National Security (Standards of Lighting) Regulations (Cth)

STATUTORY RULES.

1944. No. 15.

 

REGULATIONS UNDER THE NATIONAL SECURITY ACT 1939-1943.*

I, THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL in and over the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, hereby make the following Regulations under the National Security Act 1939-1943.

Dated this nineteenth day of January, 1944.

GOWRIE

Governor-General.

By His Excellency’s Command,

E. J. HOLLOWAY

for and on behalf of the Minister of State for Defence.

 

National Security (Standards of Lighting) Regulations.

Citation.

1. These Regulations may be cited as the National Security (Standards of Lighting) Regulations.

Administration.

2. These Regulations shall be administered by the Minister of State for Labour and National Service.

Objects.

3. The objects of these Regulations are to promote efficiency in certain industries directly connected with the defence of the Commonwealth or the efficient prosecution of the war by making provision for minimum standards of artificial lighting in premises used in those industries, and to enable the best use to be made of the limited resources of man-power and materials available for the production and installation of lighting equipment, and these Regulations shall be administered accordingly.

Repeal.

4. The National Security (Industrial Lighting) Regulations (being Statutory Rules 1942, No. 302) are repealed.

Definitions.

5. In these Regulations, unless the contrary intention appears—

“authorized officer” means a person appointed by the Minister to be an authorized officer for the purposes of these Regulations;

“industrial premises” means any premises—

(a) in which two or more persons are employed on industrial work;

(b) in which work is carried on by way of trade or for purposes of gain; and

 

* Notified in the Commonwealth Gazette on 20th January, 1944.

7162.—Price 5d.

 

(c) to or over which the employer of any person employed therein has the right of access or control,

and includes any offices on any such premises, but does not include any shop in which goods are offered for sale, or any residence or showroom;

“industrial work” means manual work in any process for or incidental to—

(a) the making of any substance or article or of part of any article;

(b) the altering, repairing, ornamenting, finishing, cleaning, washing, breaking up or demolition of any substance or article or part of any article; or

(c) the adapting for sale of any substance or article or part of any article;

“lighting equipment”, in relation to any industrial premises, means equipment on those premises which is necessary for, or is connected with, the provision or control of artificial light on those premises;

“new installation of lighting equipment” includes the installation of lighting equipment in industrial premises not already fitted with lighting equipment and the extension of an installation of lighting equipment to any part of industrial premises which is not so fitted; and

“prescribed industrial work” means industrial work—

(a) in any protected undertaking within the meaning of the National Security (Man Power) Regulations; or

(b) declared by the Minister by notice published in the Gazette to be essential for the defence of the Commonwealth or the efficient prosecution of the war.

New installations.

6. The owner or occupier of any industrial premises shall not instal or cause to be installed a new installation of lighting equipment on those premises for use in connexion with any prescribed industrial work unless that installation is in accordance with specifications certified in writing by an authorized officer to be in his opinion in conformity with the standards prescribed by the relevant provisions of the Schedule to these Regulations.

Alteration of existing installations.

7.—(1.) The owner or occupier of any industrial premises shall not make or cause to be made any alteration in the installation of lighting equipment used in those premises in connexion with any prescribed industrial work unless the altered portion of the installation is in conformity with the standards prescribed by the relevant provisions of the Schedule to these Regulations.

(2.) Any owner or occupier proposing to make or cause to be made any such alterations may submit to an authorized officer specifications of the proposed alterations, and the authorized officer shall certify in writing whether, in his opinion, the altered portion of the installation will be in conformity with the standards prescribed by the relevant provisions of the Schedule to these Regulations.

 

(3.) If the authorized officer certifies that the altered portion of the installation will be, in his opinion, in conformity with the standards prescribed by the relevant provisions of the Schedule to these Regulations, the making, or causing to be made, of alterations in accordance with the specifications shall not be a contravention of this regulation.

Minister may require alterations.

