Factories Ordinance, Cap. 297

The Factories Ordinance was passed to make provision for the health, safety and welfare of persons employed in factories and other places and applies to those facilities defined as factories in section 5 of the Ordinance. Provisions related to pollution can also be found in the Ordinance, as they relate to worker health and safety. Factories are defined extensively in the Ordinance and the definition should be reviewed by businesses to determine whether or not this law is applicable in specific cases. Following is an abbreviated definition. A factory is:

"Any premises in which or within the close curtilage or precincts of which, persons are employed in manual labour in any process for or incidental to any of the following purposes, namely:

1. The making of any article or of part of any article; or
2. The altering, repairing, ornamenting, finishing, cleaning or washing, or the breaking up or demolition of any article; or;
3. The adapting for sale of any article

being premises in which the work is carried on by way of trade for the purposes of gain and to or over which the employer of the persons employed therein has the right of access or control."

Part III requires registration of all factories with the Chief Inspector of the Ministry of Labour (using the Application Form for New Factories, see Appendix A) and requires the Chief Inspector's approval of any plans for new factories when they are submitted to local authorities. The Factory Inspection Report Form, included in Appendix A, is used for this approval purpose. After approval is granted, the factory is registered and given a Certificate of Registration of Factory (see Appendix A).

Section 12 of the Ordinance gives any person aggrieved by a decision of the Chief Inspector the right to appeal to a Factories Appeal Board, created under s. 11. Part IV of the Ordinance gives Health (General Provisions) for factory operations. For example, s. 13 mandates that factories shall be kept in a clean state and gives specific standards, s. 14 addresses worker overcrowding, and the remaining sections ventilation (s.15), lighting (s.16), drainage of floors (s.17), sanitary conveniences (s.18) and section 19 gives local authorities power to inspect for violations of section 18. Part V addresses specific safety provisions for different types of machinery and processes and worker's skill levels. Section 34 requires that workers have safe ingress and egress and a safe place of employment. Sections 35-36 address the issues of dangerous fumes, and explosive or inflammable dust, gas, vapour or substance, and require prevention or minimisation of the hazards via enclosure of equipment or processes. Such provisions are established in s.41 - 42. Finally, sections 43-44 give the court power to order temporary or permanent closure of factories or parts thereof, where factories or processes are determined to be dangerous upon complaint by an inspector.

Part VI of the Ordinance establishes general provisions regarding welfare of workers, including a requirement that factories provide a supply of adequate drinking water (s.46), washing facilities, (s.47), clothing accommodations (s. 48), and first aid (s.49). Part VII establishes special provisions and rules regarding, health, safety and welfare. Regarding removal of dust or fumes:

"In every factory in which, in connection with any process carried on, there is given off any dust or fume or other impurity of such a character and to such extent as to be likely to be injurious or offensive to the persons employed, or any substantial quantity of dust of any kind:

• All practicable measures shall be taken to protect the persons employed, against inhalation of the dust or fume or other impurity and to prevent its accumulating in any workroom, and,
• In particular, where the nature of the process makes it practicable, exhaust appliances shall be provided and maintained as near as possible to the point of origin of the dust or fume or other impurity, so as to prevent it entering the air of any workroom.

Section 52 prohibits eating and drinking in rooms where any poisonous or otherwise injurious substance gives rise to any dust or fume and section 53 requires protective clothing and appliances for workers involving excessive exposure to wet or injurious or offensive substances. Section 54 requires eye protective wear where eyes may be threatened (this rule applies to processes specified in Schedule 4 to the Ordinance). Under §55, the Minister for Labour is given the power to make rules for health, safety and welfare where the Minister is satisfied that any manufacture, machinery, plant, equipment, appliance, proves to be or manual labour is of such a nature as to cause risk of bodily injury or to be offensive to the persons employed. Without prejudice to the generality of the above section, rules may:

1. prohibit the employment of, or modify or limit the hours of employment of, all persons or any class of persons in connection with any manufacture, machinery, plant, equipment, appliance, process or description of manual labour, or
2. prohibit, limit or control the use of any material of process, or
3. modify or extend with respect to any class or description of factory any provisions of part IV, Part V or Part VI of this Ordinance, being provisions imposing requirements as to health, safety or welfare, or
4. apply provisions relating to:
   1. arrangements for repairing or heating and taking meals
   2. ambulance and first-aid arrangements
   3. rest rooms
   4. arrangements for the supervision of persons employed and may impose duties on owners, employed persons and other persons, as well as on occupiers.

Rules so made may apply to all factories, in which the manufacture, machinery, plant, equipment, appliance, process or description of manual labour is used, or to any specified class or description of such factories, and may provide for the exemption of any specified class or description of factory either absolutely or subject to conditions.

Section 56 gives inspectors the power to take samples which they think, on analysis, will be likely to cause bodily injury to the persons employed. Part IX: Miscellaneous. Section 61 requires that the Ordinance and rules be posted in all factories. Part X deals with Administration of the Ordinance, requiring that the Labour Commissioner shall be responsible for administering the Ordinance. Section 68 gives the President the authority to appoint inspectors and section 69 explains the powers of inspectors, including entry, inspection and examination of factories where he has reasonable cause to believe that explosive or highly flammable materials are stored or used, to require production of documents, to make examination and inquiry, to solicit information, to examine persons and to medically examine persons. Obstruction of an inspector's duties is an offense, with a fine of 200 Tsh. or to imprisonment of Tsh. or to imprisonment of one month or both. Part XI delineates offenses, penalties and legal proceedings. Penalties for offenses are as follows where no express penalty is otherwise provided: 500 Tsh. or 1 month or both, plus 100 Tsh. for each day the contravention continues after conviction. Additional penalties may be imposed where a violation of the Ordinance results in death or bodily injury.

Finally, complaint forms exist in case of factory accidents (see Appendix A for Factory Accident Report Forms).