Pennsylvania Act 1937-174 — EMPLOYES, PROTECTING HEALTH AND MORALS OF

Act text

EMPLOYES, PROTECTING HEALTH AND MORALS OF
                  Act of May 18, 1937, P.L. 654, No. 174              Cl. 43
                                  AN ACT

     To provide for the safety and to protect the health and morals
        of persons while employed; prescribing certain regulations
        and restrictions concerning places where persons are
        employed, and the equipment, apparatus, materials, devices
        and machinery used therein; prescribing certain powers and
        duties of the Department of Labor and Industry relative to
        the enforcement of this act; and fixing penalties. (Title
        amended July 13, 1953, P.L.438, No.97)

        Compiler's Note:  Section 3 of Reorganization Plan No. 2 of
            1975 provided that Act 174 is suspended insofar as it
            conflicts with Reorganization Plan No. 2.
        Compiler's Note:  Section 16(a)(1) of Act 147 of 1971
            provided that Act 174 is repealed insofar as it is
            inconsistent with Act 147.

        Be it enacted, &c., That,
        Section 1.  Definitions.--The term "establishment" shall mean
     any room, building or place within this Commonwealth where
     persons are employed or permitted to work for compensation of
     any kind to whomever payable, except farms or private dwellings,
     and shall include those owned or under the control of the
     Commonwealth, and any political subdivision thereof, as well as
     school districts.
        The term "department" shall mean the Department of Labor and
     Industry.
        Section 2.  General Safety and Health Requirements.--(a)  All
     establishments shall be so constructed, equipped, arranged,
     operated, and conducted as to provide reasonable and adequate
     protection for the life, limb, health, safety, and morals of all
     persons employed therein.
        (b)  All belts, pulleys, gears, chains, sprockets, shafting,
     and other mechanical power transmission apparatus, stationary
     engines, electrical equipment, and apparatus shall be properly
     guarded to protect workers from injury.
        (c)  All cranes, hoists, steam or electric shovels, plant
     railroads, and other apparatus or devices used for moving,
     lifting, lowering, and transporting material shall be designed,
     constructed, equipped, and operated as to eliminate dangerous
     conditions.
        (d)  The point of operation on all saws, planers, jointers or
     other power driven woodworking machines and all power presses,
     planers, shapers, and other power driven machine tools, and
     dangerous parts of any other machines or devices shall be
     provided with guards of a type approved by the department.
     Laundry machines, extractors, washers, ironers, and other
     machines or apparatus shall be provided with guards where,
     because of accident hazard, they are required by the department.
        (e)  All toxic and noxious dusts, fumes, vapors, gases,
     fibers, fogs, mists or other atmospheric impurities, created in
     connection with any manufacturing process, emitted into or
     disseminated throughout areas where persons are employed in such
     quantities as, in the opinion of the department, would injure
     the health of employes or create other dangerous conditions,
     shall be removed at the point of origin, or, where this is
     impractical, personal protective devices shall be provided and
     worn by persons subjected to such hazards.
        (f)  All pits, quarries, mines other than coal mines,
     trenches, excavations, and similar operations shall be properly
     shored, braced, and otherwise guarded, operated, and conducted
     as to provide reasonable and adequate protection to workers
     employed therein. (Functions transferred, June 3, 1975, Reorg.
     Pl. No.2, P.L.628)
        (g)  All building construction, demolition, and cleaning,
     including window cleaning, shall be conducted in a manner as to
     avoid accident hazards to workers or the public. Scaffolds,
     ladders, material hoists, window cleaning devices, safety belts,
     and other equipment used in such operations, shall be designed,
     manufactured, constructed, and erected as to be safe for the
     purpose intended. All stairs, open-sided floors, platforms, and
     runways shall be provided with proper railings and toe-boards.
        (h)  When employes, due to the nature of employment, are
     subject to injury from flying particles, falling objects, sharp
     or rough surfaces or materials, hot, corrosive or poisonous
     substances, acids or caustics and injurious light rays or
     harmful radioactive materials, they shall be provided with and
     shall wear goggles, other head and eye protectors, gloves,
     leggings, and other personal protective devices. ((h) amended
     July 13, 1953, P.L.438, No.97)
        (i)  All plant, scenic or other railroad operations other
     than those common carrier railroads presently subject to the
     jurisdiction of the Public Utility Commission shall be
     maintained and operated in such a manner as to prevent
     unreasonable or unnecessary hazards to workers or the public.
     Motive power, rolling stock, and roadbeds shall be designed,
     manufactured and maintained so as to be safe for its intended
     purpose and provide maximum safety to the public and the
     employes involved. ((i) added Oct. 7, 1976, P.L.1107, No.225)
        Section 3.  Lighting, Heating, Ventilation, and Sanitary
     Facilities.--All establishments shall be adequately lighted,
     heated, and ventilated. Proper sanitary facilities shall be
     provided in sufficient number for the persons employed, and
     shall include toilet facilities, washing facilities, dressing
     rooms, and wholesome drinking water of approved quality.
        (3 repealed in part Oct. 4, 1978, P.L.909, No.173)
        Section 4.  Fireworks and Explosives Plants.--Establishments
     where fireworks or explosives are manufactured or stored shall
     be located at a safe distance from other buildings, highways or
     railroads for the protection of the public. Such establishments
     shall be located, erected, operated, and conducted as to provide
     adequate and reasonable protection to persons employed therein.
        Section 5.  Floor Space.--The floor space of workrooms in any
     establishment shall not be so crowded with machinery as to
     thereby cause risk to the life or limb of any employe. Proper
