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CHECKWEIGHING IN VARIOUS INDUSTRIES ACT 1919

CHECKWEIGHING IN VARIOUS INDUSTRIES ACT 1919 - LONG TITLE

An Act to provide for checking the Weight or Measurement of
Materials produced, handled, or gotten by Workmen paid by weight or
measure in certain Industries{1}.
[15th August 1919]
Right of workmen to check weights in certain industries.

CHECKWEIGHING IN VARIOUS INDUSTRIES ACT 1919 - SECT 1

1.(1) The workmen engaged in any industry to which this Act applies
and paid according to the weight of material produced, handled, or
gotten by them shall, notwithstanding any agreement to the contrary,
have a right to check the weighing of the material or to test the
accuracy of the estimated weight of the material in manner provided
by this Act or by regulations made thereunder.

(2) The industries to which this Act applies are

(a)The production or manufacture of iron or steel, including any
process of founding, converting, casting, rolling, or otherwise
finishing iron or steel;

(b)The loading or unloading of goods, whether as cargo or stores,
into and from vessels;

(c)The getting of chalk or limestone from quarries;

(d)The manufacture of cement and lime;

(e)Any other industry to which the provisions of this Act may be
extended by regulations made by the Secretary of State.

CHECKWEIGHING IN VARIOUS INDUSTRIES ACT 1919 - SECT 2
Manner in which weights may be checked or tested.

2.(1) The manner in which the workmen engaged in any industry to
which this Act applies may exercise their powers of checking the
weights or testing the estimated weights shall, as respects the
industries mentioned in the First Schedule to this Act, be such as
is provided by the regulations applicable to those industries
respectively set forth in that Schedule, and as respects any
industry to which the provisions of this Act may be extended by
regulations of the Secretary of State, be such as may be provided
by those regulations:

Provided that the regulations set forth in the First Schedule to
this Act may be varied by regulations made by the Secretary of
State.

(2) Where under the regulations contained in the First Schedule to
this Act, or made by the Secretary of State, the workmen are
authorised to appoint a checkweigher, the checkweigher shall be
entitled to station himself at any place appointed for the weighing
of material in order that he may on behalf of the workmen by whom
he is appointed take a correct account of the weight of the
material, and the employer shall afford to him all proper facilities
for enabling him to fulfil his duties, including facilities for
examining and testing all weighing machines and checking the tareing
of wagons in which the material is weighed.

(3) Where under the regulations contained in the First Schedule to
this Act, or made by the Secretary of State, the workmen are
entitled to appoint a checkweigher or other representative, the
appointment shall be made and revoked and evidence of the
appointment furnished to the employer in such manner as the
Secretary of State may prescribe, and the provisions of the Coal
Mines Regulation Acts, 1887 to 1908, relating to the powers, duties,
removal, and remuneration of checkweighers, and the relations between
employers and checkweighers, as set forth and adapted in the Second
Schedule to this Act, shall apply to the checkweighers and other
representatives so appointed.

CHECKWEIGHING IN VARIOUS INDUSTRIES ACT 1919 - SECT 3
Offences.

3.(1) If any employer fails to comply with any of the requirements
of this Act or the regulations made thereunder, he shall be guilty
of an offence against this Act.

(2) Any person guilty of an offence against this Act for which no
other penalty is provided shall on summary conviction be liable to
a fine not exceeding five pounds, and to a fine not exceeding [#2]
for each day on which the offence is continued after conviction
thereof.

(3) If an employer is charged with an offence against this Act, he
shall be entitled, on information duly laid by him, to have any
other person whom he charges as the actual offender brought before
the court at the time appointed for the hearing of the charge and
if, after the commission of the offence has been proved the
employer proves to the satisfaction of the court that he has used
due diligence to comply with the provisions of this Act, and of
the regulations made thereunder, and that that other person has
committed the offence in question without his knowledge, consent, or
connivance, that other person shall be summarily convicted of the
offence, and the employer shall be exempt from any fine, and the
person so convicted shall in the discretion of the court be also
liable to pay any costs incidental to the proceedings.

(4) If any person required to give any certificate or furnish any
information or keep any books under this Act or the regulations
made thereunder knowingly makes any false statement in any such
certificate or furnishes any false information or falsifies any such
book, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and liable to
imprisonment ... for a term not exceeding two years, or to a fine,
or to both such imprisonment and fine.

(5) If any checkweigher or representative of workmen appointed under
this Act, or the regulations made thereunder, divulges any trade
secret or other information with regard to the employer's business,
he shall be liable on summary conviction to imprisonment, ..., for
a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding twenty
pounds, unless he proves that the trade secret did not come to his
knowledge or the information was not acquired by him in the course
of the exercise of his powers under this Act.

