Section 2: Interpretation

2. Interpretation In this Act— “air receiver” means— (a) any vessel, other than a pipe or coil, or any accessory, fitting or part of a compressor, for containing compressed air and connected with an air compressing plant; (b) any fixed or portable vessel, not being part of a spray gun, used for the purpose of spraying by means of compressed air, any paint, varnish, lacquer or similar material; (c) any fixed vessel for containing compressed air or any other gas and used for the purpose of starting an internal combustion engine; or (d) any vessel in which any material in solid or liquid form is stored and from which it is forced by compressed air; “article” includes any solid, liquid or gas, or any combination thereof; “article for use at work” means— (a) any plant designed for use or operation, whether exclusively or not, by any person at work; and (b) any article designed for use as a component in any such plant; “biological agent”— (a) means any micro-organism, cell culture, or human endoparasite; and (b) includes any organism which has been genetically modified, which may cause any infection, allergy, toxicity or otherwise create a hazard to human health; O2 – 3 [Issue 7] Occupational Safety and Health Act “bodily injury” includes any disease or any impairment of a person’s physical or mental condition; “building” includes its fixtures and fittings; “cell culture” means in-vitro growth of cells derived from multicellular organisms; “chemical” means a chemical element, or a compound, or a mixture thereof, whether natural or synthetic; “Classification Society” means Lloyds Register of Shipping (United Kingdom), Bureau Veritas (France) or any such similar organisation as the Permanent Secretary may approve; “competent person” means any person who, by reason of his qualifications and training, or having at least 5 years’ experience, is competent to undertake the work he is required to perform; “construction” means— (a) building, including the construction, structural alteration, renovation, repair, maintenance, dismantling, or demolition of any building or structure; (b) civil engineering works, including the construction, structural alteration, repair, maintenance, demolition, of any airport, dock, harbour, inland waterway, dam, river and sea defence works, road, highway, bridge, tunnel, viaduct or works related to the provision of services such as communication, drainage, sewerage or power supply; (c) the erection, but not the manufacture, of prefabricated components of a building or structure; “contract of employment” means a contract of service or of apprenticeship, whether expressed or implied and whether oral or in writing; “Court” means the Industrial Court; “danger”, in circumstances which may be reasonably expected to occur in relation to a machine, means that the machine is a reasonably foreseeable cause of injury to any person acting in a way in which a human being may reasonably be expected to act; “Director, Occupational Safety and Health” means the Director, Occupational Safety and Health of the Ministry; “employee” means a person who has entered into, or works under, a contract of employment with an employer, and includes a casual worker or a manual worker, however remunerated; “employer”— (a) means a person liable or responsible under a contract of employment for the payment of remuneration to an employee; and [Issue 7] O2 – 4 Revised Laws of Mauritius (b) includes— (i) his agent; (ii) a job contractor; “escalator”— (a) in lth” means the Director, Occupational Safety and Health of the Ministry; “employee” means a person who has entered into, or works under, a contract of employment with an employer, and includes a casual worker or a manual worker, however remunerated; “employer”— (a) means a person liable or responsible under a contract of employment for the payment of remuneration to an employee; and [Issue 7] O2 – 4 Revised Laws of Mauritius (b) includes— (i) his agent; (ii) a job contractor; “escalator”— (a) includes a moving ramp for use by a person; but (b) does not include a conveyor used for moving goods; “eye protector” includes goggles, spectacles, a visor or face screen; “fume” includes gas or vapour; “genetically modified organism” has the same meaning as in the Genetically Modified Organisms Act; “guest employee”— (a) means an employee of foreign nationality who has migrated from his country with a view to being employed on contract, otherwise than on his own account; and (b) includes any person regularly admitted as a migrant for employment; “hoist” or “lift” means a lifting device with a platform or cage, the direction or movement of which is restricted by a guide; “job contractor” has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Employment Rights Act; “lifting machine” means a crane, winch, pulley block, or any