All workpeople employed in Curtis's and Harvey's factories shall be provided with a copy of the following Rules which they are to keep in good order and be ready to show to the foreman of their branch when ordered to do so.
All Workpeople must make themselves thoroughly acquainted with the Special Rules and also with the Extra Special Rules laid down for the particular Branch of the Factory in which they are employed.
Any person acting in violation (?) of or failing to comply with these Rules or committing any act within the premises by which the safety of the Factory could be endangered will either be subject to immediate dismissal or will be dealt with as the law directs.
Special Rules applicable to the whole factory
1.Smoking is strictly prohibited in any part of the Works, Grounds, Roads etc belonging to the Factory.
2.Lucifer matches, Cigar Lights, or other combustibles, are on no account to be brought into any part of the Works or Grounds, excepting by those persons who have residence within the Factory grounds, and then only for their use within their houses.
3.The workpeople are not to carry Keys, Knives, or other articles of Iron or Steel about their persons when employed in or about the Factory.
4.The Workpeople employed in any Powder House, Mill or Boat, or in the Watch Houses, are to change their clothes and boots and put on working dress (without pockets or metal buttons) and slippers before commencing work. On leaving off work they are to resume their ordinary clothes and boots, and no person is allowed to wear such working dress, shoes or slippers-as by provided by the proprietors-off the Factory; and if anyone is detected destroying them or using them in an improper manner, such person shall be deemed to commit a breach of these Special Rules. The practice of turning up the working trousers at the ankle is strictly forbidden, as experience proves that small stones and gritty particles are very apt to be carried into the Houses thereby.
5.No persons shall enter a Powder House (not being an incorporating Mill) or Boat without first putting on Magazine shoes and leaving the ordinary shoes in the Box provided for the purpose.
6.The greatest care must be taken in keeping the Platforms, Floors, etc, of the different Powder Houses and Boats perfectly free from dirt or grit. The Platforms should be constantly wetted; and Watering pots, Water scoops, Brooms, Mops, and other utensils, shall be kept alongside each Powder Building for the purpose of wetting such Platforms; and Liquoring Pots, Paddles, and Oil Cans shall be kept within each Mill, care being taken that they are not placed on the ground or against any gritty surface.
7.No implements except those provided, are to be used in any Powder House, Mill or Boat. These implements are to be used carefully and gently and never to be thrown down violently.
8.The Wash Houses are to be kept clean, and as free from grit as possible.
9.If, at any time, the Machinery or appliances should appear to the Workpeople to be in an unsafe or doubtful condition, the Machinery is at once to be stopped, and the man in charge is immediately to report the same to the Manager or Foreman, and the work is not to be resumed until the defective Machinery has been made safe and perfect, and authority given to that effect.
10. No person is to commence working in any Building which has been under repair until satisfied that the repairs are safe and perfect, and have been inspected by the Manager, Chief Mechanic or Foreman.
11. Powder barrels or Working Barrels are always to be rolled on their chines, and never to be dragged along the Platforms, or along the Floors of the Houses or Boats. Open Barrels filled with powder are never to be placed one in the other; each barrel is to be rolled separately.
12.When a thunderstorm is approaching the Works, the Workpeople employed in the Powder Houses, Mills or Boats, are to close carefully the Window Shutters, Slides and doors, stop the motion of the Machinery, and then quit the vicinity of such Houses, Mills or Boats, until the storm has passed over.
13.No person will be permitted to enter or leave the Premises except by the general Entrance or loiter thereon after his or her special employment is finished, excepting those who have residence within the Factory Grounds.
14.On the occasion of an explosion or Fire happening, those persons who possess keys of the Works must on no account admit any unauthorised persons whatsoever into the Factory, except those actually employed therein.
15. The Workpeople employed in the Powder Houses are to carry on the work entrusted to them in as careful and gentle a manner as possible. No undue haste must ever be shown; and no greater force used than is absolutely necessary to serve the purpose required. The Workpeople must never forget that a moderate degree of friction may be safely endured with Powder alone which might cause accident, if, by chance, any foreign substance may have got mixed in it.
16.Special care must always be taken to redouble every precaution during the prevalence of hot, dry weather. Floors, Platforms, etc. must be attended to with the greatest care during such weather, as experience has proved that sandy or gritty particles are the more likely to be carried into the Houses by the wind, or about the dress or hair, than at other times.
17. Any person detected bringing into the Factory Beer, Gin, or any Spirituous Liquors, except under authority of the Manager, will be deemed to commit a breach of these Special Rules.
18.Any person found within the premises in a state of intoxication, will be deemed to commit a breach of these Special Rules.
19.Every Basket, Bag, or Package, by whomsoever brought into or taken off the Factory Premises, will be subject to the inspection of the Manager or such other person as may be appointed by him to inspect them.
20.In the case of accident by Fire, the Bell is to be violently rung by the men in the Watch House.
21.No unauthorised persons shall be admitted on the Factory or in the Buildings except the Proprietors or Manager be present.
22.Any person or persons detected injuring or destroying the Fences or gates will be deemed to commit a breach of these Special Rules.
23.Persons employed in or about the Factory, or resident thereon, are to keep their children and friends within their own premises, or upon the roads leading directly to or from such premises to the Entrance Gate, and shall prevent them from wandering about the Works.
24.The limits of quantity of Gunpowder and ingredients affixed in the several Buildings and parts of the Factory as the limits of quantity respectively allowed to be in such Building or part, or in any Machine therein at any one time, shall be duly observed by every Work Person engaged in or about or in connexion with such Building, machine or part.
25.Whenever it may be necessary in Mills or other Buildings to remove any powder incrustations (whether from machinery or elsewhere) which cannot easily be brushed off, the hard Powder is to be removed by means of Water, supplemented if need be, when the whole of the incrustation has been thoroughly saturated, by a suitable wooden implement gently applied, or in exceptional cases, and when the necessity arises, a suitable metal implement may, with the authority of the Foreman or any other authorised person, be substituted for the wooden implement.