PROTECTION OF YOUNG PERSONS AT WORK PLACES REGULATIONS

SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 646.04

PROTECTION OF YOUNG PERSONS AT WORK

PLACES REGULATIONS

1st January, 2002

LEGAL NOTICE 91 of 2000, as amended by Legal Notices 283 of 2004

and 196 of 2015 and Act XXXIII of 2024.

(1) The title of these regulations is the Protection of Young

Persons at Work Places Regulations.

(2) The scope of these regulations is the implementation of

Directive 2014/27/EU of the European Parliament and of the

Council amending Council Directive 94/33/EC on the protection of

young people at work.

[Regulation 4(1)(b)]

Non-exhaustive list of agents and processes of work to which

young persons cannot be exposed

I.

Agents

1. Physical agents

(a) Ionizing radiation;

(b) Work in a high-pressure atmosphere,

e.g.

in

pressurized containers, diving.

2. Biological agents

Biological agents of risk groups 3 and 4 within the meaning of

paragraphs (c) and (d) of the definition "biological agents" in

regulation 2 of the Protection of Workers from Risks related to

Exposure to Biological Agents at Work Regulations (S.L.424.25).

3. Chemical agents

(a) Substances and mixtures which meet the criteria for

classification under Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 of

the European Parliament and of the Council in one or

more of the following hazard classes and hazard

categories with one or more of the following hazard

statements

-

acute toxicity, category 1, 2 or 3 (H300, H310,

H330, H301, H311, H331);

-

skin corrosion, category 1A, 1B or 1C (H314);

-

flammable gas, category 1 or 2 (H220, H221);

-

flammable aerosols, category 1 (H222);

-

flammable liquid, category 1 or 2 (H224, H225);

-

explosives, categories ‘Unstable explosive’, or

explosives of Divisions 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5

(H200, H201, H202, H203, H204, H205);

-

self-reactive substances and mixtures, type A, B,

C or D (H240, H241, H242);

-

organic peroxides, type A or B (H240, H241);

-

specific target organ toxicity after single

exposure, category 1 or 2 (H370, H371);

-

specific target organ toxicity after repeated

exposure, category 1 or 2 (H372, H373);

-

respiratory

sensitisation,

category

1,

subcategory 1A or 1B (H334);

-

skin sensitisation, category 1, subcategory 1A or

1B (H317);

-

carcinogenicity, category 1A, 1B or 2 (H350,

H350i, H351);

-

germ cell mutagenicity, category 1A, 1B or 2

(H340, H341);

-

reproductive toxicity, category 1A or 1B (H360,

PROTECTION OF YOUNG PERSONS AT WORK PLACES

H360F, H360FD, H360Fd, H360D, H360Df).

(b) (repealed);

(c) (repealed);

(d) Substances and mixtures referred to in paragraph (b)

of the definition "carcinogen" in regulation 2 of the

Protection of Workers from the Risks related to

Exposures to Carcinogens or Mutagens at Work

Regulations (S.L.424.22);

(e) Lead and compounds thereof, inasmuch as the agents

in question are absorbable by the human organism;

(f)

Asbestos.

Processes and work

1. Processes at work referred to in Schedule I to the

Protection of Workers from the Risks related to Exposures to

Carcinogens or Mutagens at Work Regulations S.L.424.22).

2. Manufacture and handling of devices, fireworks or other

objects containing explosives.

3. Work with fierce of poisonous animals.

4. Animal slaughtering on an industrial scale.

5. Work involving the handling of equipment for the

production, storage or application of compressed, liquified or

dissolved gases.

6. Work with vats, tanks, reservoirs or carboys containing

chemical agents referred to in paragraph 1.3.

(1) In these regulations, unless the context otherwise

requires -

"Act" means the Health and Safety at Work Act;

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

age;

"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;

" t r a i n i n g o r a p p r e n t i c e s h i p s c he m e " m e a n s a t r a i n i n g o r

apprenticeship scheme approved in accordance with the provisions

of the Employment and Training Services Act, and shall include a

work/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.

(1) Before engaging or offering work to any young person,

an employer shall carry out an assessment of the occupational

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, 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.

(1) 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

assessm ent referred to in th e preced ing reg ulati on, an d, 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, 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 subregulation, 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.

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

any young person, ensure that the young person has been 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

subregulation (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 subregulation (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 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) 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.

Work involving a risk of structural collapse.

Work involving high-voltage electrical hazards.

Work the pace of which is determined by machinery and

involving payment by results.