Report of the Royal Commission on Labour in India

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Monograph

Identifikator:: 1850495947

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-233603

Document type:: Monograph

Title:: Report of the Royal Commission on Labour in India

Place of publication:: London

Publisher:: His Majesty's Stationery Off.

Year of publication:: 1931

Scope:: xviii, 580 S.; graph. Darst., Kt.

Digitisation:: 2022

Collection:: Economics Books

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Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: Chapter V. - Working conditions in factories

Collection:: Economics Books

532 CHAPTER V. the working of railways within factories. Few factories have reached such a scale that railways are required to work within their premises, but the Tata Iron and Steel works at Jamshedpur are said to have over 100 miles of such railway line, and there are other factories with shorter lines. The Railways Act can possibly be used in such cases, but we think it preferable that the rule-making power in the Factories Act should be extended to cover the working of means of transport within factories. Danger from Buildings. Factory buildings themselves may constitute a grave danger to the safety of operatives. Tragic proof of this was afforded a few years ago when the collapse of part of a mill in Ahmedabad resulted in the loss of 26 lives. Subsequent investigations revealed sources of serious danger in other mills. Factory buildings may be weak from the start, or machinery may be introduced into buildings designed for other pur- poses, and insufficiently strong to withstand the strain. Again struc- tural alterations may be made without sufficient regard to the safety of the whole, or the working of a factory may result in the disintegration of part of the fabric. Section 18A, which was added to the Factories Act in 1922, gives inspectors power, in cases of danger, to require managers to carry out any measures necessary to remove the danger, and could be used to secure the strengthening or dismantling of part or all of the building. But it is not ordinarily possible for an inspect- or, who is not a structural expert and is in any case precluded from carrying out structural tests to detect sources of danger with cer- tainty. Control of Construction. (a) With a view fo safety. Proposals were made to control the construction of factory buildings, by prohibiting the use of buildings as factories before the plans had been passed by a responsible authority as suitable for the purpose. Such control would be exercised in the interests both of safety and of health, for factory work is too often started in buildings which are difficult to ventilate or are unhealthy in other respects. The Government of India apparently approved of the principle, but regarded the question as a proper one for local legislation. Though some of the local Govern- ments favoured and, indeed, advocated the proposal, none has as yet attempted to embody it in legislation. So far ag safety is concerned, we consider that a scheme submitted to us by the Chief Inspector of Factories of the Bombay Presidency would operate smoothly and efficiently and recommend its adoption. This involves the submission of a proper certificate of stability before working is commenced in larger factories and the grant to local Governments of power to demand such certificates in smaller factories as need arises. A similar procedure should be followed where important structural alterations are made. At the same time inspectors should be empowered to secure the carrying out of structural tests and to obtain such plans and other information as are necessary to measure the safety of buildings.

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