law: Factories Act, 1948 
  2. Interpretation 
  In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject
  
  or context,-
  (a) "adult" means a person who has completed his
  
  eighteenth year of age;
  (b) "adolescent" means a person who has completed his
  
  fifteenth year of age but has not completed his eighteenth year;
   3  [(bb) "calendar year" means the period of twelve
  
  months beginning with the first day of January in any year;]
  (c) "child" means a person who has not completed his
  
  fifteenth year of age;
   4  [(ca) "competent person", in relation to any
  
  provision of this Act, means a person or an institution recognized 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 recognized as a competent person in
  
  relation to a factory;
  ( cb ) "hazardous process"
  
  means any process or activity in relation to an industry specified in the First
  
  Schedule where, unless special care is taken, raw materials used therein or the
  
  intermediate or finished products, bye-products, wastes, or effluents thereof
  
  would-
  ( i ) cause material
  
  impairment to the health of the persons engaged in or connected therewith, or
  (ii) result in the pollution of the general
  
  environment:
  PROVIDED  that the State Government may, by notification
  
  in the Official Gazette, amend the First Schedule by way of addition, omission
  
  or variation of any industry, specified in the said Schedule;]
  (d) "young person" means a person who is either a
  
  child or an adolescent;
  (e) "day" means a period of twenty-four hours
  
  beginning at midnight;
  (f) "week" means a period of seven days beginning at
  
  midnight on Saturday night or such other night as may be approved in writing for
  
  a particular area by the Chief Inspector of Factories;
  (g) "power" means electrical energy, or any other form
  
  of energy which is mechanically transmitted and is not generated by human or
  
  animal agency;
  (h) "prime mover" means any engine, motor or other
  
  appliance which generates or otherwise provides power;
  ( i ) "transmission machinery"
  
  means any shaft, wheel drum, pulley, system of pulleys, coupling, clutch,
  
  driving belt or other appliance or device by which the motion of a prime mover
  
  is transmitted to or received by any machinery or appliance;
  (j) "machinery" includes prime movers, transmission
  
  machinery and all other appliances whereby power is generated, transformed,
  
  transmitted or applied;
  (k) "manufacturing process" means any process for- 
  ( i ) making,
  
  altering, repairing, ornamenting, finishing, packing, oiling, washing,
  
  cleaning, breaking up, demolishing, or otherwise treating or adapting any
  
  article or substance with a view to its use, sale, transport, delivery or
  
  disposal, or
   5  [(ii) pumping oil, water, sewage or any
  
  other substance; or]
  (iii) generating, transforming or transmitting
  
  power; or
   6  [(iv) composing types for printing,
  
  printing by letter press, lithography, photogravure or other similar process or
  
  book binding;] 7[or]
  (v) constructing, reconstructing, repairing,
  
  refitting, finishing or breaking up ships or vessels; 7[or]
   7  [(vi) preserving or storing any article
  
  in cold storage;]
  (l) "worker" means a person 8[employed,
  
  directly or by or through any agency (including a contractor) with or without
  
  the knowledge of the principal employer, whether for remuneration or not], in
  
  any manufacturing process, or in cleaning any part of the machinery or premises
  
  used for a manufacturing process, or in any other kind of work incidental to,
  
  or connected with, the manufacturing process, or the subject of the
  
  manufacturing process 7[but does not include any member of the armed
  
  forces of the Union];
  (m) "factory" means any premises including the
  
  precincts thereof-
  ( i ) whereon ten or
  
  more workers are working, or were working on any day of the preceding twelve
  
  months, and in any part of which a manufacturing process is being carried on
  
  with the aid of power, or is ordinarily so carried on, or
  (ii) Whereon twenty or more workers are
  
  working, or were working on any day of the preceding twelve months, and in any
  
  part of which a manufacturing process is being carried on without the aid of
  
  power, or is ordinarily so carried on,-
  but does not include a mine subject to the operation of 9[the
  
  Mines Act, 1952 (35 of 1952)] or 10[a mobile unit belonging to the
  
  armed forces of the Union, a railway running shed or a hotel, restaurant or
  
  eating place].
   7  [Explanation 11[I ]: For computing the number of
  
  workers for the purposes of this clause all the workers in 12[different
  
  groups and relays] in a day shall be taken into account;]
   13  [Explanation II :
  
  For the purposes of this clause, the mere fact that an Electronic Data
  
  Processing Unit or a Computer Unit is installed in any premises or part
  
  thereof, shall not be construed to make it a factory if no manufacturing
  
  process is being carried on in such premises or part thereof;]
  (n) "occupier" of a factory means the person who has
  
  ultimate control over the affairs of the factory 14[***];
   13  [PROVIDED that
  ( i ) in the case of a firm or other
  
  association of individuals, any one of the individual partners or members
  
  thereof shall be deemed to be the occupier;
  (ii) in the case of a company, any one of the directors shall be
  
  deemed to be the occupier;
  (iii) in the case of a factory owned or controlled by the
  
  Central Government or any State Government, or any local authority, the person
  
  or persons appointed to manage the affairs of the factory by the Central
  
  Government, the State Government or the local authority, as the case may be,
  
  shall be deemed to be the occupier:]
   7  [15[PROVIDED FURTHER that] in the case
  
  of a ship which is being repaired, or on which maintenance work is being
  
  carried out, in a dry dock which is available for hire,- 
  (1) the owner of the dock shall be deemed to be the occupier for
  
  the purposes of any matter provided for by or under
  (a) section 6, section 7, 4[section
  
  7A, section 7B,] section 11 or section 12;
  (b) section 17, in so far as it relates to the
  
  providing and maintenance of sufficient and suitable lighting in or around the
  
  dock;
  (c) section 18, section 19, section 42,
  
  section 46, section 47 or section 49, in relation to the workers employed on
  
  such repair or maintenance;
  (2) the owner of the ship or his agent or master or other
  
  office-in-charge of the ship or any person who contracts with such owner, agent
  
  or master or other officer-in-charge to carry out the repair or maintenance
  
  work shall be deemed to be the occupier for the purposes of any matter provided
  
  for by or under section 13, section 14, section 16 or section 17 (save as
  
  otherwise provided in this proviso) or Chapter IV (except section 27) or
  
  section 43, section 44, or section 45, Chapter VI, Chapter VII, Chapter VIII or
  
  Chapter IX or section 108, section 109 or section 110, in relation to- 
  (a) the workers employed directly by him, or
  
  by or through any agency; and
  (b) the machinery, plant or premises in use
  
  for the purpose of carrying out such repair or maintenance work by such owner,
  
  agent, master or other officer-in-charge or person;]
   16  [***]
  (p) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made by the
  
  State Government under this Act;
   17  [* * *]
  (r) where work of the same kind is carried out by two or more
  
  sets of workers working during different periods of the day, each of such sets
  
  is called a 18["group" or "relay"] and each of
  
  such periods is called a "shift".
  Comment:  Reading these provisions together, it is quite
  
  reasonable and legitimate to hold that a person to be a worker within the
  
  meaning of the Factories Act must be a person employed in the premises or the
  
  precincts of the factory. As held by this court in the State of Uttar Pradesh
  
  v. M. P. Singh (1960) 2 SCR 605: (AIR 1960 SC 569) field workers who are
  
  employed in guiding, supervising and controlling the growth and supply of sugar
  
  cane to be used in the factory are not employed either in the precincts of the
  
  factory or in the premises of the factory. Hence the provisions of the
  
  Factories Act do not apply to them. AIR 1978 SUPREME COURT 849,   Rohtas Industries Ltd v. Ramlakhan 
  
  Singh