Pennsylvania Act 1913-851 — OCCUPATIONAL DISEASE PREVENTION LAW

Act text

OCCUPATIONAL DISEASE PREVENTION LAW
                 Act of Jul. 26, 1913, P.L. 1363, No. 851             Cl. 43
                                  AN ACT

     To prevent occupational diseases; and to provide for the health
        of employees exposed to the danger of lead-poisoning and
        other occupational diseases, by regulating certain
        manufacturing establishments; providing for medical
        examinations and reports, and requiring sanitary precautions
        and appliances; and making violation of its provisions a
        misdemeanor, and providing penalties for violation thereof.

        Section 1.  Be it enacted, &c., That every employer shall,
     without cost to the employees, provide reasonable effective
     devices, means, and methods to prevent the contraction by his
     employees of any illness or disease incident to the work or
     process in which such employees are engaged in the industries
     and occupations specified in section two of this act.
        Section 2.  Every work or process in the manufacture of white
     lead, red lead, litharge, sugar of lead, arsenate of lead, lead
     chromate, lead sulphate, lead nitrate, or fluo-silicate is
     hereby declared to be especially dangerous to the health of the
     employees who, while engaged in such work or process are exposed
     to lead dust, lead fumes, or lead solutions.
        Section 3.  Every employer shall, without cost to the
     employees, provide the following devices, means, and methods for
     the protection of his employees, who, while engaged in any work
     or process included in section two, are exposed to lead dusts,
     lead fumes, or lead solutions:--
        (a)  The employer shall provide and maintain workrooms,
     adequately lighted and ventilated, and so arranged that there is
     a continuous and sufficient change of air; and all such rooms
     shall be fully separated by partition walls from all departments
     in which the work or process is of non-dusty character; and all
     such rooms shall be provided with a floor permitting an easy
     removal of dust by wet methods or vacuum cleaning, and all such
     floors shall be so cleaned daily.
        Every work or process referred to in section two, including
     the corroding or oxidizing of lead, and the crushing, mixing,
     sifting, grinding, and packing of all lead salts or other
     compounds referred to in section two, shall be so conducted, and
     such adequate devices provided and maintained by the employer,
     as to protect the employee as far as possible from contact with
     lead dust or lead fumes. Every kettle, vessel, receptacle, or
     furnace in which lead, in any form referred to in section two,
     is being melted or treated, and any place where the contents of
     such kettles, receptacles, or furnaces are discharged, shall be
     provided with a hood connected with an efficient air-exhaust;
     all vessels or containers, in which dry lead in any chemical
     form or combination referred to in section two is being conveyed
     from one place to another within the factory, shall be equipped,
     at the places where the same are filled or discharged, with
     hoods having connection with an efficient air-exhaust; and all
     hoppers, chutes, conveyors, elevators, separators, vents from
     separators, dumps, pulverizers, chasers, dry-pans, or other
     apparatus for drying pulp lead, dry-pans, dump, and all barrel
     packers and cars, or other receptacles into which corrosions are
     at the time being emptied, shall be connected with an efficient
     dust-collecting system; such system to be regulated by the
     discharge of air from a fan, pump, or other apparatus, either
     through a cloth dust-collector, having an area of not less than
     one-half square foot of cloth to every cubic foot of air passing
     through it per minute, the dust-collector to be placed in a
     separate room, which no employee shall be required or allowed to
     enter except for essential repairs while the works are in
     operation, or such other apparatus as will efficiently remove
     the lead dusts from the air of the workrooms.
        (b)  The employer shall provide a wash-room, or rooms, which
     shall be separate from the workrooms, be kept clean, and be
     equipped with:
        (1)  Lavatory basins, fitted with waste-pipes and two spigots
     conveying hot and cold water; or
        (2)  Basins placed in troughs fitted with waste-pipes, and
     for each basin two spigots conveying hot and cold water; or
        (3)  Troughs of enamel, or similar smooth impervious
     material, fitted with waste pipes, and for every two feet of
     trough length two spigots conveying hot and cold water.
