of the commissioner of labor. A violation of this section shall constitute a misdemeanor and shall be punishable by a fine of not less than fifty dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment for not less than thirty nor more than ninety days, or by both such fine and imprisonment. The preference clause of this section, so far as it concerns persons employed by municipal contractors, is unconstitutional. 13 Misc. 618. Seats for female employees. (Page 2092.) SECTION 17. Every person employing females in a factory or as Seats to be waitresses in a hotel or restaurant shall provide and maintain provided. suitable seats for the use of such female employees, and permit the use thereof by such employees to such an extent as may be reasonable for the preservation of their health. Protection of employees on buildings. (Page 2092.) Scaffolds on SECTION 18. A person employing or directing another to perform labor of any kind in the erection, repairing, altering or buildings. painting of a house, building or structure shall not furnish or erect, or cause to be furnished or erected for the performance of such labor, scaffolding, hoists, stays, ladders or other mechanical contrivances which are unsafe, unsuitable or improper, and which are not so constructed, placed and operated as to give proper protection to the life and limb of a person so employed or engaged. Scaffolding or staging swung or suspended from an overhead support, more than twenty feet from the ground or floor, shall have a safety rail of wood, properly bolted, secured and braced, rising at least thirty-four inches above the floor or main portions of such scaffolding or staging and extending along the entire length of the outside and the ends thereof, and properly attached thereto, and such scaffolding or staging shall be so fastened as to prevent the same from swaying from the building or structure. The effect of this statute is to make the scaffold a place furnished by the master upon which the servant is to work, and it must not be permitted to be or become unsafe or unsuitable. 34 App. Div. 515. A scaffold is not a place but an appliance. 26 N. E. Rep. 1017. The employer can not relieve himself of responsibility by delegating the construction of a scaffold to another. 50 App. Div. 518. Inspection. SEC. 19. Whenever complaint is made to the factory inspector Slings, hangthat the scaffolding or the slings, hangers, blocks, pulleys, stays, ers, etc. braces, ladders, irons, or ropes of any swinging or stationary scaffolding used in the construction, alteration, repairing, painting, cleaning or pointing of buildings within the limits of a city are unsafe or liable to prove dangerous to the life or limb of any person, such factory inspector shall immediately cause an inspection to be made of such scaffolding, or the slings, hangers, blocks, pulleys, stays, braces, ladders, irons or other parts connected therewith. If, after examination, such scaffolding or any of such parts is found to be dangerous to life or limb, the factory inspector shall prohibit the use thereof, and require the same to be altered and reconstructed so as to avoid such danger. The factory inspector or deputy factory inspector making the examination shall attach a certificate to the scaffolding, or the slings, hangers, irons, ropes, or other parts thereof, examined by him, stating that he has made such examination, and that he has found it safe or unsafe, as the case may be. If he declares it unsafe, he shall at once, in writing, notify the person responsible for its erection of the fact, and warn him against the use thereof. Such notice may be served personally upon the person responsible for its erection, or by conspicuously affixing it to the scaffolding, or the part thereof declared to be unsafe. After such notice has been so Notice. served or affixed, the person responsible therefor shall immediately remove such scaffolding or part thereof and alter or strengthen it in such manner as to render it safe, in the discretion of the offiAccess to cer who has examined it, or of his superiors. The factory inspecpremises. tor and any of his deputies whose duty it is to examine or test any scaffolding or part thereof, as required by this section, shall have free access, at all reasonable hours, to any building or premises containing them or where they may be in use. All swinging and stationary scaffolding shall be so constructed as to bear four times the maximum weight required to be dependent therefrom or placed thereon, when in use, and not more than four men shall be allowed on any swinging scaffolding at one time. Jaid. The unexplained falling of a scaffold would seem to create a presumption of negligence on the part of the employer. That it should fall having on it only the weight required for the purpose for which it was constructed is prima facie evidence of such negligence. 58 N. E. Rep. 662. Protective SEC. 20 (as amended by chapter 520, Acts of 1905). All confloors to be tractors and owners, when constructing buildings in cities, where the plans and specifications require the floors to be arched between the beams thereof, or where the floors or filling in between the floors are of fireproof material or brickwork, shall complete the flooring or filling in as the building progresses, to not less than within three tiers of beams below that on which the iron work is being erected. If the plans and specifications of such buildings do not require filling in between the beams of floors with brick or fireproof material all contractors for carpenter work, in the course of construction, shall lay the underflooring thereof on each story as the building progresses, to not less than within two stories below the one to which such building has been erected. Where double floors are not to be used, such contractor shall keep planked over the floor two stories below the story where the work is being performed. If the floor beams are of iron or steel, the contractors for the iron or steel work of building[s] in course of construction or the owners of such buildings, shall thoroughly plank over the entire tier of iron or steel beams on which the structural iron or steel work is being erected, except such spaces as may be reasonably required for the proper construction of such iron or steel work, and for the raising or lowering of materials to be used in the construction of such building, or such spaces as may be designated by the plans and specifications for stairways and elevator Hoist way 8 shafts. If elevators, elevating machines or hod-hoisting apparatus to be secured. are