WEST PAKISTAN FACTORIERS CANTEENS RULES, 1959

WEST PAKISTAN FACTORIERS CANTEENS RULES, 1959

No. VIII‑1‑49/59, 5th June 1959, (Gazette, 26th June 1959).‑In exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 33‑A of the Factories Act, 1934, and in pursuance of section 79 of the said Act and the West Pakistan Government notification No. L‑19‑21/58, dated the 29th May 1958, and in supersession of all existing rules on the subject, the Governor of West Pakistan is pleased to make the following rules and publish them in the Gazette, namely :‑

1. (1) These rules may be called the West Pakistan Factories Canteens Rules, 1959.

(2) They extend to the whole of the province of West Pakistan except the Federal Capital and the Special Areas.

(3) They shall come into force at once.

2. Definitions.‑In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires, the following expressions shall have the meanings hereby respectively assigned to them, that is to say‑

(a) "Act" means the Factories Act, 1934 ;

(b) "Chief Inspector" means an officer appointed under subsection (2) of section 10 of the Act ;

(c) "Government" means the Government of the Province of West Pakistan ;

(d) "Inspector" means as officer appointed under subsection (1) of section 10 of the Act and includes an "Additional Inspector".

3. Canteen‑(1) The occupier of every factory wherein more than two hundred and fifty workers are ordinarily employed and which is specified by Government by a notification in this behalf shall provide in or near the factory an adequate canteen according to the standards prescribed in these rules, and the canteen shall be available for the use of such workers within a period of six months from the date of such notification;

Provided that‑----

(a) Government may, for sufficient reasons from time to time by an order in writing extend the said period in respect of any specified factory ;

(b) Government may for any factory or class or description of factories direct that this sub‑rule shall not apply, or shall apply subject to any con­ditions that may be specified in writing by the Chief Inspector, where it can be shown that suitable alternative arrangements for the supply of food to the workers are available.

(2) The occupier of a factory shall submit for the approval of the Chief Inspector plans and a site plan in duplicate of the building to be constructed or adapted for use as a canteen.

(3) The canteen building shall be situated not less than fifty feet from any latrine, urinal, boiler house, coal stacks, ash dumps and any other source of dust, smoke or obnoxious fumes;

Provided that the Chief Inspector may in respect of any particular factory relax the provisions of this sub‑rule to such extent as may be reasonable in the circumstances and may require measures to be adopted to secure the essential purpose of this sub‑rule.

(4) The canteen building shall be constructed in accordance with the plans approved by the Chief Inspector and shall contain at least a dining hall, kitchen, store‑room and pantry, and separate washing places for (i) male workers, (ii) female workers and (iii)'utensils. . The minimum height of the building shall be not less than twelve feet from floor level to the lowest part of the roof and all the walls and roof shall be of suitable heat resisting materials and shall be water‑proof.

(5) The floor and inside walls up to the height of four feet from the floor shall .be made of smooth and impervious material ; the remaining portion of the inside walls shall be made smooth by cement plaster or in other manner approved by the Chief Inspector.

(6) The doors and windows shall be of fly‑proof construction and shall allow adequate ventilation.

(7) The canteen shall be sufficiently lighted at all times when any person has access to it.

(8) (a) In every canteen‑

(i) all inside walls of rooms and all ceilings, passages and staircases shall be lime‑washed or colour‑washed at least once a year, or painted once every three years ;

Provided that inside walls of the kitchen shall be lime‑washed once in every four months ;

(ii) all wood‑work shall be varnished or printed once every three years ;

(iii) all internal structural iron or steel work shall be varnished or painted once in three years.

(b) Records of dates on which lime‑washing, colour‑washing, varnishing or painting is carried out shall be maintained in a Register in Form A annexed to these rules.

(9) The precincts of the canteen shall be kept clean and sanitary. Waste water shall be carried away in suitable covered drains and shall not be allowed to accumulate so as to cause a nuisance. Suitable arrangements shall be made for the collection and disposal of garbage.

(10) Effective and suitable provision shall be made in every part of the canteen for securing and maintaining adequate ventilation by circulation of fresh air.

4. (1) The dining hall shall accommodate at a time at least thirty per cent of the workers working at a time

Provided that in any particular factory or in any particular class of factories, Government may, by an order in writing in this behalf, alter the percentage of workers to be accommodated.

