section by the Minister.

3. A certificate purporting to be a certificate by the State Chemist or a person who is for the time being approved for the purposes of this section by the Minister as to the result of an analysis of a sample under this section shall in any proceedings under this Act be admissible as evidence of the matters stated therein, but either party may require the person by whom the analysis was made to be called as a witness.

4. It shall not be lawful for any person, except in so far as is necessary for the purposes of a prosecution for an offence under this Act, to publish or disclose to any person, other than the Minister, the results of an analysis made under this section, and if any person acts in contravention of this subsection, he shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding three hundred pounds.

Extension of sections 88 and 89 of Principal Act.

43. —(1) Subject to subsection (2) of this section, where a person undertakes building operations or works of engineering construction to which by virtue of section 88 or 89 of the Principal Act provisions of that Act apply, then any person, other than the first-mentioned person or an employee of the first-mentioned person, who designs and controls or directs the operations or works, or supervises the manner in which or the method by which the operations or works are carried out, shall be deemed for the purposes of the said provisions, in their application to the operations or works, to be the occupier of a factory.

(2) In applying by virtue of subsection (1) of this section provisions of the Principal Act requiring general registers to be kept and copies of the prescribed abstract referred to in section 120 (1) (a) of the Principal Act, as amended by section 46 of this Act, and of special regulations or the prescribed abstract of such regulations to be kept posted up, for the purposes of this section the provisions shall be deemed to be complied with in relation to a particular case if as regards that case they may be deemed under section 88 or 89 of the Principal Act to have been complied with.

Amendment of section 111 of Principal Act.

44. —For the avoidance of doubt it is hereby declared that section 111 of the Principal Act shall apply, and shall be deemed always to have applied, to the Minister.

Amendment of section 112 of Principal Act.

45. Section 112 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution of “not a child to whom the School Attendance Act, 1926 , applies” for “more than fourteen years of age” in subsection (2), and the said subsection (2), as so amended, is set out in the Table to this section.

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Where, in any proceedings under this Act with respect to a person alleged to be a young person, the court considers that such person is apparently less than eighteen and not a child to whom the School Attendance Act, 1926 , applies, it shall lie on the defendant to prove that such person is not a young person.

Amendment of section 120 (1) of Principal Act.

46. —Subsection (1) of section 120 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the addition of “as amended or extended by any other enactment,” to paragraph (a), and the said subsection (1), as so amended, is set out in the Table to this section.

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There shall be kept posted at the principal entrances of a factory at which employed persons enter—

(a) the prescribed abstract of this Act, as amended or extended by any other enactment,

(b) a notice of the name of the certifying doctor for the factory,

(c) every notice and document required by this Act to be posted in the factory,

but, where an inspector directs that all or any of the aforesaid documents shall be posted in particular parts of the factory, either in addition to or in substitution for the said principal entrances, his direction shall be complied with.

Metric conversion of, or provision of metric equivalents for, certain measurements specified in Principal Act.

47. —For the purpose of metrically converting, or providing equivalent metric measurements for, certain imperial measurements and other measurements specified in the Principal Act, the amendments specified in the Schedule to this Act shall have effect.

Amendment of Third Schedule to Principal Act.

48. —The Third Schedule to the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph 3:

“3A. Where the Minister amends a draft of proposed special regulations and the amendment or each of the amendments, as the case may be, is a correction of a formal nature, the provisions of paragraph 3 of this Schedule requiring an amended draft to be dealt with in like manner as an original draft shall not apply in relation to that draft.”.