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Offices, Shops and Railway Premises Act 1963

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Offices, Shops and Railway Premises Act 1963
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long titleAn Act to make fresh provision for securing the health, safety and welfare of persons employed to work in office or shop premises and provision for securing the health, safety and welfare of persons employed to work in certain railway premises; to amend certain provisions of the Factories Act 1961; and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid.
Citation1963 c. 41
Introduced byJohn Hare, Minister of Labour, 15 November 1962[1]
Territorial extent England and Wales, Scotland[2]
Dates
Royal assent31 July 1963
Commencementfrom 18 February 1964[3][4][5]
Other legislation
Amended byWorkplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992
Repealed by—
Relates toFactories Act 1961
Status: Amended
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended

The Offices, Shops and Railway Premises Act 1963 (c. 41) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. At the time of its passage, the Act was intended to extend the protection of workplace health, safety and welfare under the Factories Act 1961 to other employees in Great Britain. Though as of 2008 some of it remains in force, it has largely been superseded by the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and regulations made under it.

Breach of the residual provisions is still a crime punishable on summary conviction in the magistrates' court by a fine of up to £400 or, on indictment in the Crown Court, imprisonment for up to two years and an unlimited fine.[6][7]

In the event of damage arising from a breach of the Act, there may be civil liability for breach of statutory duty. Though no such liability is stipulated by the Act itself, none is excluded and the facts could be such as to give rise to a cause of action in that tort.[8] A breach not actionable in itself may be evidential towards a claim for common law negligence. In particular, a criminal conviction may be given in evidence.[9]

Background

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The Act stemmed from the 1949 Gowers Report which had already led to the Mines and Quarries Act 1954, Agriculture (Safety, Health and Welfare Provisions) Act 1956 and Factories Act 1961. The 1963 Act extended protection to a further 8 million employees.[1]

Scope of Act

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Health, safety and welfare of employees (general provisions)

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Sections 4 to 16 defined general broad requirements for safe and healthy workplace working conditions:

  1. Cleanliness
  2. Overcrowding
  3. Temperature
  4. Ventilation
  5. Lighting
  6. Sanitary conveniences
  7. Washing facilities
  8. Supply of drinking water
  9. Accommodation for clothing
  10. Sitting facilities
  11. Seating for sedentary work
  12. Eating facilities
  13. Construction and maintenance of floors, stairways and passageways.

These provisions were repealed and superseded, as far as they applied to "workplaces", by the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992[10] with effect from 1 January 1993 for new workplaces and 1 January 1996 for established workplaces.[11] There is still a potential residual scope of application to "offices, shops and railway premises" that are not "workplaces" as the definition of "workplace" is in some ways limited.[12][13]

Section 17 made requirements for the safeguarding of machinery but was repealed and superseded by the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1992 between 1 January 1993 and 1 January 1997.[14]

Section 18 prohibited persons under 18 from cleaning certain hazardous machinery but was repealed and superseded by the Health and Safety (Young Persons) Regulations 1997 on 3 March 1997.[15]

Sections 20 to 22 gave the Secretary of State the power to make regulations under the Act but these powers were repealed with the coming into force of the 1974 Act.[16]

Section 23 restricted manual lifting of weights that might cause injury but these requirements were repealed and superseded by the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 on 1 January 1993.[17]

References

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  1. ^ a b "HC Deb vol 667 cc588-684". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Millbank Systems. 15 November 1962. Retrieved 10 August 2008.
  2. ^ S.91
  3. ^ Offices, Shops and Railway Premises Act 1963 (Commencement No 1) Order 1964, SI 1964/191
  4. ^ Offices, Shops and Railway Premises Act 1963 (Commencement No 2) Order 1964, SI 1964/1045
  5. ^ Offices, Shops and Railway Premises Act 1963 (Commencement No. 3) Order 1989, SI 1989/2317
  6. ^ Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, s.33(3)
  7. ^ "Sentencing and costs – Penalties". Enforcement Guide. Health and Safety Executive. Archived from the original on 16 May 2008. Retrieved 15 July 2008.
  8. ^ Halsbury vol.20(1) 623
  9. ^ Civil Evidence Act 1968, s.11
  10. ^ Reg.27/ Sch.2
  11. ^ Reg.1
  12. ^ Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, reg.3
  13. ^ Office of Public Sector Information (1992). "Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 - Explanatory Note". Retrieved 19 April 2008.
  14. ^ Regs.1(2)(3), 2, 27(1)/ Sch.2, Pt.I (with reg.27(2))
  15. ^ Reg.3/ Sch.Pt.I
  16. ^ Offices, Shops and Railway Premises Act 1963 (Repeals and Modifications) Regulations 1974, SI 1974/1943
  17. ^ Reg.8(1)/ Sch.2, Pt.I

Bibliography

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