used within a building in the course of construction, for the purpose of lifting materials to be used in such construction, the contractors or owners shall cause the shafts or openings in each floor to be inclosed or fenced in on all sides by a barrier at least eight feet in height, except on two sides which may be used for taking off and putting on materials, and those sides shall be guarded by an adjustable barrier not less than three nor more than four feet from the floor and not less than two feet from the edge of such shaft or opening. If a building in course of construction is five stories or more in height, no lumber or timber needed for such construction shall be hoisted or lifted on the outside of such building. The chief officer, in any city, charged with the enforcement of the building laws of such city and the factory inspector are hereby charged with enforcing the provisions of this section. Enforce ment. It is negligence on the part of the employer to fail to provide the flooring required by this section, but a workman cognizant of such negligence is guilty of contributory negligence if he consents to work in the absence of such safeguards. 34 App. Div. 521. SEC. 21. The factory inspector shall enforce all the provisions of this article. He shall investigate complaints made to him of violations of such provisions and if he finds that such complaints are well founded he shall issue an order directed to the person or corporation complained of, requiring such person or corporation to comply with such provisions. If such order is disregarded the factory inspector shall present to the district attorney of the proper county all the facts ascertained by him in regard to the alleged violation, and all other papers, documents or evidence pertaining thereto, which he may have in his possession. The district attorney to whom such presentation is made shall proceed at once to prosecute the person or corporation for the violations complained of, pursuant to this chapter and the provisions of the Penal Code. If complaint is made to the factory inspector that any person contracting with the State or a municipal corporation for the performance of any public work fails to comply with or evades the provisions of this article respecting the payment of the prevailing rate of wages, the requirements of hours of labor or the employment of citizens of the United States or of the State of New York, the factory inspector shall if he finds such complaints to be well founded, present evidence of such noncompliance to the officer, department, or board having charge of such work. Such officer, department or board shall thereupon take the proper proceedings to revoke the contract of the person failing to comply with or evading such provisions. Department of labor-Collection of statistics. (Page 2095. Amended by chapter 505, Acts of 1907.) SECTION 30. There shall continue to be a department of labor the head of which shall be the commissioner of labor who shall be appointed by the governor by and with the advice and consent of the senate and who shall hold office for a term of four years beginning on the first day of January of the year in which he is appointed. He shall receive an annual salary of five thousand dollars. He shall appoint all officers, clerks and other employees in the department of labor. Wherever the title of factory inspector is used in article one of this chapter or the title of commissioner of labor statistics in article four thereof it shall be construed to mean the commissioner of labor. SEC. 31. The commissioner of labor shall forthwith upon entering upon the duties of his office appoint and may at pleasure re-· move two deputy commissioners of labor, who shall receive such annual salaries, not to exceed three thousand dollars each, as may be appropriated therefor. The powers hereinafter conferred upon the first and second deputy commissioners shall not include the appointment of officers, clerks or other employees in any of the bureaus of the department of labor. SEC. 32. The department of labor shall be divided into three bureaus as follows: Factory inspection, labor statistics and mediation and arbitration. SEC. 33. Subdivision 1. The commissioner of labor, his deputies and their assistants and each special agent and deputy factory inspector may administer oaths and take affidavits in matters relating to the provisions of this chapter. Subd. 2. No person shall interfere with, obstruct or hinder by force or otherwise the commissioner of labor, his deputies, their assistants or the special agents or deputy factory inspectors while in the performance of their duties, or refuse to properly answer questions asked by such officers pertaining to the provisions of this chapter, or refuse them admittance to any place where and when labor is being performed which is affected by the provisions of this chapter. Subd. 3. All notices, orders and directions of deputies, assistants, special agents and deputy factory inspectors given in accordance with this chapter are subject to the approval of the commissioner of labor. And all acts, notices, orders, permits and directions by any provisions of this chapter directed to be performed or given by the factory inspector, chairman of the board of mediation and arbitration or other officer of the department of labor may be performed or given by and in the name of the commissioner of labor and by any officer of the department thereunto Commis sioner. Deputies. Bureaus. Powers. etc. Expenses, Suboffices. Reports. Old records. Counsel. Bureau of labor statistics. Duties and powers. Duties of owners, etc., of establishments. duly authorized by such commissioner in the name of such commissioner. Subd. 4. The commissioner of labor may procure and cause to be used badges for himself and his subordinates in the department of labor while in the performance of their duties. SEC. 34. All necessary expenses incurred by the commissioner of labor in the discharge of his duties shall be paid by the State treasurer upon the warrant of the comptroller issued upon proper vouchers therefor. The reasonable and necessary traveling and other expenses of the deputy commissioners, their assistants, the special agents and statisticians, the deputy factory inspectors and other field officers of the department while engaged in the performance of their duties shall be paid in like manner upon vouchers approved by the commissioner of labor and audited by the comptroller. SEC. 35. The commissioner of labor may establish and maintain a suboffice in any city of the first class if