The Parliamentary Counsel Office has made editorial and format changes to this version using the powers under subpart 2 of Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019.

Note 4 at the end of this version provides a list of the amendments included in it.

These regulations are administered by the Ministry of Health.

Pursuant to the Health Act 1920 and the Factories Act 1946, His Excellency the Governor-General, acting by and with the advice and consent of the Executive Council, doth hereby make the following regulations.

Regulations

1

(1)

These regulations may be cited as the Lead Process Regulations 1950.

(2)

These regulations shall come into force on the 30th day following the date of their notification in the Gazette.

2

In these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires,—

approved means approved by a Medical Officer or an Inspector of Health or of Factories or by an officer of the Ministry of Health holding written authority from the Director-General of Health under section 78 of the Factories Act 1946

lead process means any of the following processes, that is to say:

(a)

the melting, casting, pasting, or burning of lead or of any material containing lead:

(b)

the filing, buffing, or polishing of lead or any material containing lead:

(c)

the repair or assembling or the breaking up of any appliance which contains any lead or lead product:

(d)

any process involving the manufacture of any lead product, where any of the said processes may give rise to fumes or dust from lead or lead compounds:

(e)

the blending of motor spirit with tetraethyl lead:

(f)

without prejudice to the preceding paragraphs, any process involving the mixing, crushing, sifting, or spraying of any lead product, or involving any movement or manipulation of lead products

lead processing works means any factory in which a lead process is carried on, and references to a lead processing room or place shall be construed accordingly

lead product means any carbonate, oxide, nitrate, chromate, sulphate, acetate, or other salt of lead, or any lead material which, when treated in the manner specified in Schedule 1, yields to such aqueous solution of hydrochloric acid as is specified in that schedule a quantity of soluble lead compound exceeding, when calculated as lead monoxide, 5 parts per cent of the dry weight of the portion taken for analysis

Medical Officer means a Medical Officer of Health or a medical practitioner authorised by the Director-General of Health to exercise the powers and perform the duties of a Medical Officer under these regulations

medical practitioner means a health practitioner who is, or is deemed to be, registered with the Medical Council of New Zealand continued by section 114(1)(a) of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 as a practitioner of the profession of medicine

nurse means a health practitioner who is, or is deemed to be, registered with the Nursing Council of New Zealand continued by section 114(1)(a) of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 as a practitioner of the profession of nursing whose scope of practice permits the performance of general nursing functions

pasting means the process commonly known under this term in the manufacture of accumulators whereby a mixture containing any oxide of lead or other lead product is added to the plates

pathologist means a medical practitioner expert in pathology.

Regulation 2 approved: amended, on 1 July 1993, pursuant to section 38(3) of the Health Amendment Act 1993 (1993 No 24).

Regulation 2 medical practitioner: inserted, on 18 September 2004, by section 175(3) of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 (2003 No 48).

Regulation 2 nurse: inserted, on 18 September 2004, by section 175(3) of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 (2003 No 48).

3

These regulations shall apply to all lead processing works and to any lead process carried on therein:

provided that—

(a)

regulations 24 and 25 shall also apply in relation to any lead process wherever carried on:

(b)

nothing in this regulation shall be construed as restricting the operation of regulation 23.

3A

Notwithstanding any thing in regulation 3, where a Medical Officer is satisfied that, by reason of exceptional circumstances or the frequency of the process, all or any of the provisions of these regulations are not necessary for safeguarding the safety, health, or welfare of persons engaged in a lead process, he may, by certificate in writing and subject to such conditions as may be specified therein, exempt any lead processing works, or any part thereof in which the process is carried on, from those provisions or that provision, as the case may be.

Regulation 3A: inserted, on 16 October 1957, by regulation 2 of the Lead Process Regulations 1950, Amendment No 1 (SR 1957/226).

Revocation and savings

4

The regulations specified in Schedule 2 are hereby revoked:

provided that, without prejudice to the provisions of the Acts Interpretation Act 1924, the revocation of any regulation by these regulations shall not affect any document made or any thing whatsoever done under any regulation so revoked, and every such document or thing shall continue in force and, so far as it could have been made or done under these regulations, shall have effect under the corresponding provision of these regulations.

Structure of premises

5

Every lead processing room or place shall be so situated and constructed as to prevent dust or fumes escaping therefrom in a manner dangerous to the health of any person in any other part of the lead processing works.

6

(1)

The ceiling of every lead processing room shall be not less than 3 metres above the floor of the room.