        Where basins are provided there shall be at least one basin
     for every five such employees; and where troughs are provided,
     at least two feet of trough length for every five such
     employees. The employer shall also furnish nail-brushes and
     soap, and shall provide at least three clean towels per week for
     each such employee. A time allowance of not less than ten
     minutes, at the employer's expense, shall be made to each such
     employee for the use of said washroom before the lunch hour and
     at the close of the day's work.
        The employer engaged in the manufacture of white lead, red
     lead, litharge, sugar of lead, arsenate of lead, lead chromate,
     lead sulphate, lead nitrate, or fluo-silicate shall also provide
     at least one shower-bath for every ten such employees. The bath
     shall be approached by wooden runways, be provided with movable
     wooden floor gratings, be supplied with controlled hot and cold
     water, and be kept clean. The employer shall furnish soap, and
     shall provide at least two clean bath towels per week for each
     such employee. An additional time allowance of not less than ten
     minutes, at the employer's expense, shall be made to each such
     employee for the use of said baths, at least twice a week, at
     the close of the day's work. The employer shall keep a record of
     each time that such baths are used by each employee, which
     record shall be open to inspection at all reasonable times by
     the State Department of Labor and Industry, and also by the
     State Department of Health.
        (c)  The employer shall provide a dressing-room, or rooms
     which shall be separate from the workrooms, be furnished with a
     double sanitary locker or two single sanitary lockers for each
     such employee, and be kept clean.
        (d)  The employer shall provide an eating-room or eating-
     rooms, which shall be separate from the workrooms, be furnished
     with a sufficient number of tables and seats, and be kept clean.
     No employee shall take, or be allowed to take, any food or drink
     of any kind into any workroom, nor shall any employee remain, or
     be allowed to remain, in any workroom during the time allowed
     for his meals.
        (e)  The employer shall provide and maintain a sufficient
     number of sanitary drinking-fountains, readily accessible for
     the use of employees.
        (f)  The employer shall provide at least one pair of overalls
     and one pair of jumpers for each such employee, and repair or
     renew such clothing when necessary, and wash the same weekly.
        (g)  The employer shall provide, and renew when necessary, at
     least one reasonably effective respirator for each employee who
     is engaged in any work or process included in section two.
        Section 4.  Every employee who, while engaged in any work or
     process included in section two, is exposed to lead dusts, lead
     fumes, or lead solutions, shall--
        (a)  Use the washing facilities provided by the employer in
     accord with section three (b), and wash himself at least as
     often as a time allowance is therein granted for such use;
        (b)  Use the eating-room provided by the employer in accord
     with section three (d), unless the employee goes off the
     premises for his meals;
        (c)  Put on, and wear at all times while engaged in such work
     or process, a suit of the clothing provided by the employer in
     accord with section three (f), and remove the same before
     leaving at the close of the day's work, and keep his street
     clothes and his working clothes, when not in use, in separate
     lockers or separate parts of the locker provided by the employer
     in accord with section three (c).
        (d)  Keep clean the respirators provided by the employer in
     accord with section three (g), and use one at all times while he
     is engaged in any work or process included in section two of
     this act.
        Section 5.  The employer shall post in a conspicuous place in
     every workroom where any work or process included in section two
     is carried on, in every room where washing facilities are
     provided, and in every dressing-room and eating-room, a notice
     of the known dangers arising from such work or process, and
     simple instructions for avoiding as far as possible such
     dangers. The Commissioner of Labor and Industry shall prepare a
     notice containing the provisions of this act, and shall furnish
     free of cost a reasonable number of copies thereof to every
     employer included in section two, and the employer shall post
     copies thereof in the manner hereinbefore stated. The notices
     required in this section shall be printed in plain type, on
     cardboard, and shall be in English and in such other languages
     as the circumstances may reasonably require. The contents of
     such notices shall be explained to every employee by the
     employer, when the said employee enters employment in such work
     or process; interpreters being provided by the employer when
     necessary to carry out the above requirements.
