Protection of Young Persons at Work Places Regulations, 2000

L.N. 91 of 2000

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY

(PROMOTION) ACT, 1994

(ACT NO. VII OF 1994)

Protection of Young Persons at Work Places Regulations, 2000

IN exercise of the powers conferred by sections 6 and 16 of the

Occupational Health and Safety (Promotion) Act, 1994, the Deputy

Prime Minister and Minister for Social Policy, in consultation with

the Commission for the Promotion of Occupational Health and

Safety, has made the following regulations:-

( I) The title of these regulations is the Protection of

Young Persons at Work Places Regulations, 2000.

These regulations shall come into force on the 1st January,

(2)

2002.

Regulation 4( 1)(b)

Agents and processes of work to which young persons cannot be

exposed

1. (A)

Physical agents.

(i)

Ionizing radiation;

(ii) Work in high - pressure atmospheres, e.g.

In

pressurized containers, diving.

(B)

Biological agents.

All biological agents, including those that have been

genetically modified and cell cultures, which can cause severe

human disease.

(C)

Chemical agents.

(i)

All chemical agents regarded as being toxic,

corrosive, highly flammable, and/or explosive.

(ii) All chemical agents regarded as being carcinogenic,

and/or sensitizing through skin contact or by inhalation, and

agents which may cause irreversible health effects, serious

health effects, heritable genetic damage, damage to an unborn

child, and agents which may impair fertility.

(iii) Lead and compounds oflead.

(iv)

Asbestos.

2. (i)

Processes which involve the use of carcinogenic

chemicals, or which produce carcinogenic chemicals, whether

as an end product or as an intermediary.

(ii) Manufacture and handling of devices, fireworks or

other objects containing explosives.

(iii) Work with fierce or poisonous animals.

(iv)

Animal slaughtering on an industrial scale.

(v) Work involving the handling of equipment for the

production, storage or application of compressed, liquefied or

dissolved gases.

(vi) Works with vats, tanks, reservoirs or carboys.

(vii) Work involving a risk of structural collapse.

(viii) Work involving high-voltage electrical hazards.

(ix) Work the pace of which is determined by machinery

and involving payment by results.

(I)

In these regulations, unless the context otherwise

requIres -

"Act" means the Occupational Health and Safety (Promotion)

Act, 1994;

"adolescent" means a young person of compulsory school-going

age;

"advertising activity" includes any activity during which a child

or adolescent acts as a model for clothes or items of clothing;

"child" means a young person under fifteen years of age;

"Director" means the Director responsible for industrial and

employment relations;

"employer" includes any person who gives out work to any

child, or young person. or who gives out to any parent or guardian of

a child or young person. or to any other person any work to be

performed by a child or young person

"parent" includes any person having the legal care and custody

of a minor

"rest period" means any period during which a young person is

not at work. is not at his employer's disposal and is not carrying out

any work activities or duties

"training or apprenticeship scheme" means a training or

apprenticeship scheme approved in accordance with the provisions of

the Employment and Training Services Act, and shall include a work! Cap. 343.

training scheme and an in-plant work-experience scheme;

"young person" means a person under eighteen years of age, and

includes a child and an adolescent;

"work" includes any service which is ordinarily performed by

one person, or for another person, for gain, and includes service as an

outworker or as a self-employed person, but does not include

occasional, or short-term work in domestic service in a private

household, or work which is not harmful, damaging or dangerous to a

child or young person which is carried out in a family undertaking.

(2) In these regulations, words and expressions defined in the

Act shall have the same meaning as they have in the Act, and the

provisions of these regulations shall be read and construed in

conjunction with the Act.

(l) Before engaging or offering work to any young Risk

person, an employer shall carry out an assessment of the occupational assessment.

health and safety hazards which may be involved at the place of work,

and such assessment shall be repeated whenever there is any major

change in working conditions.

(2) In carrying out such an assessment, an employer shall take

into consideration, as the case may be

(a) the fitting-out and layout of the workplace and the

workstation;

(b) the nature, degree and duration of exposure to

physical, chemical and biological agents;

(c) the form, nature, range and use of work equipment,

including any machine, apparatus, tool or device used at work,

and the way in which they are handled;

(d) the arrangement of work processes and operations,

and the way in which these are combined (organization of

work); and

(e) the level of training and instruction given to the

young person.

(3) Where the assessment reveals a risk to a young person's

health or safety, the young person shall be referred for examination by

a medical practitioner, and such young person shall not be liable for

any expenses incurred

Provided that the employer shall inform the practitioner,

before the medical examination is carried out, of the results of the risk

assessment

Provided further that such examinations shall be repeated

as often as necessary, and as indicated by the nature of the risks to

health and safety.

