Factories (Shipbuilding and Ship-repairing) (Amendment) Regulations 1997

No. S 165

Factories Act

(CHAPTER 104)

Factories (Shipbuilding and Ship-repairing) (Amendment) Regulations 1997

In exercise of the powers conferred by sections 68 and 102 of the Factories Act, the Minister for Labour hereby makes the following Regulations:

Citation and commencement

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Factories (Shipbuilding and Ship-repairing) (Amendment) Regulations 1997 and shall come into operation on 1st May 1997.

Amendment of regulation 2

2. Regulation 2 of the Factories (Shipbuilding and Ship-repairing) Regulations (Rg 11) (referred to in these Regulations as the principal Regulations) is amended —

(a)

by inserting, immediately after the definition of “approved”, the following definition:

“ “auditor” means a safety auditor approved by the Chief Inspector;”; and

(b)

by deleting the words “the building” at the end of the definition of “independent tied scaffold” and substituting the words “any structure”.

Amendment of regulation 3

3. Regulation 3 of the principal Regulations is amended by inserting, immediately after paragraph (1), the following paragraph:

“(1A) Where the work to be carried out in a shipyard —

(a)	consists only of minor adjustments of equipment, cleaning, washing or running repairs; and
(b)	does not involve hot-work or spray painting,

the Chief Inspector may, subject to such conditions as he may specify, exempt any person carrying out the work from the application of any provision of these Regulations.”.

New regulation 4A

4. The principal Regulations are amended by inserting, immediately after regulation 4, the following regulation:

“Ship repair manager to approve work

4A. No owner, agent, master or crew of a ship that is in a shipyard shall carry out any work on the ship without the approval of the ship repair manager of the ship.”.

Amendment of regulation 6

5. Regulation 6(1) of the principal Regulations is amended by deleting the words “7 days” in the penultimate line and substituting the words “3 days”.

Amendment of regulation 23

6. Regulation 23 of the principal Regulations is amended —

(a)

by inserting, immediately after the word “any” in paragraph (1), the word “hazardous”; and

(b)

by inserting, immediately after paragraph (2), the following paragraphs:

“(2A) No person shall carry out any spray painting, or painting in a confined space, in a shipyard or on board a ship in a harbour, unless he has undergone a safety course on painting approved by the Chief Inspector.

(2B) A person engaged as a supervisor of work to which these Regulations apply shall, if required by the Chief Inspector, undergo a safety training course approved by the Chief Inspector.”.

New regulation 23A

7. The principal Regulations are amended by inserting, immediately after regulation 23, the following regulation:

“Safety promotion exercise

23A. Every occupier of a shipyard shall, for the purpose of cultivating core safety values and safety awareness among the workers, conduct a safety promotion exercise at least once every 12 months.”.

Amendment of regulation 24

8. Regulation 24(4) of the principal Regulations is amended by deleting the words “direct current (DC)” in the third line and substituting the words “alternating current (AC)”.

New regulation 26A

9. The principal Regulations are amended by inserting, immediately after regulation 26, the following regulation:

“Ship repair manager to attend course

26A. No person shall be appointed as a ship repair manager unless he has undergone a safety training course approved by the Chief Inspector.”.

Amendment of regulation 27

10. Regulation 27 of the principal Regulations is amended by inserting, immediately after the word “ship” in the second line, the words “or the structural part of a ship under construction”.

New regulation 34A

11. The principal Regulations are amended by inserting, immediately after regulation 34, the following regulation:

“Handing-over procedure for shifts

34A.—(1) Where the workers in a shipyard or on board a ship in a harbour work in shifts, the occupier of the shipyard or the master, owner or agent of the ship, as the case may be, shall —

(a)

provide for a written handing-over procedure to be followed by the supervisor or the trade foreman of each out-going and in-coming shift, so that the supervisor or trade foreman of the in-coming shift —

(i)	will have a comprehensive and accurate knowledge of what occurred during the previous shift; and
(ii)	is apprised of his and his workers’ duties and responsibilities; and

(b)

ensure that the written handing-over procedure referred to in sub-paragraph (a) is followed.

(2) The handing-over procedure referred to in paragraph (1) must include the handing over of the activities chart, and a copy of the records of the latest Vessel Safety Co-ordination Committee meeting, to the supervisor or trade foreman of the in-coming shift.”.