CHECKWEIGHING IN VARIOUS INDUSTRIES ACT 1919 - SECT 4
Intermittent weighing and checkweighing.

4.(1) Where at any works the material on the weight of which wages
are based is weighed at intervals and not continuously the employer
shall give to the checkweigher (if any) reasonable notice of the
time and place at which the weighing will take place.

(2) Where a checkweigher or other representative appointed under this
Act, or the regulations made thereunder, attends at the place where
the industry is carried on for the purpose of his duties at
irregular intervals, he shall give the employer at least two days'
notice of his intention to attend.

CHECKWEIGHING IN VARIOUS INDUSTRIES ACT 1919 - SECT 5
Provisions as to regulations.

5.(1) Sections eighty, eighty-one, eighty-four, and eighty-six of the
Factory and Workshop Act, 1901, relating to regulations under that
Act, as set out and adapted in the Third Schedule to this Act,
shall apply to the regulations under this Act.

(2) Printed copies of all regulations contained in or made under
this Act for the time being in force with respect to the industry
carried on by any employer shall be kept posted up in legible
characters and in conspicuous places on the employer's premises,
where they may be conveniently read by the workmen.

(3) A printed copy of all such regulations shall be given by the
employer to any workman affected thereby on his application.

(4) If any employer fails to comply with any provision of this
section as to posting up or giving copies, or if any person pulls
down, injures, or defaces any regulations posted up in pursuance of
this section, he shall be guilty of an offence against this Act.

CHECKWEIGHING IN VARIOUS INDUSTRIES ACT 1919 - SECT 6
Provisions as to arbitrations.

6. Any matter required to be submitted to arbitration under this
Act, or the regulations made thereunder, shall, in accordance with
regulations as to procedure and costs made by the Secretary of
State, be referred to the decision of a single arbitrator appointed
in default of agreement, by the judge of county courts for the
district ... in which the employer's premises are situate.

CHECKWEIGHING IN VARIOUS INDUSTRIES ACT 1919 - SECT 7
Short title.

7.(1) Where the workmen engaged in an industry to which this Act
applies are paid according to the measure of material produced,
handled, or gotten by them, the provisions of this Act shall apply
in like manner as if the term "weighing" included measuring, and
the terms relating to weighing shall be construed accordingly.

(2) For the purposes of this Act, the workmen engaged in removing
the topsoil from chalk or limestone quarries preparatory to the
getting of chalk or limestone shall be deemed to be workmen engaged
in getting chalk or limestone.

(3) Where under the regulations contained in the First Schedule to
this Act the workmen are entitled to appoint a check weigher they
may appoint one or more checkweighers.

(4) Where under the regulations contained in the First Schedule to
this Act any matter may be determined by agreement between the
employer and the workmen of any class, the agreement may be made
between the employer and a majority of the workmen of that class,
and when so made shall, whilst in force, be binding on all the
workmen of that class, notwithstanding that any of the workmen may
have ceased to be, and others may have become, workmen of that
class.

(5) In this Act the expression "prescribed" means prescribed by the
Secretary of State.

CHECKWEIGHING IN VARIOUS INDUSTRIES ACT 1919 - SECT 8
Sections 2 and 7.

8. This Act may be cited as the Checkweighing in Various Industries
Act, 1919 ....

1. Where the iron or steel produced or manufactured is weighed by
the employer on the employer's premises, the workmen shall be
entitled to appoint a checkweigher.

2. Where the iron or steel produced or manufactured is not so
weighed then

(a)if the weight is calculated according to the weight of the
materials used for the production or manufacture of the iron or
steel and those materials are weighed on the employer's premises,
the workmen shall be entitled to appoint a checkweigher to check
the weighing;

(b)if the weight is calculated in accordance with the capacity of
the moulds in which the iron or steel is cast, the employer shall,
on being required in the prescribed manner so to do by the
workmen, or a majority of them, cause the capacity of the moulds
to be periodically tested at such intervals (not being less than
fourteen days) and in such manner as, in default of agreement
between the employer and the workmen, may be settled by arbitration,
and in such case the workmen, may appoint a check weigher to
attend at the periodical testing;

(c)if the weight is not so calculated, or if it is so calculated,
but such periodical testing of the capacity of moulds is not
reasonably practicable or would unreasonably interfere with the manner
in which the process of manufacture is conducted, the weight shall
be checked in such manner as, in default of agreement between the
employer and the workmen, may be settled by arbitration, and, if
any dispute arises between the employer and the workmen as to
whether such periodical testing of the capacity of moulds as
aforesaid is not reasonably practicable or would unreasonably
interfere with the manner in which the process of manufacture is
conducted, the dispute shall be referred to arbitration.