(4) An employer shall inform the young person to whom work

is to be assigned of the results of the assessments and of all the

measures taken, or that are to be taken, concerning the protection of

health and safety at work

Provided that where work is to be assigned to a child in

terms of regulation 8, the employer shall also inform the parents of

the child concerned of the results of the assessments and of all the

measures taken, or that are to be taken concerning the protection of

health and safety at work.

(I) An employer shall ensure that any young person in

his employ or to whom he has assigned work, is at all times

adequately protected against any hazards which may result from the

assessment referred to in the preceding regulation, and, in particular,

shall ensure that the work assigned to the young person-

(a) is not beyond such young person's physical or

psychological capacity; and

(b) does not involve any exposure to any of the

chemical, physical or biological agents or to any of the

processes listed in the Schedule to these regulations, or to any

other physical, chemical or biological agent which is toxic,

carcinogenic, causes heritable genetic damage, causes harm to

an unborn child or which in any other way chronically affects

human health; and

(c) does not involve a risk of accidents which it may be

assumed cannot be recognized or avoided by young persons

owing to their insufficient attention to safety or lack of

experience or training; and

(d) does not involve a risk to health from extremes of

cold or heat, or from noise or vibration.

(2)

A young person may be allowed to perform work for a

limited period of time with any of the physical, chemical or biological

agents mentioned in the foregoing paragraph, if such work is

indispensable for the young person's vocational training, provided

that at all times, the work is performed under the supervision of a

competent person, and that the young person is adequately protected

against risks to his health and safety.

(3) It shall be the duty of an employer who employs or gives

out work to a young person to ensure that such young person is at all

times

(a) properly trained for the work assigned, taking into

account any health and safety hazards which may be present;

and

(b) supervised by a competent person who has been

trained in the work activity assigned to a young person,

including the use of tools, machinery and equipment, and who is

aware of the risks involved and of the preventive measures to be

taken.

(l) No young person shall be employed at any time Hours of work,

breaks and rest

between the hours of IO.OOp.m. on anyone day and 6.00a.m. of the periods.

following day

Provided that where the young person is a child, the child

shall not be given any work between 8.00p.m. on anyone day and

00a.m. of the following day.

(2) This regulation shall not apply in the case of adolescents or

other young persons who are no longer of school-going age

(a) in respect of any trainees or apprentices covered by a

training or apprenticeship scheme;

(b) in respect of any educational activity which forms

part of the curriculum of any school or of any educational

institution approved in terms of the Education Act;

(c) in respect of any cultural, artistic, or sports activities

approved by the Director;

(d) in respect of any work performed in hospitals or in

similar establishments;

(e) in respect of work carried out ill the shipping or

fisheries sectors; and

(f)

in respect of work carried out in the context of the

armed forces or the police

Provided that such work shall only be pennitted when

there are objective reasons for so doing, or in exceptional cases

Provided further that, where by reason of the non-

applicability of this regulation a young person is given work, such a

young person shall not be required to perform any work between the

hours of midnight and 4.00a.m of the following day

Provided further that where the young person is an

adolescent such an adolescent shall not be given any work between

midnight and 6.00am on any Monday or on any weekday following a

public holiday, in any week during which the adolescent is required to

attend as a full-time student in any school or educational institution

approved under the Education Act.

(3) Prior to being assigned night work, as permitted by this

regulation, and at regular intervals thereafter, the adolescent shall be

entitled to a free medical examination, unless the work assigned is of

an exceptional nature.

6. (l ) No young person shall be employed in the aggregate

for more than six days in anyone calendar week.

(2) In any case where work may be carried out by an

adolescent, such an adolescent shall not be employed for more than

four hours in the aggregate on anyone day during which he is

required to attend school and for more than eight hours in the

aggregate on any other day.

(3) No young person shall be employed for more than eight

hours a day or more than 40 hours a week.

(4) Where a young person is employed by more than one

employer, the working days and working time shall be cumulative

and shall not exceed the working days and working times established

by virtue of these regulations.

(5) The time spent on tral11l11g by a young person working

under a theoretical and/or practical combined work/training scheme

or an in-plant work experience scheme shall be counted as working

time.

(6) Where a young person IS given work, the young person

shall be allowed

(a) not less than twelve consecutive hours of rest within

any period of twenty four hours; and

(b) not less than two days of rest in any calendar week,

which, as far as reasonably practicable, shall be consecutive,

and as far as reasonably practicable, shall include a Sunday

Provided that where a young person's daily working

time is more than four and a half hours, such young person shall

be entitled to a continuous break of at least thirty minutes

Provided further that where the young person is a

child, who is given work in terms of the provisions of these

regulations, such child shall be entitled to fourteen consecutive

hours of rest in any period of twenty four hours, and two

consecutive days of rest of which one day shall be a Sunday.

(7) A child or an adolescent who is given work in terms of

regulation 8 (3) shall be entitled to such periods of rest which, as far

as reasonably practicable, shall coincide with the school holidays of

the child or of the adolescent.