in his opinion it be necessary. He may designate any one or more of his subordinates to take charge of and manage any such office, subject to his direction. The reasonable and necessary expenses of such office shall be paid as are other expenses of the commissioner of labor. SEC. 36. The commissioner of labor shall report annually to the legislature. SEC. 37. All statistics furnished to and all complaints, reports and other documentary matter received by the commissioner of labor pursuant to this chapter or any act repealed or superseded thereby may be destroyed by such commissioner after the expiration of six years from the time of the receipt thereof. Papers embodying such statistical details as the commissioner is authorized to secure are for a public purpose and are not merely to enable him to make his report. Their removal or destruction is a penal offense, and it is no defense to claim that they were private papers of the person furnishing them, or that they embodied information that was confidentially disclosed. 138 N. Y. Rep. 386. SEC. 38. The commissioner of labor may employ counsel in the department of labor to represent the department or to assist in the prosecution of actions or proceedings brought under the provisions of this chapter. Such counsel shall receive such compensation as may otherwise be provided by law. SEC. 40. There shall continue to be a bureau of labor statistics, which shall be under the immediate charge of a chief statistician, but subject to the direction and supervision of the commissioner of labor. SEC. 41. The commissioner of labor shall collect, assort, systematize and present in annual reports to the legislature, statistical details in relation to all departments of labor in the State, especially in relation to the commercial, industrial, social and sanitary condition of workingmen and to the productive industries of the State. He may subpoena witnesses, take and hear testimony, take or cause to be taken depositions and administer oaths. SEC. 42. The owner, operator, manager or lessee of any mine, factory, workshop, warehouse, elevator, foundry, machine shop or other manufacturing establishment, or any agent, superintendent, subordinate, or employee thereof, and any person employing or directing any labor affected by the provisions of this chapter, shall, when requested by the commissioner of labor, furnish any information in his possession or under his control which the commissioner is authorized to require, and shall admit him to any place where labor is carried on which is affected by the provisions of this chapter for the purpose of inspection. All statistics furnished to the commissioner of labor, pursuant to this article, may be destroyed by such commissioner after the expiration of two years from the time of the receipt thereof. A person refusing to admit such commissioner, or a person authorized by him, to any such establishment, or to furnish him any information requested, or who refuses to answer or untruthfully answers questions put to him by such commissioner, in a circular or otherwise, shall forfeit to the people of the State the sum of one hundred dollars Factories and workshops-Inspection, etc. The amount (Page 2098. Amended by chapter 505, Acts of 1907.) tion. SECTION 60. There shall continue to be a bureau of factory Bureau of inspection. The first deputy commissioner of labor shall be the factory inspecfactory inspector of the State and in immediate charge of this bureau, but subject to the direction and supervision of the commissioner of labor. SEC. 61. The commissioner of labor may appoint from time to time not more than sixty persons as deputy factory inspectors, not more than ten of whom shall be women, and who may be removed by him at any time. The deputy factory inspectors may be divided into three grades, but not more than five shall be of the third grade. Each deputy inspector of the first grade shall receive an annual salary of one thousand dollars, each of the second grade an annual salary of one thousand two hundred dollars and each of the third grade an annual salary of one thousand five hundred dollars. SEC. 62. Subdivision 1. The commissioner of labor may divide the State into districts, assign one or more deputy factory inspectors to each district, and may in his discretion transfer them from one district to another; he may assign any of them to inspect any special class or classes of factories or to enforce any special provisions of this chapter; and he may assign any one or more of them to act as clerks in any office of the department. Subd. 2. The commissioner of labor may authorize any deputy commissioner or assistant and any special agent or inspector in the department of labor to act as a deputy factory inspector with the full power and authority thereof. Subd. 3. The commissioner of labor, the first deputy commissioner of labor and his assistant or assistants and every deputy or acting deputy factory inspector may in the discharge of his duties enter any place, building or room where and when any labor is being performed which is affected by the provisions of this chapter, and may enter any factory whenever he may have reasonable cause to believe that any such labor is being performed therein. Subd. 4. The commissioner of labor shall visit and inspect or cause to be visited and inspected the factories, during reasonable hours, as often as practicable, and shall cause the provisions of this chapter to be enforced therein. Subd. 5. Any lawful municipal ordinance, by-law or regulation relating to factories, in addition to the provisions of this chapter and not in conflict therewith, may be observed and enforced by the commissioner of labor. SEC. 63. The commissioner of labor shall make an annual report to the legislature of the operation of this bureau. Deputy inspectors. Powers and duties. Reports. Law SEC. 68. A copy or abstract of the provisions of this chapter applicable thereto, to be prepared and furnished by the commis- posted. sioner of labor, shall be kept posted by the employer in a conspicuous place on each floor of every factory where persons are employed who are affected by the provisions thereof. Employment of women and children in factories. (Page 2100.) SECTION 70 (as amended by chapter 184, Acts of 1903). No child under the age of fourteen years shall be employed, permitted or suffered to work in or in connection with any factory in this State. No child between the ages of fourteen and sixteen years shall be so employed, permitted or suffered to work unless an employment to be Age limit for children. |