(2)

The walls and ceiling of the room shall be so constructed as to avoid as far as practicable the lodgement of dust thereon.

(3)

In every lead processing room there shall be not less than 15 cubic metres of cubic space for each person working in the room; and in calculating for the purposes of this regulation the amount of cubic space in any room no space more than 4 metres from the floor shall be taken into account.

Regulation 6(1): amended, on 18 April 1975, by regulation 2 of the Lead Process Regulations 1950, Amendment No 3 (SR 1975/77).

Regulation 6(3): amended, on 18 April 1975, by regulation 2 of the Lead Process Regulations 1950, Amendment No 3 (SR 1975/77).

7

(1)

The floor and walls of any room or place used for any of the following processes, that is to say:

(a)

the manufacture of lead oxide; or

(b)

the manufacture of paint in which a lead product is present in a dry form; or

(c)

the manufacture, repair, or breaking up of electric accumulators,—

shall be faced with cement concrete or some other impermeable material, so finished as to offer a smooth, readily cleansable surface and, as far as practicable, shall be so maintained,

(2)

The material of which the floor is constructed shall be carried up the walls to a height of not less than 75 millimetres in such manner that the angle between the floor and the walls shall be concavely rounded off.

Regulation 7(2): amended, on 18 April 1975, by regulation 2 of the Lead Process Regulations 1950, Amendment No 3 (SR 1975/77).

8

Where any process of pasting or of manipulating dry oxide of lead is carried on in the same room as any other process (whether or not that other process is a lead process), the Medical Officer may, by notice in writing, require that the process of pasting or manipulating shall be isolated from that other process—

(a)

by the erection of a partition of an approved type extending from the floor to the ceiling in the case of a room or to a height of 3 metres in any other case; or

(b)

by such other method as the Medical Officer may, on representations made to him by the occupier, think fit to allow.

Regulation 8(a): amended, on 18 April 1975, by regulation 2 of the Lead Process Regulations 1950, Amendment No 3 (SR 1975/77).

Equipment

9

(1)

While any lead process is being carried on in any room, no equipment or materials shall be allowed in the room unless they are necessary for carrying on the process or are necessarily associated with the process.

(2)

If any equipment required for the carrying on of a lead process is fixed in position, it shall be so fitted as to leave any space beside, under, or behind it readily accessible for cleaning and inspection.

10

(1)

Every workbench at which a lead process is carried on shall—

(a)

have a smooth surface and be maintained in good repair; and

(b)

be kept free from all other equipment or materials not required for, or produced in, the process.

(2)

Every workbench used for pasting shall—

(a)

be covered throughout with sheet metal or other impervious material;

(b)

be provided with raised edges; and

(c)

be kept constantly moist while pasting is being carried out.

11

(1)

The following processes shall not be carried on without the aid of an efficient exhaust draught—

(a)

the melting of lead or materials containing lead to a temperature exceeding 450° Celsius:

(b)

the manipulation of any dry lead product, unless carried on in an apparatus enclosed so as to prevent the escape of dust into any workroom:

(c)

the trimming, brushing, filing, or any other abrading or cutting of electric accumulator plates in such a way as to give rise to dust:

(d)

lead burning, except the process known as tacking and except chemical burning if carried on as a process in the making of lead linings for cell cases under such conditions that the application of an efficient exhaust draft is not reasonably practicable:

(e)

any other process in which dust or fumes escape or are liable to escape.

(2)

Every exhaust draught provided in pursuance of the last preceding subclause shall be actuated by mechanical means and shall operate on the dust or fumes given off as near as may be to the point of origin, so as to prevent the dust or fumes from entering any room or place in which persons work:

provided that in the case of pots containing molten lead the exhaust draught may be effected by natural means, but, if it is so effected, it shall not be deemed to be efficient unless it produces through the working opening over the pot a minimum inward air velocity measured at any point across the plane of the opening of at least 0.8 metres per second.

(3)

The provisions of regulations 9 and 10 shall not apply in relation to any process of melting lead in a single pot or to any room or place in which that is the only lead process carried on, when the pot is provided with an exhaust draft in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this regulation.

Regulation 11(1)(a): amended, on 18 April 1975, by regulation 2 of the Lead Process Regulations 1950, Amendment No 3 (SR 1975/77).

Regulation 11(2) proviso: amended, on 18 April 1975, by regulation 2 of the Lead Process Regulations 1950, Amendment No 3 (SR 1975/77).