(2) The floor area of the dining hall, excluding the area occupied by the service counter and any furniture except tables and chairs, shall be not less than ten square feet per worker to be accommodated as prescribed in sub‑rule (1);

Provided that in the case of factories in existence at the commencement of these rules, where it is impracticable, owing to lack of space, to provide ten square feet of floor area for each worker such reduced floor area per worker shall be provided as may be approved in writing by the Chief Inspector.

(3) A portion of the dining hall and service counter shall be partitioned off and reserved for women workers in proportion to their number. Washing place for women shall be screened to secure privacy.

(4) Sufficient tables with impervious tops, and chairs or benches shall be available for the workers to be accommodated as prescribed in sub‑rule (1);

Provided that where the Chief Inspector issatisfied that satisfactory alternative arrangements have been or will be made, he may exempt any particular factory or class of factories from the provisions of this sub‑rule.

(5) A sufficient supply of soap and clean towels shall be provided at the washing places in the canteen for the use of the workers.

5. Equipment.‑(1) There shall be provided and maintained sufficient utensils, crockery, cutlery, furniture and any other equipment necessary for the efficient running of the canteen. Suitable clean clothes for the employees serving in the canteen shall also be provided and maintained.

(2) The furniture, utensils and other equipment shall be kept hygienic. A service counter, if provided shall have a top of smooth and impervious material. Suitable facilities including an adequate supply of hot water shall be provided for the cleaning of utensils and equipment.

(3) Adequate steps shall be taken at every place in the canteen to prevent contamination of food, utensils, cutlery and other equipment.

(4) The expenditure of starting a canteen and the extension thereof, including provision for equipment, furniture and utensils, shall be borne by the management.

6. Prices to be charged.‑(I) Food, drinks and other items served in the canteen shall be sold on a non-profit basis and the prices charged shall be subject to the approval of the Canteen Managing Committee. In the event of the Committee not approving the price list or where the Committee are equally divided on the issue, the price list shall be sent for approval to the Chief Inspector whose decision regarding the matters in issue shall be final.

(2) The charges per portion of food‑stuff, beverages and any other item served in the canteen shall be conspicuously displayed in the canteen in Urdu and in the vernacular of the majority of workers.

7. Accounts.‑(1) All books of accounts, registers and any other docu­ment used in connection with the running of the canteen shall be produced on demand to an Inspector.

(2) The accounts pertaining to the canteen shall be audited, once every twelve months, by registered accountants and auditors. The balance sheet prepared by the said auditors shall be submitted to the Canteen Managing Committee not later than two months after the closing of the audited accounts ;

Provided that the accounts pertaining to canteen in a Government factory having its own Accounts Department may be audited in such Department.

8. Managing Committee.‑(I) The occupier shall appoint a Canteen Managing Committee which shall be consulted from time to time as to‑

(a) the quality and quantity of food to be served in the canteen ;

(b) the arrangement of the menus ;

(c) times of meals in the canteen ; and

(d) any other matter as may be directed by the Committee.

(2) The Canteen Managing Committee shall consist of an equal number of persons nominated by the occupier and elected by the workers. The number of elected workers shall be in the proportion of one for every one thousand workers employed in the factory, provided that in no case shall there be more than five or less than two workers on the Committee.

(3) The occupier shall appoint from among the persons nominated by him, a Chairman of the Canteen Managing Committee.

(4) The occupier shall determine and supervise the procedure for elections to the Canteen Managing Committee. Should there be any dispute in regard to the election of workers, representatives, the occupier shall refer the matter to the Chief Inspector whose decision shall be final.

(5) Notwithstanding any by‑election the Canteen Managing Committee shall be reconstituted every two years, the previous Managing Committee holding office till such time as the new Committee takes charge.

(6) The Canteen Managing Committee may in writing direct the occupier to provide in the Canteen, any item of food‑stuff, if it is satisfied that such item is in general demand, or is likely to be in general demand. Such direc­tion shall specify the size of each portion to be served, number of portions which shall be available and the frequency of serving the particular item per week. Such direction shall, specify the time within which the direction shall be complied with.

9. The provisions of these rules may be relaxed by the Chief Inspector, subject to such conditions as he may deem fit, in the case of factories belonging to the same business groups or amalgamation where centralised cooking in an approved industrial canteen is arranged for. Adequate arrangements to the satisfaction of the Chief Inspector shall, however, be made in such cases for the conveyance and proper distribution of the food so cooked to the workers concerned as if a separate canteen bad actually been provided in each factory covered by this relaxation.