PUBLIC HEALTH: SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION
INDEX TO SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION
Public Health (Notification of Disease) (Covid-19) Order
Public Health (Prevention of Immunizable Childhood Diseases) Regulations
Public Health (Revocation of the Declaration of a Public Health Emergency) Order
Public Health (Prevention of Introduction or Spread of COVID-19) (Revocation) Order
Public Health (COVID-19 Control Measures) (Revocation) Regulations
(section 88)
(26th August, 1983)
ARRANGEMENT OF REGULATIONS
REGULATION
PART I
General
1. Citation
2. Application
3. Interpretation
PART II
Family Housing
4. Overcrowding
5. Water supply
6. Sanitary conveniences
7. Removal of refuse
8. Duties on vacation of property
PART III
Pollution of Water
9. Pollution of water supply
10. Addition of infectious matter to water supply
11. Pollution by animals
12. Bathing in public water supply
13. Abstraction of water
PART IV
Keeping of Animals and Poultry
14. Restrictions on keeping animals, etc.
15. Powers of local authority
16. Accumulation of manure
PART V
Trading Premises
17. General requirements regarding trading premises
PART VI
Food Premises
18. General requirements regarding food premises
19. Heating units, etc.
20. Equipment to be of metal
21. Bulk stores
22. Loose equipment
23. Water supply
24. Facilities for convenience of staff
25. Washing facilities
26. Hygiene for food handlers
27. Prevention of illness
28. Protective clothing
29. Cleaning of equipment
30. Poisonous cleaning agents
31. Utensils and equipment
32. Storing of utensils and equipment
33. Raw materials and ingredients
34. Food
35. Refrigeration
36. Removal of waste
PART VII
Canning and Processing Factories
37. Canning and processing factories
PART VIII
Grain Mills
38. General
39. Storage
40. Milling
41. Sieves, mills, chutes and other equipment
42. General cleanliness
43. Insect control
PART IX
Bakeries
44. General
45. Storage of fuel and ash
46. Use of bread dough and yeast for leavening
47. Bread crumbs, etc.
48. Mixing machines
49. Storage of bread
50. Bread containers
51. Bread delivery vehicles
PART X
Ice-cream, Sweets and Baby Food Factories
52. General
53. Ingredients
54. Waste material
55. Floors, machinery and equipment
56. Cleaning
57. Ice-cream carts and motor vans
58. Processing
59. Baby food not to be touched by hand
60. Baby food, etc. to be rendered germ-free
61. Melted ice-cream
62. Storage facilities
63. Ice-cream carts
PART XI
Wholesale and Retail Businesses
64. Application of Part
65. General requirements
66. Maintenance of counters, etc.
67. Refrigerators, ice-chests, etc.
68. Refrigeration of perishable food
69. Displaying and arranging of food
70. Preservation of perishable food
71. Protection of food
72. Wrapping of food
73. Personal clothing
PART XII
Refreshment Businesses
74. General requirements regarding refreshment businesses
75. Hygienic condition of food and drink
76. Storage, display and serving of food and drink
77. Tables
78. Crockery
79. Disposable articles
PART XIII
Butcheries
80. General requirements regarding butcheries
81. Butchery premises
82. Equipment
83. Water supply
84. Overflows
85. Washing of hands
86. Spitting prohibited
87. Displays and storage
88. Floors
89. Protection against contamination
90. Communicable diseases
91. Duties of butcher
92. Transport of carcasses and animal products
93. Vehicles used in butcheries
94. Transport of meat
95. Vehicles to be kept clean
96. Covering in vehicles
97. Use of vehicles
98. Passengers in vehicles
99. Carriage of meat and offal
100. Carcasses to be wrapped
101. Meat to be chilled
PART XIV
Rented Rooms
102. Requirements regarding rented rooms
103. Interior surfaces
104. Facilities to be provided
105. Additional facilities for hotels, etc.
PART XV
Vendors and Peddlers
106. General requirements regarding vendors and peddlers
PART XVI
Swimming Baths
107. General requirements regarding swimming baths
108. Facilities to be provided
109. Towels and bathing costumes
110. Premises to be kept clean
111. Water to be chlorinated
PART XVII
Laundries and Dry Cleaners
112. Written authority to be carried by employees
113. General requirements regarding laundries and dry cleaners
114. Special requirements for laundries
115. Special requirements for dry cleaners
116. Dry-cleaning depots
117. General duties
118. Various additional requirements
119. Requirements regarding premises
PART XVIII
Roadside Stalls
120. General provisions
121. License of stalls
122. Sanitary conveniences
123. Protection of food
124. Removal of litter
125. Hygienic food
PART XIX
Gatherings (including Auctions, Gymkhanas, Drive-in Cinemas, Stock-car
races, Air and Military Shows, Country Clubs)
