SECTION 1. Subsections (a) and (c) of section one and section two of
Act Numbered Thirty-nine hundred and sixty-one, as amended by
Commonwealth Act Numbered Three hundred and twenty-four, are hereby
further amended to read as follows:
"(a) If the number of permanent employees and laborers is not
less than thirty nor more than two hundred, the owner, lessee or
operator shall keep a stock of emergency medicines under the charge of
a nurse, for the use of his employees and laborers, except in cases
when owing to the existence in the place at a distance not greater than
one kilometer from the commercial, industrial or agricultural
establishment of a public dispensary furnishing medicine free of charge
to poor applicants or of a pharmacy where the employer can buy the same
for the purposes of this Act, in which case it shall be the duty of the
employer to buy in such pharmacy the medicine required for the
emergency aid provided in this Act, it shall not be necessary to do so,
in the discretion of the Secretary of Labor or his authorized
representative.
"(c) When the number of employees and laborers exceeds three hundred,
the owner, lessee, or operator, in addition to keeping a stock of
medicines and employing the services of a physician for the purpose
specified in the preceding two subsections, shall maintain an infirmary
or emergency hospital of sufficient capacity of one bed for each one
hundred employees and laborers, except where this shall be unnecessary
because of the existence of a hospital in the place, at a distance not
greater than two kilometers from the commercial, industrial, or
agricultural establishment. In such cases the owner, lessee, or
operator may enter into an agreement with said hospital to reserve the
necessary number of beds for the purposes specified in this subsection:
Provided, That the number of beds may be increased
to three for each two hundred laborers and employees, according to the
nature of the establishment, in the discretion of the Secretary of
Labor.
"SEC. 2. The Secretary of Labor or his authorized representative shall
prescribe the kinds and quantities of the medicines mentioned in
subsections (a) and (b) of the preceding section, and the conditions of
the infirmary or hospital mentioned in subsection (c) of said section;
and shall see to the enforcement of this Act, inspecting the
commercial, industrial, and agricultural establishments subject to the
provisions of this Act at intervals of not more than six months, and
shall also issue instructions and from time to time promulgate such
rules and regulations as he may deem advisable for properly carrying
out the purposes of this Act. The medicines, material, and equipment
required by this Act may be purchased or requisitioned from the Bureau
of Supply, through the Secretary of Labor, and shall in this case be
furnished at the same prices that the Government would have to pay for
the same."