        Section 6.  The employer shall cause every employee who while
     engaged in any work or process included in section two, is
     exposed to lead dusts, lead fumes, or lead solutions, to be
     examined at least once a month, for the purpose of ascertaining
     if symptoms of lead-poisoning appear in any employee. The
     employee shall submit himself to the monthly examination, and to
     examination at such other times and places as he may reasonably
     be requested by the employer, and he shall fully and truly
     answer all questions bearing on lead-poisoning asked him by the
     examining physician. The examinations shall be made by a
     licensed physician, designated and paid by the employer, and
     shall be made during the working hours, a time allowance
     therefor at the employer's expense being made to each employee
     so examined.
        Section 7.  Every physician making an examination, under
     section six, and finding what he believes to be symptoms of
     lead-poisoning, shall enter, in a book kept for that purpose in
     the office of the employer, a record of such examination,
     containing the name and address of the employee so examined, the
     particular work or process in which he is engaged, the date,
     place, and finding of such examination, and the directions given
     in each case by the physician. The record shall be open to
     inspection at all reasonable times by the State Department of
     Labor and Industry and by the State Department of Health.
        Within forty-eight hours after such examination and finding,
     the examining physician shall send a report thereof, in
     duplicate,--one copy to the State Department of Labor and
     Industry and one to the State Department of Health. The report
     shall be on, or in conformity with, blanks to be prepared and
     furnished by the State Department of Health, free of cost, to
     every employer included in section two, and shall state: (a)
     name, occupation, and address of employee; (b) name, business,
     and address of employer; (c) nature and probable extent of
     disease; and (d) such other information as may be reasonably
     required by the State Department of Health.
        The examination physician shall, also, within the said forty-
     eight hours, report such examination and finding to the
     employer; and after five days from such report the employer
     shall not continue the said employee in any work or process
     where he will be exposed to lead dusts, lead fumes, or lead
     solutions, included in section two of this act.
        Section 8.  The State Department of Labor and Industry shall
     enforce this act, and prosecute all violations of the same. The
     officers, or their agents, of the said department, shall be
     allowed at all reasonable times to inspect any place of
     employment included in this act.
        Every employer who, either personally or through any agent,
     violates or fails to comply with any provision of section one or
     section three, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and on
     conviction, for the first offense, shall be sentenced to pay a
     fine of not less than one hundred ($100) dollars, nor more than
     two hundred ($200) dollars; and on conviction for a second
     offense shall be sentenced to pay a fine of not less than two
     hundred ($200) dollars, nor more than five hundred ($500)
     dollars; and on conviction for each subsequent offense shall be
     sentenced to pay a fine of not less than three hundred ($300)
     dollars, nor more than one thousand ($1,000) dollars; and in
     each case he shall stand committed until such fine and the costs
     are paid, or until he is otherwise discharged by due process of
     law.
        Every employee who violates or fails to comply with any
     provision of section four shall be guilty of a misdemeanor; and
     on conviction, for the first offense, shall be sentenced to pay
     a fine of not less than ten ($10) dollars, nor more than twenty
     ($20) dollars; and on conviction for the second offense shall be
     sentenced to pay a fine of not less than twenty ($20) dollars,
     nor more than fifty ($50) dollars; and on conviction for each
     subsequent offense, not less than thirty ($30) dollars, nor more
     than one hundred ($100) dollars; and in each case he shall stand
     committed until such fine and the costs are paid, or until he is
     otherwise discharged by due process of law.
        Every employer who, either personally or through any agent,
     violates or fails to comply with any provision of sections five,
     six or seven relating to him, and every employee who violates or
     fails to comply with the provisions of section six relating to
     him, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof
     shall be sentenced to pay a fine of not less than ten ($10)
     dollars, nor more than one hundred ($100) dollars.
        Section 10.  In this act, unless the context otherwise
     requires, "employer" includes persons, firms, partnerships,
     limited partnerships, and corporations.
        Section 11.  For the purpose of determining the
     constitutionality of any provision of this act, section one
     hereof is declared to be independent of, and separable from the
     remaining sections.