Factory and Machinery Act

The Factory and Machinery Act 1967 (Act 139) is a piece of Malaysian legislation which was enacted in 1967 as Act No. 64 of 1967 and revised on April 1, 1974 as Laws of Malaysia Act 139. The Act was gazette on February 1, 1970. The principle of the act is "An Act to provide for the control of factories with respect to matters relating to the safety, health and welfare of person therein, the registration and inspection of the machinery and for matters connected therewith".

The jurisdiction of the act covers all factories which in the act means:

1. within the close or curtilage of precints of the premises or part thereof persons are employed in manual labour in any process for or connected with or incidental to the making, altering, repairing, ornamenting, sorting, finishing, cleaning, washing, breaking, demilishing, constructing, re-constructing, fitting, refitting, adjusting or adapting of any article or part thereof; and
2. the said work is carried on by way of trade for the purposes of gain or incidentally to any business so carned on, and (whether or not they are factories by reason of the foregoing definition) the expression factory also includes the following premises in which persons are employed in manual labour:

1. any yard or dry dock (including the precincts thereof) in which ships or vessels are constructed, re-constructed, repaired, refitted, finished or broken up;
2. any premises in which the business of washing or filling bottles or containers or packing articles is carried on incidentally to the purposes of any factory;
3. any premises in which the business of hooking, plaiting, lapping, making-up or packing of yarn or cloth is carried on;
4. any laundry carried on as ancillary to another business or incidentally to the purposes of any public institution;
5. any premises in which the construction, reconstruction, or repair of locomotives, vehicles or other plant for use for transport purposes is carried on ancillary to a transport undertaking or other industrial or commercial undertaking;
6. any premises in which printing by letter press, lithography, photogravure, or other similar process, or bookbinding is carried on by way of trade or for purposes of gain or incidentally to another business so carried on;
7. any premises in which the production of cinematograph films is carried on by way of trade or for purposes of gain;
8. any premises in which manual labour is employed and mechanical power is used in connection with the making or repair of any article of metal or wood incidentally to any business carried on by way of trade or for purposes of gain;,
9. any prcmises used for the storage of gas in a gasholder having a storage capacity of not less than 5,000 cubic feet;
10. any premises, place or space where any building operations or works of engineering construction are carried out; and
11. any premises belonging to or in the occupation of the Federal Government or the Government of any State or of any local authority or other public authority which would be a factory within the meaning of this Act but for paragraph (b),

but does not include:

1. any premises used for the purposes of housing locomotives or vehicles where only cleaning, washing, running repairs or minor adjustments are carried out; or
2. any premlses where five or less persons carry on any work in which machinery is not used notwithstanding that the premises, by virtue of the work, would constitute a factory within the meaning of this section.

The jurisdiction of the Act only covers lest than 20 percent of all working areas in Malaysia, the Malaysia government has enacted the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 which covers almost all areas of work within Malaysia.

The list of Regulations and Rules under this act are:

1. Factories and Machinery (Steam Boilers And Unfired Pressure Vessel) Regulations, 1970
2. Factories and Machinery (Electric Passenger And Goods Lift) Regulations, 1970
3. Factories and Machinery (Fencing Of Machinery And Safety) Regulations, 1970
4. Factories and Machinery (Person-In-Charge) Regulations, 1970
5. Factories and Machinery (Safety, Health and Welfare) Regulations, 1970
6. Factories and Machinery (Administration) Regulations, 1970
7. Factories and Machinery (Certificates Of Competency-Examinations) , 1970
8. Factories and Machinery (Notification Of Fitness And Inspections) Regulations, 1970
9. Factories and Machinery (Compounding Of Offences) Rules, 1978
10. Factories and Machinery (Compoundable Offences) Regulations, 1978
11. Factories and Machinery (Leads) Regulations, 1984
12. Factories and Machinery (Asbestos) Regulations, 1984
13. Factories and Machinery (Building Operations And Works Of Engineering Construction) (Safety) Regulations, 1986
14. Factories and Machinery (Noise Exposure) Regulations, 1989
15. Factories and Machinery (Mineral Dust) Regulations, 1989