A.D. 1926. Safe means of access. Precautions in places where dangerous fumes accumulate. (2) All stairs shall be provided with proper and substantial handrails. (3) All openings in floors shall be securely fenced, except in so far as the nature of the work renders such fencing impracticable. 5 24.--(1) Safe means of access shall be provided to every place at which any person has at any time to work. (2) A person shall not be employed or work at any place which is more than twelve feet from the ground, unless either the place is one which affords secure foot- 10 hold and, where necessary, secure handhold, or adequate means are provided by fencing or otherwise to ensure his safety. (3) If it be shown to the satisfaction of the Secretary of State that it would be unreasonable in the special 15 circumstances of the case to enforce any requirement of this section in respect of any place or class of place, he may by order direct that such requirement shall not apply as respects that place or class of place. 25.-(1) Where persons engaged on work which has 20 to be carried on inside any structure or place are exposed to the risk of being overcome by dangerous fumes which are liable to accumulate therein :- (a) The structure or place, if not open to the air, shall be provided with a manhole not less than 25 (b) No person shall enter the structure or place for (i) all practicable means have been taken 30 for removing any fumes which may be present, and he is wearing a belt to which there is securely attached a rope of which the free end is held by a person outside; or (ii) he is wearing a suitable breathing appa- 35 ratus ; (c) Suitable breathing apparatus and an oxygen reviving apparatus shall be provided and maintained in good condition and so as to be readily accessible, and shall be periodically inspected 40 in the prescribed manner; and (d) A sufficient number of the persons employed A.D. 1926. shall be trained and practised in the use of such apparatus and in the method of restoring respiration. 5 (2) No work shall be permitted in any boiler, furnace, or flue until it has been ventilated for a sufficiently long time to make work safe for the persons employed. (3) The Secretary of State may grant exemption from compliance with the requirements of paragraphs (c) and 10 (d) of subsection (1) of this section in any case where he is satisfied that compliance with these requirements is unnecessary. 15 20 25 30 35 40 26.-(1) Every steam boiler, whether separate or Steam one of a range (a) shall have attached to it (i) a suitable safety valve, separate from any stop-valve, which shall be so adjusted as to permit the steam to escape at a working pressure not greater than the maximum permissible working pressure and shall, in the case of any new boiler taken into use after the commencement of this Act, be fixed directly to the boiler; and (ii) 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 in pounds per square inch, and have marked upon it in a distinctive colour the maximum permissible working pressure; and (iii) at least one water gauge of transparent material to show the water level in the boiler, and, if the working pressure in the boiler normally exceeds forty pounds per square inch, the gauge shall be provided with an efficient guard but not so as to obstruct the reading of the gauge; and (iv) a suitable stop valve connecting the boiler to the steam pipe; and (v) where it is one of two or more boilers, a plate bearing a distinctive number which shall be easily visible; and boilers. A.D. 1926. (b) shall be provided with means for attaching a test pressure gauge; and (c) unless externally fired or of the water tube type, shall be provided with a suitable fusible plug or an efficient low-water alarm device. For the purposes of this subsection a lever-valve shall not be deemed a suitable safety valve unless the weight is secured on the lever in the correct position. 5 (2) Where a range of two or more steam boilers has a common blow-off pipe or blow-off pipes delivering into 10 a common sump, the blow-off valve or tap on each boiler shall be so constructed that it is impossible to remove the key until the valve or tap is closed. Not more than one key shall be in use for any such range. (3) Every steam boiler and all its fittings and attach- 15 ments shall be maintained in efficient working order. (4) Every steam boiler and all its fittings and attachments other than any stop valve shall be thoroughly examined by a competent person at least once in every period of fourteen months, and also after any extensive 20 repairs and the person making any such examination shall first examine the boiler when it is cold and the interior and exterior have been properly prepared, and again examine it when it is under normal steam pressure. The examination under steam pressure shall be made 25 on the first occasion when steam is raised after the examination of the boiler when cold, or as soon as possible thereafter, and the person making such examination shall see that the safety valve blows off at a working pressure not greater than the maximum permissible working 30 pressure. (5) A report of the result of every such examination in the prescribed form and containing the prescribed particulars (including the maximum permissible working pressure) shall within twenty-eight days be entered in or 35 attached to the general register, and the report shall be signed by the person making the examination, and if that person is an inspector of a boiler-inspecting company or association, countersigned by the chief engineer of the company or association. 