Factory means any premises where in 20 or more workers are working to carry out a manufacturing process with the aid of powers OR whereon 40 or more workers are working to carry out a manufacturing process without the aid of power.

Also Government has made this act applicable to power looms, saw mills, certain industries which use hazardous chemicals, and certain processes carried out using flammable solvents by publishing a notification, even if the number of workers are less than 10.

Occupier is not allowed to use any premises as a 'factory' unless he has obtained a valid factory Act licence.

Following documents are required to be submitted for getting a new licence or applying for renewal of licence

• Form No. 1(Refer to Licence Renewal on service page)
• To support the appointment of any director or partner as occupier in Form No. 1

Following documents shall be submitted to support his appointment.

• In case of partnership firm a copy of registered partnership deed and a declaration letter from all the partners for appointing a specific partner as occupier And a acceptance letter from this partner for accepting his appointment has occupier
• In case of company , list of directors and the copy of resolution mentioning the appointment of one of the director as occupier

• Receipt of the fees paid / challan copy as per the no of workers and HP (electricity) used
• Land purchase deed, leave and licence copy, rent receipt, 7/12 receipt, form 8(a), M I D C allotment letter or any other document to prove the ownership or rent agreement.
• Electricity Bill

The site plan, building layout plan and plant & machinery layout plan along with sectional elevation in duplicate shall be submitted to the Directorate of industrial Safety & Health office along with form No 1& questionnaire ( 10 र court fee stamp duly affixed ). Following documents shall be attached with the application.

• Raw material list with maximum storage capacity and mode of storage.
• Process flow chart.
• Finished product list, intermediate product list.
• MPCB consent (optional).
• Allotment letter from MIDC / NOC from local authority.
• NOC for PESO.
• Site approval from Director of DISH in case of solvent Extraction plant.
• Brief Manufacturing process.

After receiving the plans for approval from the management of the Factory, serial no, date is put on the plan. The last due date for approval of the plan as per the provision of act is marked on the plan in red ink .Before this due date the plans are approved and a copy is sent to the management . If the plans are rejected it is informed to the management mentioning the relevant reasons.

If some clarifications required from the management regarding the plans submitted, this additional clarification is sought from the management and necessary corrections are made in the plan. Additional information is taken if required. Plans are approval along with some conditions considering the safety and welfare provisions related to the workers in that factory. The Management has to comply these conditions.

After submitting the form no.1 duly filled with all respect and with necessary fees paid and if the factory plans are approved, the officers of directorate visit the factory & if he finds that construction of the factory and machinery layout is as per the approved plan and if the conditions of plan approval are complied , then he recommends to Director Industrial Safety & Health for issuance of licence through his superiors and after getting the approval from the Director, licence is issued.

Licence renewal can be done by Additional director or Joint director.

To register the factory and to get licence under Factories Act, and application has to be submitted to the office of Industrial Safety & Health, along with following documents

• Factory Building plan along with machinery layout and questionnaire in Form No. 1 duly filled shall be submitted.
• To register the Factory, the occupier or management of the factory has to submit Form No. 2 in triplicate.
• Court fee stamp of र 10 shall be affixed on Form No. 2.
• As mentioned in the annexure, the required licence fee shall be paid in the name of " Director , Industrial Safety & Health ” by cross cheque / cross postal order .Factories outside Mumbai region shall pay the fees in Treasury branch and submit the receipt of this payment along with the application.
• To support the appointment of any director or partner as occupier in Form No. 2.

Following documents shall be submitted to support his appointment.

• In case of partnership firm a copy of registered partnership deed and a declaration letter for all the partners for appointing a specific partner as occupier And a acceptance letter from this partner for accepting his appointment has occupier.
• In case of company , list of directors and the copy of resolution mentioning the appointment of one of the director as occupier.
• Receipt of the fees paid / challan copy as per the no of workers and HP (electricity)used.
• Land purchase deed, leave and licence copy, rent receipt, 7/12 receipt, form 8(a), M I D C allotment letter or any other document to prove the ownership or rent agreement.
• Electricity Bill.