other device other than a hoist or lift, intended for raising or lowering persons, goods or materials; “lifting tackle” means a chain sling, rope sling, ring, hook, shackle or swivel used for the purpose of raising or lowering goods or materials; “machine” includes any prime mover and any transmission machinery; “maintain” means keep in an efficient state, in efficient working order, or in good repair; “maximum permissible working pressure”, in relation to any steam boiler, means the pressure specified in the latest valid report of examination by a registered boiler inspector; “micro-organism” means a microbiological entity, cellular or noncellular, which is capable of replication or of transferring genetic material; “Minister” means the Minister to whom responsibility for the subject of occupational safety and health is assigned; “occupational exposure standard” means the standard of exposure of a substance hazardous to health prescribed under section 4; “occupier”, in relation to a place of work, means the person who runs the place and controls the work that is done there; O2 – 5 [Issue 7] Occupational Safety and Health Act “officer” means an officer of the Ministry; “outworker” means any person employed in manual labour or with machinery in any process for or incidental to the making, altering, repairing, ornamenting, finishing, cleaning, washing, or breaking up of any article for the purposes of gain, or by way of trade, whether directly by the occupier of any place from which work is given out, or by a contractor or person employed by such occupier or contractor; “owner” includes— (a) the person for the time being owning or receiving rent whether on his own account, or as agent or trustee for any other person, in respect of the letting of premises, or the use of plants or equipment; and (b) an occupier of premises; “Permanent Secretary” means the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, but where the official head of the Ministry is a Senior Chief Executive, reference to the Permanent Secretary shall be reference to the Senior Chief Executive; “personal protective equipment”— (a) means any equipment intended to be worn or held by an empl her on his own account, or as agent or trustee for any other person, in respect of the letting of premises, or the use of plants or equipment; and (b) an occupier of premises; “Permanent Secretary” means the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, but where the official head of the Ministry is a Senior Chief Executive, reference to the Permanent Secretary shall be reference to the Senior Chief Executive; “personal protective equipment”— (a) means any equipment intended to be worn or held by an employee, which protects him against risk to his health or safety; and (b) includes— (i) any addition or accessory designed to meet that objecttive; and (ii) clothing affording protection against the weather; “place of work” means any place, including— (a) any vehicle or vessel; (b) any installation on land, including the foreshore and other land intermittently covered by water and any offshore installations; (c) any movable structure, where work is carried out by any person under a contract of employment; “plant” includes any machinery, equipment or appliance; “preventive and protective measure” means any measure which has been identified by an employer in consequence of an assessment as the measure he needs to take to comply with the requirements of, and prohibitions imposed on him by, any relevant statutory provision; “prohibition order” means an order made under section 27; “protected escape route”— (a) means a route having an adequate degree of fire protection; and (b) includes a wall, partition, floor or ceiling, of fire resisting construction which separates the route from the remainder of the building in case of fire; [Issue 7] O2 – 6 Revised Laws of Mauritius “radiation” means radiation emitted from radioactive material; “radioactive material” has the same meaning as in the Radiation Protection Act; “radioactive substance” means any substance that emits ionising radiation above the statutory exemption level that may cause a risk of disability or disease as a result of exposure; “registered professional engineer” has the same meaning as in the Registered Professional Engineers Council Act; “respirable dust” means airborne material which is capable of penetrating to the gas exchange region of the lung; “safe working pressure” means— (a) in the case of a newly installed steam receiver or air receiver, the pressure specified in the report referred to in section 61; (b) in the case of a steam receiver or air receiver which has been examined in accordance with sections 58 and 59, the pressure specified in the report of the last examination; “Safety and Health Committee” means a committee established under section 