Amendment of regulation 35

12. Regulation 35(2) of the principal Regulations is amended —

(a)

by deleting sub-paragraph (f) and substituting the following sub-paragraph:

“(f)

the testing or dismantling of any pipe or equipment that —

(i)	contains, or had contained, oil or substances that are flammable, toxic or corrosive; or
(ii)	contains steam;”; and

(b)

by deleting the word “and” at the end of sub-paragraph (h), and by inserting immediately thereafter the following sub-paragraphs:

“(ha)	the bunkering and transferring of fuel oil;
(hb)	radiography work; and”.

Amendment of regulation 37

13. Regulation 37 of the principal Regulations is amended —

(a)

by inserting, immediately after the word “it” at the end of paragraph (1), the words “and the trade foreman or supervisor shall retain the permit-to-work”; and

(b)

by inserting, immediately after paragraph (3), the following paragraphs:

“(3A) Where the work for which the permit-to-work is issued to be carried out by a contractor on the instructions of the trade foreman or supervisor who applied for the permit —

(a)	the trade foreman or supervisor shall brief the contractor thoroughly on the safety measures to be taken; and
(b)	the contractor shall acknowledge the fact that the briefing was given by endorsing the permit-to-work referred to in paragraph (1) and the copies of permit-to-work referred to in paragraph (3).

(3B) Paragraph (3A) shall not apply if the contractor who is carrying out the work applies for, and is issued, the permit-to-work himself.”.

Amendment of regulation 41

14. Regulation 41 of the principal Regulations is amended by inserting, immediately after paragraph (2), the following paragraph:

“(3) Notwithstanding paragraph (2), a hot-work tool may be issued to a person if effective measures are taken by the occupier of the shipyard, or in the case of a ship in a harbour, the master, owner or agent of the ship, to ensure that the hot-work tool issued is not used until a valid hot-work permit has been issued.”.

Amendment of regulation 53

15. Regulation 53 of the principal Regulations is amended by inserting, immediately after paragraph (3), the following paragraph:

“(4) Paragraph (3) does not apply if the Chief Inspector is satisfied that some other equally effective means to stop a leak is employed.”.

Amendment of regulation 55

16. The principal Regulations are amended by re-numbering regulation 55 as paragraph (1) of that regulation, and by inserting immediately thereafter the following paragraphs:

“(2) Where it is impractical to comply with the requirements in paragraph (1)(b) during a meal interval, effective measures shall be taken to ensure that the work area is safe before work resumes.

(3) The measures referred to in paragraph (2) must include —

(a)	the provision of effective ventilation to prevent the accumulation of gases in the workplace; and
(b)	the testing of the atmosphere for the presence of flammable gases.”.

Amendment of regulation 65

17. Regulation 65(4) of the principal Regulations is amended by deleting the word “into” and substituting the word “in”.

Amendment of regulation 68

18. Regulation 68 of the principal Regulations is amended by deleting the marginal note and substituting the following marginal note:

“Specification for Industrial Safety Signs”.

Amendment of regulation 70

19. Regulation 70 of the principal Regulations is amended by deleting the words “the safety officer” and substituting the words “his supervisor”.

Amendment of regulation 73

20. Regulation 73(2) of the principal Regulations is amended —

(a)

by deleting the word “and” at the end of sub-paragraph (l); and

(b)

by deleting the full-stop at the end of sub-paragraph (m) and substituting the word “; and”, and by inserting immediately thereafter the following sub-paragraph:

“(n)	occupational health programmes.”.

Amendment of regulation 91

21. Regulation 91 of the principal Regulations is amended by deleting paragraph (7) and substituting the following paragraph:

“(7) For every working platform supported on putlogs and transoms, the distance between any 2 putlogs, or between a putlog and a transom, shall not exceed 1.6 metres.”.

New regulation 139A

22. The principal Regulations are amended by inserting, immediately after regulation 139, the following regulation:

“System for calling lifts

139A. A system for calling the lift car to every landing level where the workers are required to board or alight from the lift car shall be implemented.”.

Made this 31st day of March 1997.

MOSES LEE KIM POO

Permanent Secretary,
Ministry of Labour,
Singapore.

[ML C10.20; AG/SL/9/94 Vol. 2]

(To be presented to Parliament under sections 68(4) and 102(3) of the Factories Act).

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