55 STAT.] 77TH CONG. , 1sT SESS.-CH. 438 -OCT. 14, 1941 ment, place of employment, or of any employee. It shall not include the District of Columbia or any instrumentality thereof, or the United States or any instrumentality thereof. "(b) 'Board' means the Minimum Wage and Industrial Safety Board. "(c) 'Safe' and 'safety' as applied to an employment, a device, or a place of employment, including facilities of sanitation and hygiene, mean such freedom from danger to life or health of employees as circumstances reasonably permit, and shall not be given restrictive interpretation so as to exclude any mitigation or prevention of a specific danger. "(d) 'Place of employment' means any place where industrial employment is carried on: Provided, however, That such term shall not include the premises of any Federal or District of Columbia establishment, except to include any and all work of whatever nature being performed by an independent contractor for the United States Government or any instrumentality thereof or the District of Columbia or any instrumentality thereof. "SEC. 3 . The Board, in addition to its duties defined in title I shall administer the provisions of this title and shall have power to make such inspections and investigations as it may deem necessary; collect and compile statistical information; require employers to keep their places of employment reasonably safe; require employers to keep such records as it may deem advisable and to furnish the Board with complete, detailed reports relative to all accidents; determine and fix reasonable standards of safety in employment, places of employment, in the use of devices and safeguards, and in the use of practices, means, methods, operations, and processes of employment; promulgate general rules and regulations based upon such standards and fix the minimum safety requirements which shall be complied with by employers within the purview of this title. "SEC. 4 . Before any rules or regulations of the Board shall become effective a public hearing shall be held by the Board for the purpose of investigating reasonable standards of safety in employment, places of employment, in the use of devices and safeguards, and in the use of practices, means, methods, operations, and processes of employnent, and any person interested in the matter being investigated may appear and testify. If, after investigation, the 1Board is of the opinion that mininunm standards of safety requiremlenlts are necessary to protect or safeguard the lives or health of employees covered by this title, it may adopt and promulgate such rules and regulations as it may deem advisable, which shall become effective thirty days after they have been published at least once in two of the daily newspapers of general circulation in the District of Columbia. "SEC. 5 . Any member of the Board shall have power to administer oaths and the Board may require by subpena the attendance and testimony of witnesses, the production of all books, registers, and other evidence relative to any matters under investigation, at any public hearing, or at any session or any conference held by the Board. In case of disobedience to a subpena the Board may invoke the aid of the District Court of the United States for the District of Columbia in requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the pro- duction of documentary evidence. In the case of contumacy or refusal to obey a subpena, the court may issue an order requiring appearance before the Board, the production of documentary evi- dence and the giving of evidence touching the matter in question, and any failure to obey such order of the court may be punished by such court as a contempt thereof. 739 "Board." "Safe"and "safety." "Place of employ- ment." Proiso. Duties of Board. Determination of standards of safety. Public hearing. Adoption of rules. Attendance of wit- nesses and production of evidence.
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