Inspection Of Machines

can a head of maintenance department be called a competent person to inspect machines under section 29 of factories act 1948

Section 29 . Lifting machines, chains, ropes and lifting tackles. -

Examination By :shall be thoroughly examined by a ( competent person ) at least once in every period of six months, and a register shall be kept containing the prescribed particulars of every such examination;

( competent person ) ;- means a person or an institution recognised as such by the Chief Inspector for the purposes of carrying out tests, examinations and inspections required to be done in a factory under the provisions of this Act having regard to-

(i) the qualifications and experience of the person and facilities available at his disposal, or

(ii) the qualifications and experience of the persons employed in such institution and facilities available therein, with regard to the conduct of such tests, examinations and inspections, and more than one person or institution can be recognised as a competent person in relation to a factory;

Therefore No one Can Be Suitable Officer ie Competent Authority to Inspect & Certify.

Try To Hire Certified Engineers accordingly only.

If it is an IT firm then you have to register with shops and establishment act.
The forms vary across states. It is usually posted on the municipality website. Fees are low. Maybe Rs. 500 or so.

If your head of maintenance department is recognized by the Chief Inspector of Factories as competent person then its OK.
But if it is not then advisable to take help of suitable vendor who are authorized.

Hi,
Normally it is not objected if your Maintenance Manager does certification on careful examinations of all stuffs you write in your post. His certification related activities should be actual, real one that should be convincing to the Director-Factories. However , if not, in case Director Factories does not accept and still insists for any of his nominated Engineer, who he suggests to be a Competent person, then only you go for it. There is not any non compliance please rest assured if your Maintenance Manager has been strictly making true compliance. After all, Factoires Inspector are expected to guide also which is main aim of the Law.
Regds,
RDS Yadav
Director-Future Instt Of Mngmnt and Technology
Labour Law Adviser
Navtarang HR Services

Dear Mr. Dubey,
Competent person is an engineer with prescribed qualification and approved by the Director of Industrial Safety & Health (Chief Factory Inspector). So inspection and certification by your maintenance head (however qualified he may be) would not be legally valid. You will have to get the lifting machines, lifting tackles, etc. tested by a Competent Person approved by the Director, Industrial Safety & Health (Chief Inspector of Factories -- CIF) of your State.

In some States, the CIF may certify a qualified engineer as Competent Person. Such an engineer can inspect and certify the lifting devices and issue certificate as prescribed in the State Factories Rules. So your maintenance head needs to apply to CIF of your State for being certified as Competent Person. Any other engineer of the company meeting the criteria for Competent Person can also apply to the CIF.

I am afraid the advice offered by Mr. RDS Yadav in this thread is not legally valid.

So please discuss the matter with your CIF and do the needful.

One more advice: While examining the lifting hooks, insist on the Competent Person to also check the following
throat opening of the hook (if it is 15% or more than the original throat opening, it needs to be discarded and replaced with a new one)

Dear Mr. Dubey,
I just replied your query, but before I could complete it fully, by mistake it got posted. So this post is in continuation of the previous one.
Advice: Please insist on the Competent Person to also check the following (they don,t do it unless you demand):
(1) Checking of the throat opening on the lifting hook (if it exceeds 15% of the original throat opening, it is unsafe and needs to be discarded and replaced with a new one).
(2) Checking of the deflection of the lifting hook (if the deflection of hook from its plane is +/-10 degree, it needs to be discarded and replaced with a new one).
Regards.
A.K. Gupta

Dear Mr. A.K Gupta
Thanks for your participation and giving great inputs.
Looking forward for your active participation in other threads as well.
@Mrk12 - Being the thread starter can you let the forum knows, whether your query has been resolved...