8.—(1.) The Minister may, by order published in the Gazette, require the owners or occupiers of any industrial premises specified in the order, or of any industrial premises included in a class of industrial promises so specified, to make, within any period so specified, such alterations in or extensions of the installation of lighting equipment used in those premises in connexion with any prescribed industrial work as are necessary to bring the installation into conformity with the standards prescribed by the relevant provisions of the Schedule to these Regulations.

(2.) The Minister shall, on request by any owner or occupier to whom any such order applies, cause an authorized officer to certify in writing to the owner or occupier the alterations or extensions which in the opinion of the officer are required for the purposes of the last preceding sub-regulation, and the making, in relation to any premises, within the period specified in the order, of the alterations or extensions so certified, shall be deemed to be compliance with the order in respect of those premises.

(3.) The period specified in any order made under this regulation shall be a period of time within which, in the opinion of the Minister, having regard to all relevant circumstances, it is practicable for the required alterations or extensions to be made, and the order may provide that the obligation to comply therewith within the period specified shall be conditional upon the happening or continuance of circumstances specified in the order.

Exemptions.

9.—(1.) Notwithstanding anything contained in these Regulations, the Minister, by order—

(a) shall, if after considering the report of an authorized officer he is satisfied—

(i) that any industrial premises or part thereof in which prescribed industrial work is being carried on have reasonably satisfactory natural light and are not used to any substantial extent under artificial light;

(ii) that by virtue of the special nature of any prescribed industrial work which is carried on in any industrial premises or any part thereof it would not be reasonable to require conformity with the standards prescribed by the Schedule to these Regulations; or

(iii) that, in the case of any industrial premises or any part thereof, conformity with the standards prescribed by the Schedule to these Regulations would involve a contravention of any rules with regard to precautions against enemy raids,

grant, either unconditionally or subject to conditions, to the owner or occupier of the premises such exemption as he deems appropriate from any of the provisions of these Regulations, or of any order made thereunder; and

 

(b) may, in his discretion, having regard to the condition of the existing installation of lighting equipment in any industrial premises, to the availability of labour and materials or to such other relevant factors as he thinks fit, grant to the owner or occupier of any industrial premises such exemption as he deems appropriate from any of the provisions of these Regulations or of any order made thereunder.

(2.) An order made under this regulation may he expressed to continue in operation for a period specified in the order and, if so expressed, shall continue in operation for that period and no longer.

 

THE SCHEDULE.

——

LIGHTING STANDARDS.*

Interpretation.

1. In this Schedule, unless the contrary intention appears—

“average brightness” means the average of two brightness readings, one of which is taken at the point of apparent maximum brightness and the other at the point of apparent minimum brightness of a diffusing fitting;

“mounting height” means the height of the centre of the light source measured from floor level,

and all other technical expressions shall have the meanings attached to those expressions in illuminating engineering practice and which are set out in the British Standard Glossary of Terms used in Illumination and Photometry being No. 233/1932, with Addendum 1935, of the British Standards Institution.

Quantitive illumination.

2. The illumination in service on any task performed in any room or place described in the first column of the following table shall be not less than the lower illumination set out in the second column opposite the description applicable to that room or place, and the illumination in other parts of any such room or place shall be not less than one-fifth of that illumination:

Provided that, except in the case of places used as passages, corridors, stairways and spaces outside working areas, the illumination shall in no case be less than 5 foot candles.

Description of Rooms and Places.	Illumination in Foot-Candles.
Rooms and places in which are performed very severe and prolonged visual tasks such as precision work of a high degree of accuracy, including fine engraving and all tasks requiring rapid discrimination and response	50 foot-candles or over
Rooms and places in which are performed severe and prolonged visual tasks such as drawing, sewing on dark goods or discrimination and inspection of fine details of low contrast	25 to 50 foot-candles
Rooms and places in which are performed moderately critical and prolonged tasks such as fine machine work, fine assembling, sewing on light goods	15 to 25 foot-candles
Rooms and places in which are performed ordinary visual tasks such as detailed office work, reading and ordinary bench work	10 to 15 foot-candles
Rooms and places in which are performed less exacting visual tasks such as large assembly work, packing and storing	5 to 10 foot-candles
Places used as passages, corridors, stairways and spaces outside working areas	2 to 5 foot-candles

* Note.—Reference should be made to the Australian Standard Code for the Interior Illumination of Buildings by Artificial Light (Emergency Code No. (E) CA, 501-1942) produced by the Standards Association of Australia for information as to the best methods of installing lighting in accordance with these standards.

