12.—(1) Without prejudice to the requirements of Section 42 of the principal Act, there shall be provided and maintained by the occupier and shall be kept in a clean and orderly condition, for the use of all persons employed in any scheduled process and specifically allocated for the use of such persons, suitable facilities for washing, including a sufficient supply of clean towels, renewed daily, and of soap and nail brushes, and basins or troughs for washing the face, hands and forearms.
(2) The basins and troughs required to be provided and maintained by paragraph (1) of this Regulation shall satisfy the following requirements:—
(a)basins and troughs shall have a smooth impervious upper surface;
(b)each basin shall be fitted with a waste-pipe and plug and shall have a supply of hot and cold water or of warm water laid on and available at all times when employed persons for whose use the basin is reckoned as provided are in or within the precincts of the factory;
(c)each trough shall be fitted with an unplugged waste-pipe and shall have a supply of warm water laid on at points above the trough at intervals of not more than two feet and available at all times when employed persons for whose use the trough or part thereof is reckoned as provided are in or within the precincts of the factory;
(d)basins and troughs shall be so situated as to afford facilities for washing under cover and protected from the weather;
(e)basins and troughs shall be sufficient in number and dimensions to provide at least one unit for every five persons employed in scheduled processes, males and females being reckoned separately for this purpose.
(3) For the purposes of this Regulation:—
(a)a “unit” means
(b)in dividing by five for the purpose of finding the number of units required, any remainder shall be counted as five;
(c)a unit shall not be reckoned as provided for a number of persons unless that unit is conveniently accessible to every one of that number;
(d)a basin or other receptacle shall not be reckoned as a trough unless it measures internally at least four feet over its longest or widest part.
(4) The washing facilities provided under this Regulation shall not be in any room or place provided for the taking of meals; and where both sexes are employed the facilities for females shall be so situated or screened off as to provide privacy.
(5) Before each meal and before the end of the day's work or the end of the turn of the shift, at least five minutes in addition to the regular meal-times shall be allowed for washing to each person employed in any scheduled process.