Licence renewal Form no.1 has to be duly filled and submitted through online system on the portal "https://lms.mahaonline.gov.in” of Industrial safety & health along with necessary fees paid and all other necessary documents. The last date for submission of this Form is 31st October every year. If the application is made after this date, additional 5% fees has to be paid for every month of delay (maximum up to 25%). Licence can be renewed maximum up to 10 years at any single time.

• If there is change in name of the factory.
• If there is change in number of workers, or change in Horse power, then application for amendment in licence has to be made in form no. 2 with 10 Rs court fee stamp duly affixed. Difference of fees is required to be paid if the fee structure is changed due to this amendment. Necessary documents like Partnership deed, Board of Directors Resolution etc are required to be submitted for evidence. Form no. 5 is required to be submitted if there is change in Manager.

An occupier of a factory is required to submit Annual Return in Form no. 27 on or before 1st Feb every year for the past calendar year.

• Each factory has to maintain following registers.

Following are some provisions under Factories Act 1948 regarding this :

• No worker shall be allowed or required to work in a factory unless his/her name is entered in the register of adult workers.
• Workers shall be allowed/required to work as per the notice of period of work.
• No child shall be allowed to work in a factory unless he has completed 14 years.
• No child shall be employed or permitted to work, in any factory :
• for more than four and a half hours in any day
• During the night.
• An adolescent (15 to 18 years of age) who has been granted a certificate of fitness by a certifying surgeon to work in a factory as an adult under clause (b) of sub- section (2) of section 69 and who while at work in a factory carries a token giving reference to the certificate, shall be deemed to be and adult.
• No adult worker shall be required or allowed to work in a factory for more than forty-eight hours in any week unless any exemption is obtained from Industrial Safety & Health.
• The periods of work of adult workers in a factory each day shall be so fixed that no period shall exceed five hours and that no worker shall work for more than five hours before he has had an interval for rest of at least half an hour.
• The periods of work of an adult worker in a factory shall be so arranged that inclusive of his intervals for rest, they shall not spread over more than ten and a half hours in any day.
• Female workers shall not be allowed or required to work between 7 p.m. to 6 a.m.
• No overtime shall be allowed or required to be carried out unless exemption is obtained under Rule 102 of The Maharashtra Factories Rules 1963
• Workers shall be paid double of their normal wages for the period worked as overtime.

Every worker who has worked for a period of 240 days or more in a factory during the calendar year shall be allowed during the subsequent calendar year, leave with wages for a number of days calculated at the rate of :

• if an adult, one day for every twenty days of work performed by him during the previous calendar year
• if a child , one day for every fifteen days of work performed by him during the previous calendar year

Explanation 1 – For the purpose of this sub section :

• Any days of lay-off by agreement or contract or as permissible under the standing orders ;
• In the case of a female worker, maternity leave for any number of days not exceeding twelve weeks ; and
• The leave earned in the year prior to that in which the leave is enjoyed;

Shall be deemed to be days on which the worker has worked in a factory for the purpose of computation of the period of 240 days or more, but he shall not earn leave for these days.

Explanation 2 – The leave admissible under this sub-section shall be exclusive of all holidays whether occurring during or at either end of the period of leave.

A worker whose service commences otherwise than on the first day of January shall be entitled to leave with wages at the rate laid down in clause(i)or, as the case may be , clause(ii) of sub-section(1) if he has worked for two-thirds of the total number of days in the remainder of the calendar year.

If a worker is discharged or dismissed from service or quits his employment or is superannuated or dies while in service or quits his employment or is superannuated or dies while in service, during the course of the calendar year, he or his heir or nominee, as the case may be, shall be entitled to wages in lieu or the quantum of leave to which he was entitled immediately before his discharge, dismissal, quitting of employment, superannuation or death calculated at the rates specified in sub-section (1), even if he had not worked for the entire period specified in sub section (1) or sub section (2) making him eligible to avail of such leave , and such payment shall be made

• where the worker is discharged or dismissed or quits employment before the expiry of the second working day from the date of such discharge, dismissal or quitting; and
• where the worker is superannuated or dies while in service , before the expiry of two months from the date of such superannuation or death.