 

Qualitative illumination.

3. The quality of illumination shall be adequate to provide comfortable vision and ensure easy, accurate and quick seeing and in particular the following conditions shall be observed:—

(i) Lamps visible to any person working in the vicinity shall be fitted with properly designed reflectors or diffusing fittings, or both, or otherwse shaded from view.

(ii) Where open type reflectors are used, they shall have a cut-off angle of not less than 20 degrees in all directions regardless of the light source used.

(iii) No general service incandescent electric lamp having a rated consumption greater than 299 watts and no lamp of any other type having a light output greater than that of a general service incandescent electric lamp consuming 299 watts, the mounting height of which is less than 20 feet, shall be used in an open type reflector unless that reflector has a cut-off angle of not less than 30 degrees.

(iv) No general service incandescent electric lamp having a rated consumption greater than 499 watts and no lamp of any other type having a light output greater than that of a general service incandescent electric lamp consuming 499 watts, the mounting height of which is less than 14 feet, shall be used in an open type reflector.

(v) Where open type reflectors are used to provide supplementary local lighting, the cut-off of such reflectors shall be not less than 40 degrees to the bottom of the largest lamp that can be inserted, and the light sources shall be so placed, shielded or louvred as to be invisible to any person working in the vicinity.

(vi) Open type reflectors shall not be used in any room or office in which continuous clerical work is performed.

(vii) Where, in any room or place in which work is normally performed, any diffusing fitting having a mounting height of less than 9 feet is visible, the average brightness of the fitting shall not exceed (in service) 500 lumens per square foot.

(viii) Where, in any room or place in which work is normally performed, any diffusing fitting having a mounting height exceeding 9 feet, but not exceeding 14 feet is visible, the average brightness of the fitting shall not exceed (in service) 800 lumens per square foot.

(ix) Where, in any room or place in which work is normally performed, any diffusing fitting with a mounting height exceeding 14 feet is visible, and where any diffusing fitting of any mounting height in any passage, storeroom or other place in which work is not normally performed is visible from a working area, the average brightness of any such fitting shall not exceed (in service) 1,200 lumens per square foot.

(x)Where diffusing lighting fittings are used with not less than 80 per centum of the side elevation of the diffusing portion of the fitting totally concealed by a reflector or other device, the maximum permissible average brightness stipulated in sub-paragraphs (vii), (viii) and (ix) may be increased by 75 per centum in each case.

(xi) Where glare from smooth and polished surfaces is likely to be reflected into the eyes of any person working in the vicinity, light sources shall be so placed that the image of the light source is reflected away from the eyes of any such person, or the surfaces from which reflection occurs shall be shielded or be otherwise rendered non-reflecting, or diffusing lighting fittings shall be used.

7162.—2

 

(xii) Where reflected glare is likely to result from the use of high brightness light sources in open type reflectors for the illumination of tasks of a difficult nature, or tasks requiring concentrated attention over long periods, such as fine or extra fine work on shiny surfaces, high brightness light sources in open type reflectors shall not be used and such tasks shall be illuminated by indirect lighting or by diffusing fittings.

(xiii) Where possible, each task shall be so arranged that there is ample contrast between it and its immediate background, by adjusting the colour or nature of the background, or by using lighting methods which employ high lights and shadows to emphasize contrasts.

(xiv) The provisions of sub-paragraphs (i) to (xii) (both inclusive) shall not apply to passages, corridors, stairways and places outside working areas where inside frosted incandescent or fluorescent electric lamps rated to consume less than 101 watts are used provided that such lamps are not visible in any working area.

 

By Authority: L. F. Johnston, Commonwealth Government Printer, Canberra.