3. Where in pursuance of the foregoing regulations the weight of
ingots is periodically tested, whether by testing the capacity of
moulds or otherwise, the wages to be paid to the workmen shall be
based on the weight ascertained by the test applied for the purpose
until the weight is again tested.

4.(1) Where the workmen engaged in the manufacture of tin plates
from steel bars of a standard weight are paid according to the
number of boxes of tin plates of a standard weight and a standard
superficial area, the checkweigher appointed for the purpose of
checking the weighing of the boxes of tin plates, may, if at any
time he has reason to believe that the steel bars being used are
of less than the standard weight, require the weight of the steel
bars to be tested, and may himself attend at the testing.

(2) The manner in which the weight of steel bars is to be so
tested in any works shall be that for the time being in force in
the works, being such as may have been agreed upon between the
employer and the workmen or, in default of agreement, may have been
settled by arbitration.

1. The employer shall, as soon as may be after the information is
available, furnish to the workmen or their representative or post up
in some place convenient to the workmen a certificate in the
prescribed form of the total weight of the goods loaded into or
unloaded from the vessel.

2. If the accuracy of the certificate is questioned, the workmen or
a majority of the workmen may appoint a representative to inquire
into its accuracy, and the employer shall furnish to the
representative such information and explanation as he may reasonably
require for the purposes of the inquiry, and shall allow him access
to all books and documents containing particulars on which the
certificate is based.

3. Where workmen are employed by a stevedore, the information to be
furnished by the stevedore to the representative of the workmen
shall include a statement, signed by the person by whom the
stevedore is employed, of the quantities on which the stevedore was
paid, which statement such person as aforesaid shall furnish on
being required so to do by the stevedore.

4. Where the goods loaded or unloaded are actually weighed by the
employer at or near the place where the vessel is loaded or
unloaded, the workmen entitled under this section to appoint a
representative may instead thereof appoint a checkweigher, and in
such case the foregoing regulations shall not apply.

1. Where the chalk or limestone gotten is weighed on the premises
of the employer, the workmen may appoint a checkweigher. If the
right of appointing a checkweigher is not exercised, the workmen in
charge of the wagons at the time that they are weighed may
themselves check the weighing, and the workmen may appoint a
representative to check the tareing of wagons, and the employer
shall afford to such workmen and representative the same facilities
for checking the weighing and tareing as he is required under this
Act to afford to a checkweigher.

2. Where the chalk or limestone is not weighed, but its weight is
estimated from the capacity of the wagons into which it is loaded

(a)all the wagons shall be deemed to be of the same capacity
unless the employer divides the wagons into classes, and, if so
divided into classes, all wagons of each particular class shall be
deemed to be of the same capacity, and the capacity of all the
wagons, or, if the wagons are divided into classes, the capacity of
all the wagons of each class, shall be published either by being
marked on the wagons or by a statement posted up in some
conspicuous place on the employer's premises; and

(b)the workmen shall be entitled to have the capacity of the wagons
tested by having such one wagon as they may select or, if the
wagons are divided into classes, such one wagon of each class as
they may select, weighed full and empty, and may appoint a
representative to check the weighing, and the employer shall afford
the representative all proper facilities for the purpose;

(c)where the capacity of wagons has been so tested as aforesaid,
the workmen shall not be entitled to have the capacity of wagons
again tested unless a new class of wagon is introduced;

(d)if at any time any dispute arises between the employer and any
workman as to whether a wagon has been filled or not to its
capacity, the workman shall have the right to have the wagon load
weighed.

3. Where the limestone is not weighed nor its weight calculated on
the employer's premises, but the limestone is weighed by the railway
company or other person to whom it is consigned and accounts of
the weight so ascertained are furnished to the employer, the
employer shall, on being required so to do, allow a representative
appointed by the workmen to inspect any such accounts specified in
the requisition and received by the employer not more than fourteen
days before the requisition is made.

1. Where the workmen are paid according to the weight of the
clinker or lime produced or handled by them and the clinker or
lime is weighed on the employer's premises, the workmen may appoint
a checkweigher. If the right of appointing a checkweigher is not
exercised, the workmen in charge of the wagons at the time that
they are weighed may themselves check the weighing and require the
records of the weighing to be produced to them, and the workmen
may appoint a representative to check the tareing of wagons, and
the employer shall afford to such workmen and representative the
same facilities for checking the weighing and tareing as he is
required under this Act to afford to a checkweigher.