126. Requirements regarding gatherings
PART XX
General
127. Nuisance
128. Offences
129. Other laws
S.I. 107, 1983,
S.I. 54, 2012.
PART I
General (regs 1-3)
These Regulations may be cited as the Public Health Regulations.
These Regulations shall apply to the whole of Botswana.
In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires—
"animal" means any mule, ass, horse, donkey, pig, bovine, sheep, goat, wild animal, dog, rabbit, cat and pet;
"approved" means approved by a local authority;
"articles of food" or "food" or "foodstuff" means meat or any meat product, milk, or dairy products, fish, fruit, vegetables, condiments, confectionery, bread, beverages, and any article or thing (excluding medicine or water, but including ice) in any form, state or stage of preparation, which is intended to be or is ordinarily used for human consumption;
"bakery" means any licensed premises where bread, bread rolls, meat rolls, sausage rolls, meat pies, biscuits, pies, tarts, pastry, sweets, sweetmeats, cake or confectionery is prepared to be sold or to be offered for sale;
"barber" or "hairdresser" means any person who, for a consideration, carries out or assists in carrying out the operation of trimming, shaving, curling, combing or cutting the hair of people, as well as manicure, beauty or similar treatment, and related operations;
"butcher" means any person in possession of or required to be in possession of a butcher's licence issued in terms of the Trade Act (Cap. 43:02);
"butchery" means any premises used by a butcher for the sale of meat and, meat products and for keeping, storing, preparing and displaying for sale, or used in any other way for the purposes of a butcher's business, and includes the sale-room and associated rooms;
"camping" means the erection or use of any temporary structure intended for temporary use by persons for dwelling or sleeping purposes and includes the erection or use of tents intended for such purposes, but not the parking or use of caravans;
"camping ground" means any premises on which any temporary or removable structure, including a tent but excluding a caravan, intended for temporary use by persons for dwelling or sleeping purposes is erected or used or intended to be erected or used;
"caravan" means any vehicle or similar structure which is capable of being moved or removed or towed and which has no foundation other than wheels, jacks or struts and is designed or built in such manner that persons may use such vehicle or structure for dwelling or sleeping purposes and includes any mobile house or trailer or travelling trailer used for such purpose;
"caravan park" means any premises offering accommodation for two or more caravans or intended for such accommodation, whether or not any charge is made for such accommodation;
"caravan space" means any piece of land or any allotment within any caravan park, appointed or used or intended for the accommodation of one caravan;
"carrier" means a person who, although not necessarily at the time showing clinical symptoms of an infectious disease, has been proved or is considered on good grounds after laboratory or other examination, to be infected and consequently able to spread such infectious disease;
"change-room" means a room set aside for employees to change into working protective clothing, to store their clothes, to wash and to eat their meals, if the employer permits;
"clothes" or "clothing" includes all clothing, articles, table linen, bed-linen and curtains or any other articles which can be subjected to washing or dry-cleaning;
"consideration" means any payment in cash or in kind, direct or indirect;
"drainage" and "sewerage" means any drain together with its appurtenances used for the drainage of one building only, or of premises within the same curtilage and made merely for the purposes of communication therefrom with a cesspool or other like receptacle for drainage or with a sewer into which drainage of two or more buildings or premises occupied by different persons is conveyed, and includes any pipe or channel, whether opened or closed, used or intended to be used for the drainage of land, and "an approved drainage or sewerage system" has a corresponding meaning;
"dry cleaner" means any premises or part thereof where articles are dry-cleaned, dyed, bleached or ironed or undergo any other process of cleaning except the process known as "washing", and "dry cleaning depot" means any premises or part thereof where such articles as are named above, including articles intended for washing, are received, stored or handled for the purpose of subjecting them to the above process;
"faecal E. coli" means that organism which produces gas at 44?C ± 0,25?C in two per cent (m/v) brilliant green bile broth and produces indole in tryptone water at the same temperature;
