Singapore legislation
Clause 29
Clause 29
Hoists and lifts
(1)
Every hoist or lift shall be of good mechanical construction, sound material and adequate strength, and be properly maintained.
(2)
Every hoist or lift shall be thoroughly examined at least once in every period of six months by an approved person and a report of the result of every such examination in the prescribed form shall be prepared in duplicate 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 within twenty-eight days of the completion of the examination be sent to the Chief Inspector, but where the examination shows that the hoist or lift cannot continue to be used with safety unless certain repairs are carried out immediately or within a specified time, the approved person shall forthwith send a copy of his report to the Chief Inspector.
(3)
Every hoistway or liftway shall be efficiently protected by a substantial enclosure fitted with gates, being such an enclosure as to prevent, when the gates are shut, any person falling down the way or coming into contact with any moving part of the hoist or lift.
(4)
Any such gate as aforesaid shall be fitted with efficient interlocking or other devices to secure that the gate cannot be opened except when the cage or platform is at the landing and that the cage or platform cannot be moved away from the landing until the gate is closed.
(5)
Every hoist or lift and every such enclosure as aforesaid shall be so constructed as to prevent any part of any person or any goods carried in the hoist or lift being trapped between any part of the hoist or lift and any fixed structure or between the counterbalance weight and any other moving part of the hoist or lift.
(6)
There shall be marked conspicuously on every hoist or lift the maximum working load which it can safely carry, and no load greater than that load shall be carried on any hoist or lift.
(7)
The following additional requirements shall apply to hoists and lifts used for carrying persons, whether together with goods or otherwise: —
efficient automatic devices shall be provided and maintained to prevent the cage or platform overrunning;
every cage shall, on each side from which access is afforded to a landing, be fitted with a gate, and in connection with every such gate efficient devices shall be provided to secure that, when persons or goods are in the cage, the cage cannot be raised or lowered unless all the gates are closed, and will come to rest when a gate is opened;
in the case of a hoist or lift constructed or reconstructed after the 1st day of June 1960 where the platform or cage is suspended by rope or chain, there shall be at least two ropes or chains separately connected with the platform or cage, each rope or chain and its attachments being capable of carrying the whole weight of the platform or cage and its maximum working load, and efficient devices shall be provided and maintained which will support the platform or cage with its maximum working load in the event of a breakage of the ropes or chains or any of their attachments.
(8)
In the case of a hoist or lift not connected with mechanical power —
subsection (7) of this section shall not apply;
for subsection (4) of this section the following subsection shall be substituted: —“(4) Any such gate as aforesaid shall be kept closed and fastened except when the cage or platform is at rest at the landing.”; and
in subsection (2) of this section, for the reference to six months there shall be substituted a reference to twelve months.
(9)
Every hoistway or liftway inside a building constructed or reconstructed after the 1st day of June 1960 being a hoistway or liftway which passes through two or more floors, shall, subject as hereinafter in this subsection provided, be completely enclosed with fire-resisting materials, and all means of access to the hoist or lift shall be fitted with doors of fire-resisting materials except that any such hoistway or liftway shall be enclosed at the top only by some material easily broken in case of fire, or be provided with a vent at the top.
(10)
For the purposes of this section, no lifting machine or appliance shall be deemed to be a hoist or lift unless it has a platform or cage the direction of movement of which is restricted by a guide or guides.
(11)
If it is shown to the satisfaction of the Minister that it would be unreasonable in the special circumstances of the case to enforce any requirement of this section in respect of any class or description of hoist, lift, hoistway or liftway, he may by order direct that such requirement shall not apply as respects that class or description.