Management of the Factory has to maintain all the details about annual leave with wages in the leave register in Form No. 20 and has to issue leave cards in Form No. 20 to the eligible workers before 28th February.

Factories Act is applicable to all the Factories which are under control of Central Government, State Government, Defence and P. W. D.

Any accident which is fatal or any serious accident causing loss of part of body, if worker becomes unconscious or gets severe burn injuries or incident of any dangerous occurrence has to be informed to the Directorate of industrial Safety & Health office within 4 hours by telephone or by a special messenger. And a written report in form 24 is required to be submitted within 12 hours to the Directorate of industrial Safety & Health office.

If accident takes place, which will prevent or will probably prevent the person injured from working for a period of 48 hours, the information of such accident has to be given within next 24 hours.

• Two fire buckets of not less than 9 Litres capacity for every 100 square meters of floor area subject to a minimum of four buckers on each floor.
• One portable fire extinguisher for every 500 Sq.m. areas.
• If the water requirement is more than 550 Litters per minute as per the formula given in Rule 71 (b) (2) of Maharashtra Factories Rules 1963, a trailer pump shall be provided.

• All processes, storages, equipments, plants etc. involving serious explosing and flash fire hazard shall be located in segregated buildings.
• Areas where highly inflammable, or explosive materials are used shall not have any electrical fittings, if required to be provided, it shall be of standard flameproof type, so that no sparks are generated.
• Effective measures shall be adopted for prevention of static charges to a dangerous extent.
• If flammable material is required to be used in large quantities, it shall be stored in a separate store and only the minimum required quantity ( maximum upto 20 Litres ) shall be stored in the workplace.
• Precautions shall be taken to prevent initiatives of ignition from all other possible sources such as open flames, frictional sparks, overheated surfaces of machinery or plant, chemical or physical, chemical reaction and radiant heat.
• Smoking, lighting or carrying of matches, lighters shall be prohibited.

Safety officers are required to be appointed in every factory.

• Wherein 1000 or more workers are ordinarily employed OR
• Where in, in the opinion of the State Govt., any manufacturing process or operation is carried on, which process or operation involves risk of bodily injury poisoning or disease, or any other hazard to health, to the persons employed, Govt may make this provision applicable to factories having less than 1000 workers by special notification.

The management of the factory has to provide following facilities depending on the no of workers.

If any complaint is received regarding any establishment which is under the purview of provisions of Factories Act, immediate enquiry and action is taken. Any complaint received from union, any anonymous person or on Telephone, is enquired and suitable action is taken if it is related to Directorate. The complainant is informed about the enquiry and action taken by the Department by means of a letter. The name of the complainant is kept secret while carrying out the enquiry.

There are twenty seven schedules under Rule 114 of The Maharashtra Factories Rules 1963 this schedules mainly covered electroplating , lead industries, glass manufacturing, shot blasting , leather tanning industries, chromic acid industries, insecticides , asbestos , manganese, benzene, paint industries, processes generating high noise levels etc. Various occupational diseases like cancer, ear deafness, lung diseases, poisoning, etc.

Under the provisions of Factories Act cranes, chain fully blocks, lifting tackles and all the pressure plants which are used in the factories are required to be tested from the competent person within stipulated time and the test certificate in form no. 12 & 13 is required to be maintained.

Also the solvent extraction plant is required to be tested from competent person before starting the production and necessary certificate is required to the submitted.

Director, Industrial Safety & Health appoints certain persons or institute as competent person having requisite qualifications and experience as per the criteria decided by the department. These persons or institutes are called competent persons.

Female workers are not allowed or required to work in a factory between 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. For certain processes they can work upto 10 p.m. only if government publishes notifications.

Following are the industries in which female workers and young persons are prohibited.

Lead battery, Glass, lead manufacturing, shot blasting, leather tanning, chromic acid, nitro amino compounds, dangerous insecticides, manganese, benzene, paint industries which is uses carcinogenic compounds etc.