2. The tares of wagons shall either be marked on the wagons or
posted in some conspicuous place on the employer's premises.

3.(1) Where the wages paid to workmen engaged in the manufacture of
cement are adjusted from time to time on taking stock of the
amount of cement manufactured at the works, the employer shall take
stock at intervals of not less than six months, and when stock is
so taken shall forthwith inform the workmen of the estimated amount
of cement in store. If a majority of the workmen dispute the
estimate and it is impracticable to ascertain by weighing or
measuring the exact amount of the cement in store, the quesion in
dispute shall be referred to arbitration.

(2) The employer shall also in any case keep books in which shall
be entered

(a)the amount of cement sold and used in the works;

(b)the amount of wages paid to the packers, if paid according to
weight;

(c)the amount of wages paid to the workmen;

(d)the amount of cement ascertained or estimated to be in store
when stock is taken;

(e)where substances are added to clinker when it goes into the mill
and deductions are made in respect thereof, the amount of such
substances bought, used, and in store on any stocktaking;

(f)if any works where the produce of kilns worked by men whose
wages are not subject to adjustment is mixed with the produce of
kilns worked by men whose wages are subject to adjustment, the
weight of material produced in the first-mentioned kilns;

(3) Whenever stock is taken for the purpose of the adjustment of
the wages of any workmen, those workmen shall have a right to
appoint a representative with a view to ascertaining whether any
addition to or deduction from the wages should be made and the
employer shall furnish to the representative such information and
explanation as he may reasonably require for the purpose, and shall
allow him access to the books so kept, and the accounts, tallies,
and other documents from which such books have been made out.

4. Where workmen engaged in the manufacture of lime are paid
according to the weight of the lime produced, and the lime is not
weighed nor its weight calculated on the employer's premises, but
the lime is weighed by the railway company or other person to whom
it is consigned and accounts of the weight so ascertained are
furnished to the employer, the employer shall, on being required so
to do, allow a representative appointed by the workmen to inspect
any such accounts specified in the requisition and received by the
employer not more than fourteen days before the requisition is made.

13.(3) A checkweigher or other representative of the workmen shall
not be authorised in any way to impede or interrupt the carrying
on of the industry in which the workmen are engaged, or to
interfere with the weighing, or with any of the workmen, or with
the management of the industry; but shall be authorised only to
exercise such powers as are by this Act or by the regulations made
thereunder conferred upon him, and the absence of a checkweigher
shall not be a reason for interrupting, or delaying the weighing,
but the same shall be done by the person appointed in that behalf
by the employer, unless the absent checkweigher had reasonable ground
to suppose that the weighing would not be proceeded with: Provided
always that nothing in this section shall prevent a checkweigher or
other representative of the workmen giving to any workman an account
of the material produced, handled, or gotten by him, or information
with respect to the weighing, or the weighing machine, or the
tareing of the wagons or other vehicles, or with respect to any
other matter within the scope of his duties as checkweigher or
other representative as aforesaid, so always, nevertheless, that the
carrying on of the industry be not interrupted or impeded.

(4) If the employer desires the removal of a checkweigher or other
representative of the workmen or, in the case of the appointment of
a checkweigher or other representative for a temporary purpose,
desires that the person so appointed should not be re-appointed as
checkweigher or other representative on the ground that he has
impeded or interrupted the carrying on of the industry or interfered
with the weighing, or with any of the workmen, or with the
management of the works, or has at the works to the detriment of
the employer done anything beyond exercising such powers as
aforesaid, he may complain to a court of summary jurisdiction, who,
if of opinion that the employer shows a sufficient prima facie
case, shall call on the checkweigher or other representative to show
cause why such an order as is herein-after mentioned should not be
made.

(5) On the hearing of the case the court shall hear the parties,
and, if they think that at the hearing sufficient ground is shown
by the employer to justify the making of an order, shall make a
summary order for the removal of the checkweigher or other
representative or prohibiting him from being again appointed as
checkweigher or other representative as the case may require, and he
shall thereupon be removed or disqualified from again acting as
checkweigher or other representative of the workmen, but in the case
of an order for removal without prejudice to the appointment of
another checkweigher or representative in his place.

(6) The court may in every case make such order as to the costs
of the proceedings as the court may think just.

...

(8) If the person appointed by the employer to weigh any material
impedes or interrupts the checkweigher in the proper discharge of
his duties, or improperly interferes with or alters the weighing
machine or the tare in order to prevent a correct account being
taken of the weighing and tareing, he shall be guilty of an
offence against this Act.