(1) An employer shall, before taking into his Medical

employment any young person, ensure that the young person has been examinations.

examined by a medical practitioner, who shall certify that the young

person is medically fit to carry out the work intended to be assigned

to him. The employer shall further ensure that the young person is

medically re-examined at least once every twelve months, or at any

such other interval as directed by the Director

Provided that a parent or guardian of any young person

shall have the right to be present during such medical examinations.

(2) An employer shall keep a register at the place of work, in

which shall be entered the name of the young person, his date of birth,

the date on which he commences employment, the result of the

medical examination, any condition or recommendation made by the

medical practitioner, the name of the medical practitioner, the date

when the next medical examination in respect of the young person

examined is due, and the date on which such young person ceases to

be employed.

(3) The employer shall afford, to the medical practitIOner

carrying out any such examination, facilities to inspect any process or

work to be assigned to the young person.

(4) The register of medical examinations referred to in

paragraph (3) shall be open for inspection by any medical practitioner

authorised by the Director, and it shall not be destroyed or otherwise

disposed of without the approval of the said Director.

(5) Without prejudice to the provisions of paragraph (1), the

Director may, for the purpose of verifying any medical findings or

recommendations, require the employer to make arrangements for

any young person to be medically examined by any medical officer

approved by the said Director for the purpose.

(6) The employer shall be liable to any expenses incurred in

carrying out for such examinations. No employee shall suffer any

deduction in wages or any loss of benefit in respect of time lost for

attendance for such examinations or for any investigations in

connection therewith.

(7) This regulation shall not apply in the case of a child or

adolescent carrying out work in terms of the provisions of regulation

8(2) and in respect to any school activity, or any activities carried out

in pursuance of any educational curriculum or any philanthropic,

cultural, artistic, sports or educational activity approved by the

Minister responsible for education.

(1 ) No person shall employ under any contract of service

or otherwise, or give out any work to a child.

(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply in respect of any school

activities, or any activities carried out in pursuance of any educational

curriculum or any philanthropic, cultural, artistic, sports, educational

or advertising activities approved by the Minister responsible for

education, or in respect of any training or apprenticeship scheme

Provided that no child shall be allowed to participate in

any of the foregoing activities if the activity is likely to be harmful to

the health, safety, or development of the child, if it jeopardizes the

child's attendance at school, the child's participation in vocational

guidance or training programmes, or the child's capacity to benefit

from the instruction received

Provided further that the employment of children for the

purposes of performance in cultural, artistic, sports or advertising

activity requires the prior authorization of the Director, who shall

only give such authorization if satisfied that the activity is not likely

to be harmful to the health, safety, or development of children, does

not jeopardize their attendance at school, their participation in

vocational guidance or training programmes, or their capacity to

benefit from the instruction received.

(3)

Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (2), when

a child is given work in any training or apprenticeship scheme, the

working time of such a child shall be limited to

(a) eight hours a day and forty hours a week for work

performed under a combined workJtraining scheme or an in-

plant work-experience scheme;

(b) two hours on a school day and twelve hours a week

for work performed in term-time outside the hours fixed for

school attendance, provided that the working time on a day

which is not a school day shall not exceed seven hours; and

(c) seven hours a day and thirty five hours a week for

work performed during a period of at least a week when school

is not operating

Provided that any such child shall be entitled to a

minimum rest period of fourteen consecutive hours in any twenty-

four hour period.

(4) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1), a child

may be allowed to perform work of a light nature which is not

harmful, damaging or dangerous to the child in a family undertaking,

for a period which does not exceed seven hours a day or thirty-five

hours a week

Provided that no child shall be assigned any work to be

carried out between 8p.m. on anyone day and 6.00a.m. of the

following day.

(1) No person shall give out work to an adolescent if the Work by

.

d' lzes such person's education.

adolescents.

wor k to be given Jeopar

(2) An employer shall only employ under any contract of

service or otherwise, or give out any full-time work to an adolescent

if such adolescent has been granted an exemption from schooling

issued under section 43(2) of the Education Act

Provided that it shall be the duty of the employer to

ascertain whether the adolescent to whom he intends to assign work

has been granted such an exemption.

Without prejudice to the generality of regulations 5(1), Force majeure.

6(3), and 6(6), an employer may permit work to be carried out by a

young person who is not a child or an adolescent, in the event of force

majeure, provided that

(a)

the work to be carried out is of short duration, of a

temporary nature, and is carried out immediately;

(b) no adult workers are available, or are not available in

sufficient numbers;

(c) the

young

person

is

allowed

equivalent

compensatory rest time within the following three weeks.

(1) Any breach of any provision of these regulations

shall be deemed an offence.

(2) The parent or person who has the custody or care of a child

shall be guilty of an offence if any breach of the provisions of these

regulations takes place with his knowledge or consent.

The Work Place (Protection

of

Young

Persons)

Regulations, 1996, are hereby repealed.