21; “sanitary convenience” includes a water closet or an earth closet; “securely fenced” means fenced or guarded in such a way as to effectively protect a person from the danger of contact with the exposed part of a machine; “self-employed person” means an individual who works for gain or reward otherwise than under a contract of employment; “Service” has the same meaning as in the Mauritius Fire and Rescue Service Act; “shield” means a helmet or hand-held shield, being equipment designed to be worn or held by a person; “standard” includes a code of practice, specification or any other documentary form of practical guidance; “steam boiler”— (a) means any closed vessel in which steam is generated under pressure greater than atmospheric pressure; and (b) includes any— (i) economiser used to heat water being fed to any such vessel; (ii) supe ce” has the same meaning as in the Mauritius Fire and Rescue Service Act; “shield” means a helmet or hand-held shield, being equipment designed to be worn or held by a person; “standard” includes a code of practice, specification or any other documentary form of practical guidance; “steam boiler”— (a) means any closed vessel in which steam is generated under pressure greater than atmospheric pressure; and (b) includes any— (i) economiser used to heat water being fed to any such vessel; (ii) superheater used for heating steam; and O2 – 7 [Issue 6] Occupational Safety and Health Act (iii) mounting or other fitting attached to the vessel which is wholly or partly under pressure even when the steam is shut off; “steam container” means any vessel, other than a steam pipe or coil, constructed with a permanent outlet into the atmosphere or into a space where the pressure does not exceed atmospheric pressure, and through which steam is passed at atmospheric pressure, or at approximately that pressure, for the purpose of heating, boiling, drying, evaporating or other similar purposes; “steam receiver” means any vessel or apparatus, other than a steam boiler, steam container, steam pipe or coil, or part of a prime mover, used for containing steam under pressure greater than atmospheric pressure; “substance” means— (a) any natural or artificial substance, whether in the form of solid, liquid, gas or vapour; and (b) includes a biological agent; “substance for use at work” means any substance intended for use, whether exclusively or not, by a person at work; “substance hazardous to health” means— (a) a substance which is classified as corrosive, irritant, very toxic, toxic, harmful, sensitising, carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic for reproduction; (b) a substance for which an occupational exposure standard or a maximum exposure limit is prescribed by the Minister; (c) a biological agent; (d) dust of any kind, except dust which is a substance referred to in paragraph (a) or (b), when present at a concentration in a working environment equal to or greater than— (i) 10 milligrammes per cubic metre, as a time weighted average over an 8-hour period, of total inhalable dust; or (ii) 4 milligrammes per cubic metre, as a time weighted average over an 8-hour period, of respirable dust; (e) a substance specified in the Ninth Schedule; (f) a substance which may cause any disease specified in the Fourteenth Schedule; (g) a substance, not being a substance specified in paragraphs (a) to (f), which creates a health hazard comparable with the hazard created by any substance specified in those paragraphs; “supply”, where the reference is to supplying articles or substances, means supply by way of sale, lease or hiring out; [Issue 6] O2 – 8 Revised Laws of Mauritius “total inhalable dust” means airborne material which is capable of entering the nose and mouth during breathing and is thereby available for deposition in the respiratory tract; “travel distance” means the actual distance to be travelled by a person from any point within a floor area to the nearest exit on that floor, having regard to the layout of walls, partitions and fittings; “vehicle lift” means a device designed to raise the whole of any type of vehicle above floor level; “young person” means a person who is above the age of 16 but has not attained the age of 18. [S. 2 amended by s. 29 (5) (a) of Act 13 of 2013 w.e.f. 5 February 2014.] continued on page O2 – 9 O2 – 8 (1) [Issue 6] stance to be travelled by a person from any point within a floor area to the nearest exit on that floor, having regard to the layout of walls, partitions and fittings; “vehicle lift” means a device designed to raise the whole of any type of vehicle above floor level; “young person” means a person who is above the age of 16 but has not attained the age of 18. [S. 2 amended by s. 29 (5) (a) of Act 13 of 2013 w.e.f. 5 February 2014.] continued on page O2 – 9 O2 – 8 (1) [Issue 6] Revised Laws of Mauritius