14.(1) If a checkweigher or other representative of the workmen has
been duly appointed by any class of workmen, and has acted as
such, he may recover from any workman of that class his proportion
of the checkweigher's or representative's wages or recompense
notwithstanding that any of the persons by whom the checkweigher or
representative was appointed may have ceased to be and others may
have become members of that class since the checkweigher's or
representative's appointment, any rule of law or equity to the
contrary notwithstanding.

(2) It shall be lawful for the employer, where the majority of any
such class of workmen so agree, to retain the agreed contribution
of any member of the class for the checkweigher or other
representative, notwithstanding the provisions of the Acts relating to
truck, and to pay and account for the same to the checkweigher or
other representative.

1. If an employer, or any person employed by or acting under the
instructions of any such employer, interferes with the appointment of
a checkweigher or other representative of the workmen, or refuses to
afford proper facilities for the holding of any meeting for the
purposes of making such appointment, in any case in which the
persons entitled to make the appointment do not possess or are
unable to obtain a suitable meeting place, or attempts, whether by
threats, bribes, promises, notice of dismissal, or otherwise
howsoever, to exercise improper influence in respect of such
appointment, or to induce the persons entitled to appoint a
checkweigher or other representative, or any of them, not to
re-appoint a checkweigher or other representative, or to vote for or
against any particular person or class of persons in the appointment
of a checkweigher or other representative, the employer shall be
guilty of an offence against this Act.

1.(1) The power conferred by this Act on workmen to appoint a
checkweigher or other representative of the workmen shall include
power to appoint a deputy to act in his absence for reasonable
cause, and the expressions "checkweigher" and "representative" when
used in this Act shall include any such deputy during such absence
as aforesaid.

...

(4) The facilities to be afforded to a checkweigher under this Act
shall include provision for a checkweigher of a sufficient number of
weights to test the weighing machine.

...

2.(3) The wages or recompense which a checkweigher or other
representative may recover under this Act shall include expenses
properly incurred by him in carrying out his work under this Act.

80.(1) Before the Secretary of State makes any regulation under this
Act, he shall publish, in such manner as he may think best adapted
for informing persons affected, notice of the proposal to make the
regulations, and of the place where copies of the draft regulations
may be obtained, and of the time (which shall not be less than
twenty-one days) within which any objection made with respect to the
draft regulations by or on behalf of persons affected must be sent
to the Secretary of State.

(2) Every objection must be in writing and state

(a)the draft regulations or portions of draft regulations objected
to;

(b)the specific grounds of objection; and

(c)the omissions, additions, or modifications asked for.

(3) The Secretary of State shall consider any objection made by or
on behalf of any persons appearing to him to be affected which is
sent to him within the required time, and he may, if he thinks
fit, amend the draft regulations, and shall then cause the amended
draft to be dealt with in like manner as an original draft.

(4) Where the Secretary of State does not amend or withdraw any
draft regulations to which any objection has been made, then (unless
the objection either is withdrawn or appears to him to be
frivolous) he shall, before making the regulations, direct an inquiry
to be held in the manner herein-after provided.

81.(1) The Secretary of State may appoint a competent person to
hold an inquiry with regard to any draft regulations, and to report
to him thereon.

(2) The inquiry shall be held in public, and any objector and any
other person who, in the opinion of the person holding the inquiry,
is affected by the draft regulations, may appear at the inquiry
either in person or by counsel, solicitor, or agent.

(3) The witnesses on the inquiry may, if the person holding it
thinks fit, be examined on oath.

(4) Subject as aforesaid, the inquiry and all proceedings preliminary
and incidental thereto shall be conducted in accordance with rules
made by the Secretary of State.

(5) The fee to be paid to the person holding the inquiry shall be
such as the Secretary of State may direct.

...

84. Regulations made under the foregoing provisions of this Act
shall be laid as soon as possible before both Houses of Parliament
and, if either House within the next forty days after the
regulations have been laid before that House resolve that all or
any of the regulations ought to be annulled, the regulations shall,
after the date of the resolution, be of no effect, without
prejudice to the validity of anything done in the meantime
thereunder, or to the making of any new regulations. If one or
more of a set of regulations are annulled, the Secretary of State
may, if he thinks fit, withdraw the whole set.

...

86.(1) Notice of any regulations having been made under the
foregoing provisions of this Act, and of the place where copies of
them can be purchased, shall be published in the London, Edinburgh,
and [Belfast] Gazettes.

...

(6) Regulations for the time being in force under this Act shall
be judicially noticed.