"fish shop" means any premises where mainly fish and fish products are sold or kept, handled, prepared or served for consumption on or off the premises;
"food handler" means any person who handles, prepares or serves in or in connection with any food premises any article of food, or foodstuff;
"food premises" means any premises on which or in which food intended for human consumption is sold, or kept, handled, prepared or served for sale;
"handling" means the production, bottling, packaging, preparation, sale, conveyance, delivery storage, serving, heat treatment or any other treatment or handling of milk or other food;
"health officer" means any medical practitioner registered under the Botswana Health Professions Act (Cap. 61:02), and includes any health inspector, and any public health nurse employed by or so designated by the Minister;
"kitchen" means any place specially set aside in any undertaking where food is prepared for serving; where food is prepared for consumption away from the premises the kitchen shall be of an approved size;
"laundering" includes the washing, subjection to cleaning processes, drying, bleaching, dyeing, dry-cleaning or ironing or pressing of any clothing or clothes for a consideration and the delivery thereof;
"laundry" includes all premises where laundering takes place or forms part of the operation, for a consideration;
"licensed" means licensed in terms of the Trade Act (Cap. 43:02), or any other written law;
"nuisance" means, inter alia—
(a) any premises or part thereof of such a construction or in such a state as to be offensive or injurious or dangerous to health;
(b) any street, stream, pool, lagoon, ditch, gutter, watercourse, sink, cistern, water-closet, earth closet, privy, urinal, cesspool, drain, sewer, waste-water receptacle, manure pit, ash bin, ash pit, or midden, so foul or in such a state or so situated or constructed as to be offensive or a nuisance, or injurious or dangerous to health;
(c) any well or other source of water supply which is injurious or dangerous to health;
(d) any tank or cistern used for the supply of water for domestic purposes so placed, constructed or kept as to render the water therein liable to contamination, causing or likely to cause danger to health or to be conducive to the breading of mosquitoes;
(e) any stable, cowshed, animal kraal, fowl house or premises in which any animal or animals or bird or birds is or are kept or are intended to be kept, in such a manner or in such numbers as to be offensive, or injurious or dangerous to health;
(f) any accumulation or deposit of refuse, offal, manure or other matter which is offensive or injurious or dangerous to health, or any offensive matter, refuse, offal or manure lying or being within 45 m, of any street, or contained in uncovered trucks or wagons, standing or being at any station or halt or elsewhere on a railway so as to be offensive or injurious or dangerous to health;
(g) any works, factory, trade or business causing or giving rise to smells or vapours which are offensive, or which are injurious or dangerous to the health of the neighbourhood or so managed as to be offensive or injurious or dangerous to health;
(h) any house or part of a house or any occupied dwelling—
(i) so overcrowded as to be injurious or dangerous to the health of the occupants or in which there is not at least 12 m3 of air space and 4 m2 of floor space for each person simultaneously occupying such house or part thereof, whether by day or by night;
(ii) for which a proper, adequate and hygienic source of water supply is not available within a reasonable distance;
(i) any school building or any factory, workshop or workplace, or part thereof—
(i) which is not kept clean and free of vapours originating in any drain, privy, water-closet, earth closet, urinal or other source of nuisance;
(ii) which is not ventilated in such manner as to render harmless, as far as practicable, any gas, vapour, dust or other impurity generated in the course of the work carried out therein and which is offensive, or injurious or dangerous to health;
(iii) in which the average proportion of carbonic acid in the air at or about breathing level exceeds 10 volumes in 10 000 or, where gas or oil is used for lighting purposes, exceeds 18 volumes in 10 000 while such gas or oil is in actual use; or
(iv) which is so overcrowded while work is being carried out therein as to be injurious or dangerous to the health of those employed therein;
(j) any chimney sending forth black smoke in such a manner as to be contrary to the provisions of the Atmospheric Pollution (Prevention) Act (Cap. 65:03);
