G.S. 84
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XCR (80)260
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for safety of operation squarely upon the owner and to impose upon him the duty to take reasonable precautions to see that the statutory responsi- bilities of his employees are carried out. The intent of the proposed amend- ment is carried into effect by the draft amending Regulations at Annex B, as outlined in paragraph 9 below.
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The third aim of the Bill is to increase the penalties for various contraventions of the main ordinance to a level which will be a proper deterrent. For example, for the more serious offences which endanger safety the maximum penalties are increased from a fine of $10,000, a daily fine of $100 and imprisonment for six months to a fine of $50,000, a daily fine of $1,000 and imprisonment for two years. The Bill also provides that similar penalties may be imposed under the Regulations.
The proposed amendments do not affect civil liabilities in
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the event of an accident.
Aerial Ropeways (Operation and Maintenance) (Amendment) Regulations 1980
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Apart from some minor improvements to the wording of existing regulations, and minor amendments consequent to changes to the main ordinance proposed in the Amendment Bill, these regulations have three main aims. The first is, in the light of practical experience since the regulations were made in 1977, to make certain operational requirements more flexible (Regulations 3, 4 and 8). The second aim is to amend existing Regulation 20 to provide that the onus of ensuring that reports of required examinations of the ropeway are sent to the Director of Public Works is upon the owner of the ropeway, rather than upon the person making the report (Regulation 7).
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The third aim further to paragraphs 5 and 6 above, is to revise the penalty provisions contained in Part VIII of the Regulations and to make the owner liable for breaches of the Regulations by competent persons in charge of the ropeway, and by controllers, unless the owner satisfies the court that he has taken all such precautions to prevent such breaches as the court considers reasonable in the circumstances (Regulation 9). Regulation 10 further provides for the revised penalties which are set out in the Third Schedule. The revised penalties in most cases where safety is involved are substantially higher than the present levels, particularly for the owner of a ropeway.
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