40 (6) An occupier shall not take into use any new A.D. 1926. steam boiler unless it is stamped with the name of the manufacturer thereof and with a distinctive number, and unless the occupier has obtained from the manufacturer 5 of the boiler a certificate specifying the maximum permissible working pressure thereof, and stating the nature of the tests to which the boiler and fittings have been submitted, and an occupier proposing to take into his use for the first time a steam boiler which has 10 previously been used shall not take it into use until it has been examined and reported on in accordance with the last two preceding subsections. (7) A steam boiler shall not be used except in accordance with any conditions as to safe working which may be 15 specified in the report of the examination. (8) The person making the report, or, in the case of a boiler-inspecting company or association, the chief engineer thereof, shall within twenty-eight days send to the inspector for the district a copy of the report in every case where 20 the maximum permissible working pressure is reduced, or the examination shows that the boiler cannot continue to be used with safety unless certain repairs are carried out immediately or within a specified time. (9) If the person employed to make the examination 25 fails to make a thorough examination as required by this section or makes a report which is false or deficient in any material particular, or being the chief engineer of any boiler-inspecting company or association permits any such report to be made, or fails to send to the inspector for the 30 district a copy of any report as required by the preceding subsection, he shall be guilty of an offence, and liable to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds. (10) If the chief inspector is not satisfied as to the competency of the person employed to make the examina35 tion or as to the thoroughness of the examination, he may require the boiler to be re-examined by a person nominated by him, and the occupier shall give the necessary facilities for such re-examination. If as a result of such re-examination it appears that the report of the 10 examination was inadequate, or inaccurate in any material particular, the cost of the re-examination shall be recoverable from the occupier summarily as a civil debt, and the report of the re-examination purporting to be signed. A D. 1926. by the person making it shall be evidence of the facts stated therein. Steam receivers. Exceptions as to steam boilers and steam receivers. (11) This section shall not apply to the boiler of any ship or of any locomotive which belongs to and is used by any railway company, or to any boiler belonging to 5 or exclusively used in the service of His Majesty. 27.-(1) Every steam receiver, not so constructed as to withstand with safety the maximum permissible working pressure in the boiler by which it is supplied, shall be fitted with (i) a suitable reducing valve or other suitable means to prevent the safe working pressure being exceeded; and (ii) a suitable safety valve so adjusted as to permit 10 the steam to escape as soon as the safe working 15 pressure is exceeded; and (iii) a correct steam pressure gauge, which must indicate the pressure of steam in the receiver in pounds per square inch; and (iv) a suitable stop valve; and (v) except where only one steam receiver is in use, a plate bearing a distinctive number which shall be easily visible. 20 The safety valve and pressure gauge shall be fitted either (2) Every steam receiver and the fittings attached thereto shall be maintained in efficient working order, and shall be periodically examined so far as practicable. (3) A record in the prescribed form shall be kept 30 in the general register of the result of every such examination. 28. The chief inspector may by written certificate except from any of the provisions of the last two preceding sections of this Act any class or type of steam 35 boiler or steam receiver to which he is satisfied that such provision cannot reasonably be applied. Such exception may be unqualified or may be subject to such conditions as may be contained in the certificate. Compressed 29.-(1) Every receiver which forms part of an 40 air receivers. air-compressing plant shall- (a) have marked upon it so as to be plainly visible the safe working pressure; and |