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Section 29 of Factories Act 1948 - Lifting Machines, Chains, Ropes and Lifting Tackles

Section 29 of the Factories Act, 1948 prescribed safety requirements for lifting machines, chains, ropes and lifting tackles used for raising or lowering persons, goods or materials in factories. This page preserves the legacy provision and explains its present legal context after commencement of the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020.

Updated: 26 September 2026

Current legal position: The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 came into force on 21 November 2025. Section 143 of that Code repealed the Factories Act, 1948. Section 29 below is therefore retained for historical reference, saved matters and understanding the earlier statutory framework. Current compliance should be checked under the OSH Code, applicable rules, regulations, standards, saved subordinate legislation and the requirements of the appropriate Government.

What Section 29 Required

  • Sound construction, adequate strength, freedom from defects and proper maintenance of lifting equipment.
  • Thorough examination by a competent person at least once every twelve months, unless a different interval was specified in writing by the Chief Inspector.
  • Keeping the prescribed examination register.
  • Marking and observing the safe working load, with prescribed records or displayed load tables where direct marking was impracticable.
  • Protective measures for persons working on or near the wheel track of a travelling crane.

Legacy Text and Meaning of Section 29

Section 29: Lifting machines, chains, ropes and lifting tackles

  1. In every factory, the following requirements applied to each lifting machine, other than a hoist or lift, and to every chain, rope and lifting tackle used to raise or lower persons, goods or materials:
    1. All parts, including working gear, whether fixed or movable, of every lifting machine, chain, rope or lifting tackle were required to be:
      1. of good construction, sound material and adequate strength, and free from defects;
      2. properly maintained; and
      3. thoroughly examined by a competent person at least once in every twelve months, or at such intervals as the Chief Inspector specified in writing, with a register containing the prescribed particulars of each examination.
    2. No lifting machine, chain, rope or lifting tackle could, except for testing, be loaded beyond its safe working load. The safe working load and an identification mark had to be plainly marked and entered in the prescribed register. Where marking was impracticable, a table showing safe working loads for the kinds and sizes in use had to be prominently displayed.
    3. Where a person worked on or near the wheel track of a travelling crane at a place where the crane could strike that person, effective measures had to prevent the crane from approaching within six metres of that place.
  2. The State Government could make rules prescribing additional requirements for lifting machines, chains, ropes or lifting tackles, and could provide exemptions where compliance was considered unnecessary or impracticable.
  3. A lifting machine, chain, rope or lifting tackle was treated as thoroughly examined when a careful visual examination, supplemented where necessary by other means and dismantling of parts, was carried out so as to reach a reliable conclusion about the safety of the parts examined.

Definitions Under the Former Section 29

Lifting machine: A crane, crab, winch, teagle, pulley block, gin wheel, transporter or runway.
Lifting tackle: A chain sling, rope sling, hook, shackle, swivel, coupling, socket, clamp, tray or similar appliance, fixed or movable, used in connection with raising or lowering persons or loads by lifting machines.

Present Law Under the OSH Code 2020

The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 is now the central parent legislation governing occupational safety, health and working conditions. Section 18 empowers the Central Government to declare occupational safety and health standards for workplaces and expressly covers safety and health measures for factories and other establishments.

The Second Schedule to the OSH Code lists matters for occupational safety and health standards. Item 9 specifically identifies lifting machines, chains, ropes and lifting tackles. This preserves the subject as a distinct area of workplace safety regulation under the new statutory framework.

Employers and occupiers should not rely on former Section 29 alone for current compliance. The applicable OSH Code provisions must be read with rules, regulations, notified standards, validly saved subordinate legislation and State-specific requirements, depending on which Government is the appropriate Government for the establishment.

Practical Safety Points

As a compliance practice, lifting equipment should be properly selected for the intended load, maintained in safe condition, examined and tested as required by applicable law, operated only within its rated capacity, and used under suitable supervision. Records, certificates, identification and safe-working-load information should be maintained wherever required by the applicable legal framework.

Important: The exact inspection, testing, certification, register and operational requirements may depend on the rules and standards applicable to the establishment and the appropriate Government. This article is a legal-information reference and should not replace establishment-specific statutory compliance checks.

Legislative Notes on Former Section 29

The former Section 29 was substituted by Act 25 of 1954 with effect from 7 May 1954. The distance in clause (1)(c) was changed from twenty feet to six metres by Act 20 of 1987 with effect from 1 December 1987. The definition of lifting tackle was also substituted by the 1987 amendment.

Official legal references: India Code text of the Factories Act, 1948 and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020; Ministry of Labour and Employment notifications and rules. Always verify later amendments, notifications and applicable State rules before acting on this material.