Section 31: Steam boilers

(1) Every steam boiler and all its fittings and attachments shall be of good construction, sound material, adequate strength and free from patent defect and shall be properly maintained.
(2) Every steam boiler, whether separate or one of a range-
(a) shall have attached to it-
(i) a suitable safety valve (separate from and incapable of being isolated by any stop-valve) which shall be so adjusted as to prevent the boiler being worked at a pressure greater than the maximum permissible working pressure and shall be fixed directly to, or as close as practicable to, the boiler;
(ii) a suitable stop-valve, connecting the boiler to the steam pipe which shall be suitably lagged at all times;
(iii) a correct steam pressure gauge, connected to the steam space and easily visible by the boiler attendant, which shall indicate the pressure of steam in the boiler in kilograms per square centimetre and have marked upon it, in a distinctive colour, the maximum permissible working pressure;
(iv) at least one water gauge, of transparent material or other type approved by the Director of Factories, to show the water level in the boiler, and if the gauge is of the glass tubular type and the working pressure in the boiler normally exceeds three kilograms per square centimetre, the gauge shall be provided with an efficient guard but not so as to obstruct the reading of the gauge;
(v) where it is one or two or more boilers, a plate bearing a distinctive number which shall be easily visible; and
(b) shall be provided with means for attaching a test pressure gauge; and
(c) shall be provided with a suitable fusible plug or an efficient low-water alarm device,
so however that sub-paragraph (ii) of paragraph (a) of this subsection shall not apply with respect to economisers, and sub-paragraphs (iii), (iv) and (v) of paragraph (a), and paragraphs (b) and (c), of this subsection shall not apply with respect to either economisers or super-heaters.
(3) For the purposes of subsection (2) of this section, a lever-valve shall not be deemed a suitable safety valve unless the weight is secured on the lever in the correct position.
(4) Every steam boiler attendant shall be properly instructed as to his duties.
(5) No person shall enter or be in any steam boiler which is one of a range of two or more steam boilers unless-
(a) all inlets through which steam or hot water might otherwise enter the boiler from any other part of the range are disconnected from that part; or
(b) all valves or taps controlling such entry are closed and securely locked, and, where the boiler has a blow-off pipe in common with one or more other boilers or delivering into a common blow-off vessel or sump, the blow-off valve or tap on each such boiler is so constructed that it can only be opened by a key which cannot be removed until the valve or tap is closed and is the only key in use for that set of blow-off valves or taps.
(6) No work shall be permitted in any boiler-furnace until it has been sufficiently cooled by ventilation or otherwise to make work safe for the persons employed and the Director of Factories has been notified.
(7) Every steam boiler and all its fittings and attachments shall be thoroughly examined by an authorised boiler inspector at least once in every period of fourteen months, and also after any extensive repairs.
(8) The person making an examination under subsection (7) of this section may specify in writing a period exceeding fourteen months but not exceeding eighteen months within which the next examination is to be made.
(9) An examination under subsection (7) of this section shall consist, in the first place, of an examination of the boiler when it is cold and the interior and exterior have been prepared in the prescribed manner, and secondly, except in the case of an economiser or super-heater, of an examination when it is under normal steam pressure.
(10) The examination under steam pressure referred to in subsection (9) of this section shall be made as soon as possible after the examination of the boiler when cold, and the person making the examination shall ensure that the safety valve is so adjusted as to prevent the boiler being worked at a pressure greater than the maximum permissible working pressure.
(11) A report, signed by the person making the examination, of the result of every such examination, in the prescribed form and containing the prescribed particulars (including the particulars of the maximum permissible working pressure), shall, as soon as practicable and in any case within 28 days of the completion of the examination, be entered in or attached to the general register, and a certified true copy of the report shall be filed with the Director of Factories.
(12) No steam boiler which has previously been used shall be taken into use in any factory for the first time in that factory until it has been examined and reported on in accordance with subsections (7), (8), (9), (10) and (11) of this section
(13) No new steam boiler shall be taken into use in any factory unless-
(a) there has been obtained from an authorised boiler inspector a certificate specifying the maximum permissible working pressure of the steam boiler and stating the nature of the tests to which the steam boiler and fitting have been submitted;
(b) the steam boiler is so marked as to enable it to be identified as the boiler to which the certificate so obtained relates; and
(c) the certificate so obtained is kept available for inspection and a certified true copy thereof is forthwith sent to the Director of Factories
(14) Where the report of any examination under this section specifies conditions for securing the safe working of a steam boiler, the boiler shall not be used except in accordance with those conditions.
(15) The person making the report of any examination under this section shall within 28 days of the completion of the examination send to the inspector of the district a certified true copy of the report in every case where the maximum permissible working pressure is reduced, or the examination shows that the boiler cannot continue to be used with safety unless certain repairs are carried out immediately or within a specified time.
(16) For the purposes of subsections (11), (12), (13), (14) and (15) of this section relating to reports of examinations, the examination of a boiler when it is cold and its examination when it is under steam pressure shall be treated as separate examinations.
(17) In this section-
"authorised boiler inspector" means any person (whether or not an officer in the civil service of the Federation or any State) who is authorised by the Director of Factories, by certificate in writing, to carry out examinations of steam boilers in accordance with, and for the purposes of this section and to issue the certificate referred to in subsection (13) of this section;
"maximum permissible working pressure" means, in the case of a new steam boiler, that specified in the certificate referred to in subsection (13) of this section, and, in the case of a steam boiler which has been examined in accordance with the provisions of this section, that specified in the report of the last examination.
(18) This section shall not apply to the boiler of any locomotive used on any railway or to the boiler of any ship.