Singapore legislation
Section 36
Section 36
Steam boilers
(1)
Every steam boiler and every part thereof and all its fittings and attachments shall be of good construction, sound material, adequate strength and free from patent defect, and shall be properly maintained.
(2)
Every steam boiler, whether separate or one of a range —
shall have attached to it —
a suitable safety valve (separate from and incapable of being isolated by any stop-valve), which shall be so adjusted as to prevent the boiler from being worked at a pressure greater than the maximum permissible working pressure and which shall be fixed directly to, or as close as practicable to, the boiler;
a suitable stop-valve connecting the boiler to the steam pipe;
a correct steam pressure gauge, connected to the steam space and easily visible by the boiler attendant, which shall indicate the pressure of steam in the boiler or have marked upon it, in a distinctive colour, the maximum permissible working pressure;
at least one water gauge, of transparent material or other type approved by the Chief Inspector, to show the water level in the boiler, and if the gauge is of the glass tubular type and the working pressure in the boiler normally exceeds 275 kilo-newtons per square metre, the gauge shall be provided with an efficient guard, but not so as to obstruct the reading of the gauge;
where it is one of two or more boilers, a plate bearing a distinctive number which shall be easily visible;
shall be provided with means for attaching a test pressure gauge; and
shall be provided with a suitable fusible plug or an efficient low-water alarm device.
(3)
Subsection (2)(a)(ii) shall not apply with respect to economisers, and subsections (2)(a)(iii), (iv) and (v), (2)(b) and (2)(c) shall not apply with respect to either economisers or superheaters.
(4)
For the purposes of subsection (2) a lever-valve shall not be deemed a suitable safety valve.
(5)
No steam boiler shall be operated except by or under the control of a person who is the holder of a certificate of competency issued under regulations made under this Act.
(6)
No person shall enter or be in any steam boiler which is one of a range of two or more steam boilers unless —
all inlets through which steam or hot water might otherwise enter the boiler from any other part of the range are disconnected from the part; or
all valves or taps controlling such entry are closed and securely locked, and, where the boiler has a blow-off pipe in common with one or more other boilers or delivering into a common blow-off vessel or sump, the blow-off valve or tap on each such boiler is so constructed that it can only be opened by a key which cannot be removed until the valve or tap is closed and is the only key in use for that set of blow-off valves or taps.
(7)
No work shall be permitted in any boiler-furnace or boiler-flue until it has been sufficiently cooled by ventilation or otherwise to make work safe for the persons employed.
(8)
Every steam boiler and all its fittings and attachments shall be thoroughly examined by an authorised boiler inspector at least once in every period of 12 months, and also after any extensive repairs except that such authorised boiler inspector may at his discretion arrange to make the examination up to one month after the 12 months have expired.
(9)
The Chief Inspector may, if he thinks fit, by a certificate in writing authorise, subject to any conditions specified in the certificate, a period exceeding 12 months within which the examination under subsection (8) is to be made.
(10)
Any examination in accordance with the requirements of subsection (8) shall consist, in the first place, of an examination of the boiler when it is cold and the interior and the exterior have been prepared in the prescribed manner, and secondly, except in the case of an economiser or superheater, of an examination when it is under normal steam pressure; the examination under steam pressure shall be made as soon as possible after the examination of the boiler when cold, and the person making the examination shall see that the safety valve is so adjusted as to prevent the boiler from being worked at a pressure greater than the maximum permissible working pressure.
(11)
A report of the result of every such examination, in the prescribed form and containing the prescribed particulars (including particulars of the maximum permissible working pressure and such other conditions as may be necessary for the safe working of the boiler), shall, as soon as practicable and in any case within 28 days of the the completion of the examination, be prepared in duplicate and signed by the person making the examination. A copy of such report shall be handed to the occupier of the factory and the other copy shall be sent to the Chief Inspector.
(12)
For the purposes of subsections (11) to (15) relating to reports of examinations, the examination of a boiler when it is cold and its examination when it is under steam pressure shall be treated as separate examinations.
(13)
No steam boiler which has previously been used shall be taken into use in any factory for the first time in that factory until it has been examined and reported on in accordance with subsections (8) to (11); and no new steam boiler shall be taken into use unless there has been obtained from the Chief Inspector a certificate specifying the maximum permissible working pressure of the boiler and stating the nature of the tests to which the boiler and fittings have been submitted, and the certificate is kept available for inspection, and the boiler is so marked as to enable it to be identified as the boiler to which the certificate relates.
(14)
Where the report of any examination under this section specifies conditions for securing the safe working of a steam boiler, the boiler shall not be used except in accordance with those conditions.
(15)
Any person who for the purposes of this section desires that an examination of a steam boiler should be carried out by, and any person who desires to obtain the certificate referred to in subsection (13) from, any authorised boiler inspector who is an inspector, shall notify the Chief Inspector accordingly and, on payment by that person of the prescribed fee, the Chief Inspector shall instruct such an authorised boiler inspector to carry out the examination or to carry out the necessary tests with a view to the issue of the certificate.
(16)
This section shall not apply to the boiler or boilers of any locomotive the property of or used by the Malayan Railway.