12

(1)

A suitable receptacle with tightly-fitting cover shall be provided in every room in which lead is melted, and dross removed from every pot containing molten lead shall be deposited therein; the receptacle shall be kept covered while in the room, except when the dross is being deposited therein.

(2)

A suitable receptacle with tightly-fitting cover shall be provided in every workroom in which lead waste material which may give rise to dust shall be deposited.

13

Any rack or shelf provided for the purpose of drying accumulator plates shall not be more than 0.6 metres in width unless there is access thereto on both sides, in which case it shall not be more than 1.25 metres in width.

Regulation 13: amended, on 18 April 1975, by regulation 2 of the Lead Process Regulations 1950, Amendment No 3 (SR 1975/77).

Cleaning

14

(1)

The fittings and furniture of every lead processing room shall be kept clean and the walls and ceilings thereof shall be kept clean and free from dust.

(2)

The floor of every room in which pasting is carried on shall be—

(a)

kept constantly moist while work is being done;

(b)

provided with suitable and adequate drainage; and

(c)

thoroughly washed daily by means of a hosepipe.

(3)

All work benches at which any lead process is carried on in connection with the manufacture, assembly, or repair of electric accumulators shall be cleaned daily at a time when no other work is being done thereat, either by being damped and scraped, by being greased and scraped, or by means of a suction cleaning apparatus.

(4)

Before any racks or shelves provided in an accumulator plate drying room are cleaned, they shall be thoroughly damped unless they are cleaned by means of a suction cleaning apparatus.

(5)

No dry sweeping shall be carried out in any lead processing room.

Regulation 14(5): inserted, on 26 April 1965, by regulation 2 of the Lead Process Regulations 1950, Amendment No 2 (SR 1965/60).

Amenities

15

(1)

The washing facilities required to be provided in a lead processing works for persons engaged in any lead process by the Building Regulations 1992 shall include—

(a)

the sanitary facilities required by the building code set out in Schedule 1 of the Building Regulations 1992;

(b)

[Revoked]

(c)

a piped supply of hot and cold water to each basin, section of trough, or shower bath which shall be constantly maintained during working hours and for half an hour thereafter; and

(d)

soap and nailbrushes, and either a clean towel weekly for every person so engaged or an adequate supply of paper towels or a hot-air drier.

(2)

[Revoked]

(3)

[Revoked]

(4)

The Medical Officer may, by written notice, require the provision of such additional washing facilities as may be specified in the notice for persons engaged in manipulating raw oxide of lead, in handling any other dry lead product, or in pasting.

(5)

Nothing in this regulation shall be construed as requiring the washing facilities provided for persons engaged in a lead process to be kept separate from those provided for other persons working in the factory.

Regulation 15(1): amended, on 19 January 1994, by regulation 2(1) of the Lead Process Regulations 1950, Amendment No 4 (SR 1993/410).

Regulation 15(1)(a): replaced, on 19 January 1994, by regulation 2(2) of the Lead Process Regulations 1950, Amendment No 4 (SR 1993/410).

Regulation 15(1)(b): revoked, on 19 January 1994, by regulation 2(2) of the Lead Process Regulations 1950, Amendment No 4 (SR 1993/410).

Regulation 15(2): revoked, on 19 January 1994, by regulation 2(3) of the Lead Process Regulations 1950, Amendment No 4 (SR 1993/410).

Regulation 15(3): revoked, on 19 January 1994, by regulation 2(3) of the Lead Process Regulations 1950, Amendment No 4 (SR 1993/410).

16

(1)

At least 1 dressing room shall be provided and maintained conveniently accessible to, but separate from, any room in which a lead process is carried on.

(2)

Two separate full-length lockers of an approved pattern having doors and being ventilated top and bottom shall be provided in the dressing room for the clothing of each person engaged in the process, one locker being exclusively for his contaminated working clothes (including his protective clothing and respirator, if any) and the other for his other clothing and personal effects:

provided that if a second dressing room is provided solely for depositing contaminated working clothes, only 1 locker need be provided in the first dressing room for each person so engaged.

17

(1)

Subsections (4) and (5) of section 69 of the Factories Act 1946 (which require the provision and furnishing of a suitable room in which persons employed in a factory may have their meals), shall apply in relation to every lead processing works notwithstanding that the number of persons employed therein does not exceed 6.

