S.I. No. 171/1956:

FACTORIES (SANITARY ACCOMMODATION) REGULATIONS, 1956.

FACTORIES (SANITARY ACCOMMODATION) REGULATIONS, 1956.

I, WILLIAM NORTON, Minister for Industry and Commerce, in exercise of the power conferred on me by subsection (2) of section 17 of the Factories Act, 1955 (No. 10 of 1955), after consultation with the Minister for Health, hereby make the following regulations :--

1.--(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Factories (Sanitary Accommodation) Regulations, 1956.

(2) These Regulations shall come into operation on the 1st day of October, 1956.

2. These Regulations shall apply to the following premises, namely, every factory as defined in section 3 of the Factories Act, 1955 (No. 10 of 1955), and every premises to which that Act applies by virtue of subsection (1) of section 83 thereof.

3.--(1) Subject to paragraph (2) of this Regulation, in any premises to which these Regulations apply in which females are employed there shall be provided--

(a) if the number of females employed is forty-five or less, at least one suitable sanitary convenience for every fifteen females ;

(b) if more than forty-five females are employed, at least one suitable sanitary convenience for every fifteen females up to the first forty-five and one for every twenty-five females thereafter.

(2) In the case of premises other than premises constructed or re-constructed or converted for use as a premises to which these regulations apply after the 1st day of October, 1956, it shall be sufficient, until the 1st day of October, 1957, if there is provided one suitable sanitary convenience for every twenty-five females.

4.--(1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3) of this Regulation, in any premises to which these Regulations apply in which males are employed there shall be provided at least one suitable sanitary convenience (not being a convenience suitable merely as a urinal) for every twenty-five males.

(2) If the number of males employed in any such premises exceeds one hundred and sufficient urinal accommodation is also provided, it shall be sufficient if there is provided one such convenience as aforesaid for every twenty-five males up to the first one hundred and one for every forty males thereafter.

(3) In the case of premises other than premises constructed or re-constructed or converted for use as a premises to which these regulations apply after the 1st day of October, 1956, in which the number of males employed exceeds five hundred, it shall be sufficient if there is provided one such convenience as aforesaid for every sixty males, if sufficient urinal accommodation is also provided and if the sanitary authority issues a certificate (which shall be kept attached to the general register so long as it remains in force) that, in their opinion, the arrangements at the premises are such that the provisions of this paragraph may properly be applied to the premises. Any such certificate may be revoked at any time by the sanitary authority by notice in writing.

5. In calculating the number of sanitary conveniences to be provided under these Regulations, any odd number of persons less than fifteen, twenty-five, forty or sixty shall be reckoned, as the case may require, as fifteen, twenty-five, forty or sixty.

6.--(1) Every sanitary convenience shall be sufficiently ventilated.

(2) Every sanitary convenience (other than a convenience suitable merely as a urinal) shall be under cover and so partitioned off as to secure privacy and shall have a proper door and fastenings, and urinals shall be so placed or so screened as not to be visible from other parts of the premises where persons work or pass.

(3) The sanitary conveniences shall be so placed as to be conveniently accessible to the persons employed at all times while they are at the premises.

7. Where persons of both sexes are employed, the sanitary conveniences for each sex shall be so placed or so screened that the interior shall not be visible, even when the door of any sanitary convenience is open, from any place where persons of the other sex have to work or pass and, if the sanitary conveniences for one sex adjoin those for the other sex, the approaches thereto shall be separate. The sanitary conveniences for each sex shall be indicated by a suitable notice.

8. These Regulations shall be without prejudice to the requirements of subsection (1) of section 17 of the Factories Act, 1955 , that the sanitary conveniences shall be maintained and kept clean and to the requirements of paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of that subsection.

9. The Order made on the 4th day of February, 1903, under section 9 of the Factory and Workshop Act, 1901, is hereby revoked.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 4th day of July, 1956.

WILLIAM NORTON,

Minister for Industry and Commerce.