Factories Act 1961
The Factories Act 1961 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. At the time of its passage, the Act consolidated much legislation on workplace health, safety and welfare in Great Britain. Though some of it remains in force, it has largely been superseded by the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and regulations made under it. However, the Act continues to have a legal importance as cases of chronic workplace exposure to hazards such as industrial noise, as in the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire deafness litigation, or carcinogens often extend back in time  beyond the current legislation. Breach of the residual provisions is still a crime punishable on summary conviction in the Magistrates' Court by a fine of up to £20,000 or, on indictment in the Crown Court, imprisonment for up to two years and an unlimited fine. In the event of damage arising from a breach of the Act, there may be civil liability for breach of statutory duty. Though no such liability is stipulated by the Act itself, none is excluded and the facts could be such as to give rise to a cause of action in that tort. A  breach not actionable in itself may be evidential towards a claim for common law negligence. In particular, a criminal conviction may be given in evidence. Background. The Act was the final consolidation of a line of legislation under Factory Acts that began in 1802. In particular, it consolidated the 1937 and 1959 Acts. The Acts were widely regarded as ineffective in practice. Section 14 of the 1961 Act required the guarding of all dangerous parts of machinery but a sequence of judicial decisions under the earlier Acts had restricted the scope of what was "dangerous" only to include hazards that  were reasonable foreseeable. Definition of "factory". Section 175 of the Act defines "factory" as premises in which persons are employed in manual labour in any process for or incidental to: The Act also defines certain other specific premises as "factories" such as laundries and printing works (s. 175(2)). Health (general provisions). Sections 1 to 7 define general broad requirements for healthy factory working conditions: These provisions were repealed and superseded, as far as they applied to "workplaces", by the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 with effect from 1 January 1993 for new workplaces and 1 January 1996 for  established workplaces. There is still a potential residual scope of application to "factories" that are not "workplaces" as the definition of "workplace" is in some ways limited. Section 10A was added by the Employment Medical Advisory Service Act 1972 and gives powers to the Employment Medical Advisory Service to order medical examination and supervision of employees. Section 11 gave the Minister of State, as of 2008 the minister at the Department for Work and Pensions, the power to order medical supervision though these powers have been largely superseded by powers granted to the Health and Safety Executive and other powers  of the Minister to make orders by statutory instrument. Safety (general provisions). Sections 12 to 39 defined specific requirements for machinery safety but many have been repealed and superseded. As of 2008, the following sections remain fully in force: The following sections were repealed and superseded, as far as they applied to "workplaces", by the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 with effect from 1 January 1993 for new workplaces and 1 January 1996 for established workplaces. There is still a potential residual scope of application to "factories" that are not "workplaces". The following sections were repealed and superseded  by the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1992 between 1 January 1993 and 1 January 1997: The following sections were repealed and superseded by the Health and Safety (Young Persons) Regulations 1997 on 3 March 1997:<ref name="Reg.3/ Sch. Pt.1">Reg.3/ Sch. Pt.1</ref> 20 Cleaning of machinery by young persons; and Training and supervision of young persons working at dangerous machines. The following sections were repealed and superseded by the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 on 5 December 1998: The following sections were repealed and superseded by the Confined Spaces Regulations 1997 on 5 December 1998: The  following section was revoked and superseded by Schedule 7 of the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 on 9 December 2002. The following sections were repealed in part and superseded by the Pressure Systems and Transportable Gas Containers Regulations 1989 on 1 July 1994: The following sections were repealed and superseded by the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations 2000 on 21 February 2000: Sections 40 to 52 applied to fire safety and were repealed in 1976 when the Fire Precautions Act 1971 was extended to require fire certificates for a wide class of works premises. Welfare (general provisions). Sections 57  to 60 define general broad requirements for factory welfare: These provisions were repealed and superseded, as far as they applied to "workplaces", by the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 with effect from 1 January 1993 for new workplaces and 1 January 1996 for established workplaces. There is still a potential residual scope of application to "factories" that are not "workplaces". Section 61, first aid, has been repealed, as has section 62, power of minister to make regulations. Health, safety and welfare (special provisions and regulations). Sections 63 to 79 defined many specific regulations such as forbidding eating in  places where lead or arsenic was processed (s. 64), and forbidding women and young people from working at foundries with lead or zinc, or "mixing or pasting in connection with the manufacture or repair of electric accumulators" (s. 74). As of 2008, these have all been repealed and superseded by subsequent regulations save for section 69 where there is a residual power for an inspector from the Health and Safety Executive to restrict working in underground rooms in "factories" that are not "workplaces". Notification and investigation of accidents and industrial diseases. Sections 80 to 85 specified reauirements for the statutory  reporting of deaths, injuries and diseases that took place at work. As of 2008, these sections have all been repealed and superseded, especially by the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995. Employment of women and young persons. Sections 86 to 116 restricted the working hours of women and young people in factories. Some exceptions were allowed such as for women in management positions (s. 95). All these sections have been repealed, either by: Enforcement. Enforcement originally lay with District Councils (ss. 8–10, 53–56) but, as of 1974, general responsibility falls to the Health and Safety Executive though  they are often able to delegate this to local authorities. Factories Act (Northern Ireland) 1965. The Factories Act 1961 did not extend to Northern Ireland, but the Parliament of Northern Ireland enacted similar provisions in its Factories Act (Northern Ireland) 1965, which consolidated earlier Acts there. As with the British Act, as of 2008 most of the provisions have been repealed and superseded by more modern legislation under the Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order 1978, such as the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1993.