(2)

Every room provided in a lead processing works in pursuance of the said section 69 shall—

(a)

have a floor area of not less than 1 square metre for each person who is employed in the lead processing works (whether or not he is engaged in a lead process) and who has his meals in the room;

(b)

be separate from any dressing room provided in pursuance of regulation 16; and

(c)

be provided with adequate means for warming food and boiling water, with a sink and an adequate supply of hot and cold water for washing eating utensils, and with a cupboard for storing eating utensils.

Regulation 17(2)(a): amended, on 18 April 1975, by regulation 2 of the Lead Process Regulations 1950, Amendment No 3 (SR 1975/77).

18

Before each meal and before the end of each day’s work 10 minutes shall be allowed for washing to each person engaged in a lead process, and shall be treated for the purposes of the Factories Act 1946 as if they were part of his working hours.

19

Drinking water provided in pursuance of section 61 of the Factories Act 1946 in a lead processing works shall be delivered in upward jet fountains of an approved type.

Protective clothing

20

(1)

Protective clothing shall be provided in accordance with the next following subclause for the use of persons engaged in a lead process, and shall be maintained in good condition.

(2)

The clothing to be provided shall consist of the following articles, that is to say—

(a)

for each person so engaged, overalls of suitable length and material:

(b)

for each person who, owing to the nature of the process in which he is engaged, is liable to stand on a wet floor or have his clothing splashed, waterproof boots and an apron made of impermeable material and of suitable length:

(c)

if the Medical Officer, by notice in writing given to the occupier, so requires, for each person, a respirator of an approved type, together with a dust-proof box for storing it.

(3)

The occupier shall make such arrangements as he thinks fit for the washing of overalls worn by persons engaged in a lead process, so, however, that they shall be washed not less than once a week.

Duties of persons working in a lead processing works

21

(1)

No person who is not actually working at a lead process shall without reasonable cause be in a lead processing room.

(2)

No person whatsoever in a lead processing works shall unnecessarily handle lead products with his hands.

(3)

Without prejudice to section 74 of the Factories Act 1946, every person shall while actually working at a lead process wear the protective clothing (including the respirator, if any) provided for him in pursuance of these regulations, and when not wearing it shall deposit it in the locker or place provided for that purpose.

22

(1)

No person shall have, prepare, or partake of food or drink, nor shall he smoke or chew tobacco or chewing gum, in any lead processing room or place.

(2)

Every person engaged in a lead process shall before eating a meal (other than light refreshment) or before leaving the lead processing works remove his protective clothing and wash his hands and forearms, and before taking any light refreshment or any drink shall wash his hands and forearms.

Restrictions on dealing with paint

23

No person shall import, store, transport, or sell paint containing any lead product otherwise than in a receptacle on which is conspicuously written in capital letters of not less than 24 points face measurement the words “This paint contains lead”.

Medical examination

24

(1)

A Medical Officer or a nurse or Inspector of Health authorised to do so by a Medical Officer may examine the blood or urine of any person engaged in a lead process, whether or not that process is carried on in a factory, and the occupier or employer, if any, on being notified of the proposal, shall facilitate the examination.

(2)

When a Medical Officer considers that any person engaged in a lead process is or may be absorbing lead in a quantity likely to injure his health, he may, by notice in writing, require that person to undergo a medical examination by a medical practitioner so specified and to provide a certificate from that practitioner as to his fitness for work and a report from a pathologist so specified as to the condition of his blood or urine:

provided that the Medical Officer may himself conduct the examination and issue a certificate.

(3)

No person shall without reasonable cause fail to attend for examination in pursuance of this regulation or to comply with the requirements of any notice thereunder.

(4)

No person shall continue to employ in a lead process any person who without reasonable cause, fails to attend for examination as aforesaid.

Regulation 24(1): replaced, on 26 April 1965, by regulation 3(1) of the Lead Process Regulations 1950, Amendment No 2 (SR 1965/60).

Regulation 24(1): amended, on 18 September 2004, by section 175(3) of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 (2003 No 48).

Regulation 24(2): amended, on 18 September 2004, by section 175(3) of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 (2003 No 48).

Regulation 24(2): amended, on 26 April 1965, by regulation 3(2) of the Lead Process Regulations 1950, Amendment No 2 (SR 1965/60).

25

(1)

If after examination a Medical Officer considers that a person engaged in a lead process (whether or not that process is carried on in a factory) is absorbing lead in a quantity likely to injure his health, he may by notice in writing given to that person and to his employer, if any—

(a)

require that person not to work overtime at a lead process:

(b)

if that person works in a lead processing works, require him with the concurrence of his employer, if any, to work in another part of the works:

(c)

suspend him from working in a lead processing works or at a lead process.