     clear aisle space shall be maintained where necessary for
     employes to walk between machines, equipment or material.
     Machinery shall not be placed in any establishment in excess of
     the sustaining power of the floors and walls thereof.
        Section 6.  Removal of Guards.--No person shall remove or
     make ineffective any safeguard, safety appliance or device
     attached to machinery except for the purpose of immediately
     making repairs or adjustments, and any person or persons who
     remove or make ineffective any such safeguard, safety appliance
     or device for repairs or adjustments shall replace the same
     immediately upon the completion of such repairs or adjustments.
        Section 7.  Prohibited Use of Dangerous Machinery.--If any
     machinery, or any part thereof, is in a dangerous condition or
     is not properly guarded, the use thereof may be prohibited by
     the Secretary of Labor and Industry or his authorized
     representative, and a notice to that effect shall be attached
     thereto. Such notice shall be removed only by an authorized
     representative of the department after the machinery is made
     safe and the required safeguards are provided, and in the
     meantime such unsafe or dangerous machinery shall not be used.
        Section 8.  Air Space for Workroom.--The owner, agent, lessee
     or other person having charge or managerial control of any
     establishment, shall provide or cause to be provided not less
     than two hundred and fifty cubic feet of air space for each and
     every person in every workroom in said establishment where
     persons are employed.
        Section 9.  Canneries and Labor Camps.--All canneries for the
     canning or preserving of fruits, vegetables and meats shall be
     kept in a clean and sanitary condition, and all labor camps
     operated in connection with such canneries and all other labor
     camps shall be located, constructed, maintained and operated in
     all respects as to provide for the health, safety, and comfort
     of occupants of such camps.
        (Functions transferred and suspended in part Nov. 30, 1972,
     Reorg. Pl. No.1, P.L.1750)
        Section 10.  Safe Practices.--The department may prepare and
     publish for the use of industry recommendations for safe
     practices as a guide in the elimination of accidents.
        Section 11.  Industrial Homework.--Industrial homework shall
     be conducted in such manner as to insure the safety and health
     of all persons so employed.
        Section 12.  Rules and Regulations.--The Department of Labor
     and Industry shall have the power and its duty shall be to make,
     alter, amend, and repeal rules and regulations for carrying into
     effect all the provisions of this act, and applying such
     provisions to specific conditions.
        Section 13.  Enforcement; Right of Entry.--The provisions of
     this act shall be enforced by the Department of Labor and
     Industry. For the purpose of enforcing the provisions of this
     act, the Secretary of Labor and Industry, or his duly authorized
     representative, shall have the power to enter any room,
     building, or place where labor is employed, and to issue the
     necessary instructions to the superintendent, manager, or
     responsible agent of the employer, to correct violations of this
     act or regulations based on this act.
        Section 14.  Procedure in Prosecution.--Prosecution for
     violation of the provisions of this act or the rules and
     regulations of the department authorized by this act may be
     instituted by any authorized agent of the department.
        Section 15.  Penalties.--Any person who shall violate any of
     the provisions of this act or the rules and regulations of the
     department as herein provided for, or who shall hinder or delay
     or interfere with any person charged with the enforcement of
     this act in the performance of his duty, shall, upon conviction
     in a summary proceeding, be sentenced for a first offense to pay
     a fine of not less than twenty-five dollars and not more than
     one hundred dollars, and in default of the payment of such fine
     and costs, shall be imprisoned for a term of not more than
     thirty days, and, upon conviction for a second offense, shall be
     sentenced to pay a fine of not less than fifty or more than two
     hundred dollars, and in default of the payment of such fine and
     costs, shall be imprisoned for a term not exceeding sixty days.
     Any person guilty of a third offense, under the provisions of
     this act, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon
     conviction, shall be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than
     five hundred dollars, or to undergo imprisonment not exceeding
     six months, or both, at the discretion of the court. Each
     violation shall be deemed to constitute a separate offense.
        All fines collected under this act shall be forwarded to the
     Department of Labor and Industry who shall transmit the same to
     the State Treasury, through the Department of Revenue.
        Section 16.  Repealer.--(a)  The following acts are hereby
     repealed:
        The act approved the second day of May, one thousand nine
     hundred and five, entitled "An act to regulate the employment,
     in all kinds of industrial establishments, of women and children
     employed at wages or salary, by regulating the age at which
     minors can be employed and the mode of certifying the same, and
     by fixing the hours of labor for women and minors; to provide
     for the safety of all employes in all industrial establishments,
     and of men, women and children in schoolhouses, academies,
     seminaries, colleges, hotels, hospitals, storehouses, office
     buildings, public halls and places of amusement, in which proper
     fire-escapes, exits and extinguishers are required; to provide
     for the health of all employes, and of men, women and children
     in all such establishments, storehouses and buildings, by proper
     sanitary appliances; and to provide for the appointment of
     inspectors, office clerks and others, who, with the chief
     factory inspector, shall constitute the Department of Factory
     Inspection; to enforce the same; and providing penalties for
     violations of the provisions thereof; fixing the term and
     salaries of the chief factory inspector and his appointees," and
     all amendments thereto.
        (b)  All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act
     are hereby repealed.