Factories Act · 1985 Revised Edition · Part V · Safety (General Provisions)
36. Steam boilers
Feedback & supportLast amended by an amending law of 1986. 2 amendments in all.
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.
steam boiler
“steam boiler” means any closed vessel in which for any purpose steam is generated under pressure greater than atmospheric pressure, and includes any economiser used to heat water being fed to any such vessel, and any superheater used for heating steam;
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.
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.
For the purposes of subsection (2) a lever-valve shall not be deemed a suitable safety valve.
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.
certificate
“certificate” means a certificate of registration issued under section 9;
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.
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.
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.
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.
Chief Inspector
“Chief Inspector” means the Chief Inspector appointed under this Act and any other inspector authorised to act on his behalf by the Commissioner;
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.
prescribed
“prescribed” means prescribed by the Minister by order or by regulations made under this Act;
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.
maximum permissible working pressure
“maximum permissible working pressure” means, in the case of a new steam boiler, that specified in the certificate referred to in section 36(13) and, in the case of a steam boiler which has been examined in accordance with section 36, that specified in the report of the last examination;
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.
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.
factory
“factory” means any premises in which, or within the close or curtilage or precincts of which, persons are employed in manual labour in any process for or incidental to any of the following purposes:(a)the making of any article or of part of any article;(b)the altering, repairing, ornamenting, finishing, cleaning, or washing, or the breaking up or demolition of any article; or(c)the adapting for sale of any article,being premises in which, or within the close or curtilage or precincts of which, the work is carried on by way of trade or for purposes of gain and to or over which the employer of the persons employed therein has the right of access or control.(2) Whether or not premises are factories by reason of the foregoing definition, “factory” also includes the following premises in which persons are employed in manual labour:(a)any yard or dry dock (including the precincts thereof) in which ships are constructed, reconstructed, repaired, refitted, finished or broken up;(b)any premises in which the business of sorting articles is carried on as a preliminary to the work carried on in any factory or incidentally to the purposes of any factory;(c)any premises in which the business of washing or filling bottles or containers or packing articles is carried on incidentally to the purposes of any factory;(d)any premises in which the business of hooking, plaiting, lapping, making up or packing of yarn or cloth is carried on;(e)any laundry carried on as ancillary to another business or incidentally to the purposes of any public institution;(f)any premises in which the construction, reconstruction or repair of locomotives, aircraft, vehicles or other plant for use for transport purposes is carried on as ancillary to a transport undertaking or other industrial or commercial undertaking, not being any premises used for the purpose of housing locomotives, aircraft or vehicles where only cleaning, washing, running repairs or minor adjustments are carried out;(g)any premises in which printing by letter press, lithography, photogravure, or other similar process, or bookbinding is carried on by way of trade or for purposes of gain or incidentally to another business so carried on;(h)any premises in which the making, adaptation or repair of dresses, scenery or properties is carried on incidentally to the production, exhibition or presentation by way of trade or for purposes of gain of cinematograph films or theatrical performances, not being a stage or dressing-room of a theatre in which only occasional adaptations or repairs are made;(i)any premises in which the business of making or mending nets is carried on incidentally to the fishing industry;(j)any premises in which mechanical power is used in connection with the making or repair of any article incidentally to any business carried on by way of trade or for purposes of gain;(k)any premises in which the production of cinematograph films is carried on by way of trade or for purposes of gain, so however that the employment at any such premises of theatrical performers and of attendants on such theatrical performers shall not be deemed to be employment in a factory;(l)any premises in which articles are made or prepared incidentally to the carrying on of building operations or works of engineering construction, not being premises in which such operations or works are being carried on;(m)any premises used for the storage of gas in a gas-holder having a storage capacity of not less than 140 cubic metres;(n)any premises in which persons are employed in or in connection with the generating of electrical energy for supply by way of trade, or for supply for the purposes of any industrial or commercial undertaking or of any public building or public institution, or for supply to streets or other public places;(o)any premises in which mechanical power is used for the purposes of or in connection with a water supply, being premises in which persons are regularly employed;(p)any sewage works in which mechanical power is used and any pumping station used in connection therewith;(q)any premises in which building operations or works of engineering construction are being carried on.(3) Any line or siding, which is used in connection with and for the purposes of a factory, shall be deemed to be part of the factory; and if any such line or siding is used in connection with more than one factory belonging to different occupiers, the line or siding shall be deemed to be a separate factory.(4) Any workplace in which, with the permission of or under agreement with the owner or occupier, 10 or more persons carry on any work which would constitute the workplace a factory if the persons working therein were in the employment of the owner or occupier of the workplace, shall be deemed to be a factory for the purposes of this Act, and, in the case of any such workplace, the provisions of this Act shall apply as if the owner or occupier of the workplace were the occupier of the factory and the persons working therein were persons employed in the factory.(5) No premises shall be deemed to be a factory in which less than 10 persons are employed and in which —(a)no mechanical power, steam boiler, steam container, steam receiver, cast-iron underfired vulcaniser, air receiver, refrigerating plant pressure receiver or gas plant is used; and(b)no highly inflammable or noxious substance is manipulated, used or created.(6) Where a place situated within the close, curtilage or precincts forming a factory is solely used for some purpose other than the processes carried on in the factory, that place shall not be deemed to form part of the factory for the purposes of this Act, but shall, if otherwise it would be a factory, be deemed to be a separate factory.(7) A part of a factory may, with the approval in writing of the Chief Inspector, be deemed to be a separate factory; and two or more factories may, with the approval in writing of the Chief Inspector, be deemed to be a single factory.(8) Premises shall not be excluded from the definition of a factory by reason only that they are open air premises.(9) Any premises belonging to or in the occupation of the Government or of any statutory board or body shall not be deemed not to be a factory, and any premises in which building operations or works of engineering construction are carried on by or on behalf of the Government or any such board or body shall not be excluded from the operation of this Act by reason only that the work carried on thereat is not carried on by way of trade or for purposes of gain. Subject to this section,
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.
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.
inspector
“inspector” means an inspector appointed under this Act and includes the Chief Inspector, Deputy Chief Inspector and Senior Inspector;
This section shall not apply to the boiler or boilers of any locomotive the property of or used by the Malayan Railway.
Malayan Railway
“Malayan Railway” means the railway administered by the government of Malaysia;