(2)

The Medical Officer shall by a like notice remove any requirement or suspension under the last preceding subclause when he is satisfied that the health of the person so warrants.

(3)

No person shall work, or so employ another person that that other person works, in contravention of a notice given under this regulation.

25A

(1)

A notice under regulation 25 to an employer who is the occupier of a factory may be served either by delivering it to any occupier within the meaning of the Factories Act 1946, or by posting it by registered letter addressed to the occupier at the factory.

(2)

A notice so posted shall be deemed to have been served at the time when the registered letter would be delivered in the ordinary course of post.

(3)

Every notice so served shall bind every person who by virtue of the definition of the term occupier in section 3 of the Factories Act 1946 is deemed to be an occupier of the factory.

Regulation 25A: inserted, on 16 October 1957, by regulation 4 of the Lead Process Regulations 1950, Amendment No 1 (SR 1957/226).

Register of leadworkers

26

The occupier of a lead processing works shall keep a register in an approved form containing the names of all persons for the time being engaged in a lead process and shall produce it on demand to a Medical Officer or Inspector of Health or of Factories.

Supply and exhibition of copies of these regulations

27

(1)

The occupier of a lead processing works shall supply a summary of these regulations to each person engaged in a lead process therein, and shall at all times cause a summary and a copy of the regulations to be exhibited and maintained in some conspicuous place at or near the entrance to every lead processing room or place and in such other parts of the works as an Inspector of Health or of Factories may direct.

(2)

Every such summary shall be one prepared and provided by the Director-General of Health, and every such copy shall be one so provided.

Offences

28

(1)

Any person who contravenes or in any way fails to comply with regulation 23 or so much of regulation 24 or 25 as relates to persons engaged in a lead process which is carried on elsewhere than in a factory shall be guilty of an offence under the Health Act 1920 and shall be liable to a fine not exceeding $40.

(2)

Save as provided by the last preceding subclause, any person who contravenes or in any way fails to comply with these regulations shall be guilty of an offence under the Factories Act 1946.

Schedule 1

The method of testing lead products for soluble lead shall be as follows: a weighed quantity of the material which has been dried at 100° Celsius and thoroughly mixed shall be continuously shaken for 1 hour, at the common temperature, with a thousand times its weight of an aqueous solution of hydrochloric acid containing 0.25% by weight of hydrogen chloride. This solution shall thereafter be allowed to stand for 1 hour and then filtered. The lead salt contained in the clear filtrate shall then be precipitated as lead sulphide and weighed as lead sulphate.

Schedule 1: amended, on 18 April 1975, by regulation 2 of the Lead Process Regulations 1950, Amendment No 3 (SR 1975/77).

Schedule 2 Regulations revoked

Accumulator (Lead Process) Regulations 1940 (SR 1940/212)

Lead Process Regulations 1925 (Gazette, 30 July 1925, p 2166)

Regulations amending the Lead Process Regulations 1925 (Gazette, 29 April 1926, p 1100)

T J Sherrard,
Clerk of the Executive Council.

Issued under the authority of the Legislation Act 2019.

Date of notification in Gazette: 5 October 1950.

Notes

1 General

This is a consolidation of the Lead Process Regulations 1950 that incorporates the amendments made to the legislation so that it shows the law as at its stated date.

2 Legal status

A consolidation is taken to correctly state, as at its stated date, the law enacted or made by the legislation consolidated and by the amendments. This presumption applies unless the contrary is shown.

Section 78 of the Legislation Act 2019 provides that this consolidation, published as an electronic version, is an official version. A printed version of legislation that is produced directly from this official electronic version is also an official version.

3 Editorial and format changes

The Parliamentary Counsel Office makes editorial and format changes to consolidations using the powers under subpart 2 of Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019. See also PCO editorial conventions for consolidations.

4 Amendments incorporated in this consolidation

Legislation (Revocations) Order 2025 (SL 2025/207): clause 3(l)

Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 (2003 No 48): section 175(3)

Health Amendment Act 1993 (1993 No 24): section 38(3)

Lead Process Regulations 1950, Amendment No 4 (SR 1993/410)

Lead Process Regulations 1950, Amendment No 3 (SR 1975/77)

Lead Process Regulations 1950, Amendment No 2 (SR 1965/60)

Lead Process Regulations 1950, Amendment No 1 (SR 1957/226)