§ Mr. WoodI beg to move, in page 7, line 11, to leave out paragraph (c) and to insert:
(c) for subsection (7) (which in the case of certain factories requires the provision of fire warnings) there shall be substituted the following subsection:—(7) In every building which is, forms part of or comprises a factory to which section thirty-four of this Act applies, effective means, capable of being operated without exposing any person to undue risk, shall be provided and maintained for giving warning in case of fire, which shall be clearly audible throughout the building or, where the factory is part only of the building, in every part of the building which is used for the purposes of the factory".This Amendment attempts to meet two requests. The first was that any factory that requires a certificate should also have a fire alarm. This seemed to my right hon. Friend an entirely reasonable request and he is trying to give effect to it. The second was a request by the Opposition that a fire warning should be so situated as to allow the operator to escape. We have tried to meet that point by requiring that the means of warning shall becapable of being operated without exposing any person to undue risk".I hope that the House will feel that we have met the two requests.
§ Mr. RobensI am grateful that the Parliamentary Secretary was good enough to seize on the points discussed in Standing Committee. My own view is that he has met the points raised very well.
§ Amendment agreed to.
§ Mr. WoodI beg to move, in page 7, line 17, after " (7) " to insert:
in any case where it appears to him that those requirements are unnecessary or, as the case may be, would, unless modified, be unreasonable ".The purpose of the Amendment is to meet a point raised when, the power that my right hon. Friend wanted to exempt in certain cases from the requirement to have an audible fire alarm did not meet entirely with agreement and he undertook to consider whether he could go a little 935 further on Report and suggest a form of words which would modify his right of exemption. I hope that the House will be satisfied that if the Amendment is accepted exemptions or modifications will be granted only in cases where this can safely be done without danger to people employed in a factory or workshop.
§ Mr MacDermotWe had a somewhat vigorous discussion on this point in Committee. Many of us were uneasy about the power of exemption, which we felt was much too widely drawn. We suggested that it should be cut down roughly in the way done in the Amendment. I would commend the Amendment to my hon. Friends and hope that it will be accepted.
§ Amendment agreed to.