(k) any cemetery, burial place or other place of burial so situated or so overcrowded or otherwise so used as to be offensive or injurious or dangerous to health;
(l) any other condition whatever which is offensive or injurious or dangerous to health; the generality of this provision is not restricted by the foregoing particular matters;
"offal" means—
(a) "clean edible offal"-blood, brain, diaphragm, kidneys, omentum, pancreas (if removed cleanly), pluck (this shall consist of the oesophagus, trachea, lungs, heart, pericardium, associated lymph nodes, pillars of the diaphragm and liver or part thereof), spleen (if removed cleanly), tail, testicles (if properly collected), thymus, tongue and tripe (this shall consist of the scaled, washed and scraped stomach of ruminants);
(b) "rough edible offal"-spleen (if not removed as above), cow-heels, heads, intestines (these shall consist of the intestinal tract or portions thereof and include the duodenum, jejunum, caecum, colon and rectum), stomachs (these shall consist of the rumen, recticulum, omasum and abomasum in the case of ruminants and the stomach in the case of equines and pigs), testicles (if not collected as above) and trotters;
"overcrowded", in relation to any room or place where any person resides, means that there is not at least 4 m2 of floor space and 12 m3 of air space for each occupant of the age of 10 years and over and at least half of this space for each occupant under the age of 10 years, and "overcrowding" shall be construed accordingly;
"poultry" means any duck, muscovy duck, fowl, goose, turkey or other bird;
"premises" means any land or buildings or any vehicles, ship, boat or float on or in which any of the activities regulated by these Regulations are carried out;
"preparation room" means any place specially set aside for the preparation, processing of meat and meat products;
"receiving depot" means such premises, except a laundry, where clothes or clothing are placed, kept, retained or stored for the purposes of washing or dry-cleaning and includes the entire premises in which such depot is situated;
"recreation ground" means any ground used for athletics, football, cricket, or any other game, or for any kind of recreation;
"refuse bin" means any container used exclusively for the collection of refuse and other waste material with a view to its removal;
"rented rooms" means any premises where, for a consideration, board or lodging is provided for more than five persons and includes associated buildings and recreational facilities on such premises;
"roadside stall" means any premises where a bona fide farmer or gardener displays, keeps or offers for sale products produced or cultivated by himself:
Provided that the products are cultivated on land of which the farmer or gardener is the owner, lawful occupant or tenant and provided such person does not trade through an agent who is not his employee, or on any premises other than those on which the product is cultivated;
"sale room" means any room where food or other articles of trade are sold or offered for sale;
"scullery" means any place specially set aside for the cleaning of equipment, utensils, cutlery or articles used in the handling, preparation or serving of food;
"sell" means sell by wholesale or retail and includes attempt to sell, or offer, advertise, keep, display, transmit, convey or deliver for sale, or authorise, direct or allow a sale, or prepare or possess for the purposes of sale, barter, exchange, supply, or disposal for any consideration direct or indirect;
"store-room" means any room specially set aside for the storage of food or articles of trade, the surface of which shall be not less than 16 m2; in the case of a butchery where a store-room is required, the minimum floor surface shall be 9 m2;
"structure" means any shed, shelter, pigsty, pen, kraal, cover or building used for keeping, housing or fencing off animals and poultry;
"swimming bath" means any approved premises where swimming facilities are provided to the public for a consideration and includes any associated buildings and also relates to any swimming bath forming part of the recreation facilities of any hotel, motel, rented room, camping site, caravan park or other recreational and pleasure resort;
"toilet room" means any room or rooms in which sanitary conveniences are installed and set aside exclusively for this purpose, and "toilet" has a corresponding meaning;
"unit" means any bovine or 15 sheep or goats or sheep and goats combined, or five pigs, or three calves;
"vehicles" means any kind of carriage, van, trailer, truck, bus, push-cart, motorcar, cycle or other means whatever of transport by land (whether roadworthy or not), and includes any delivery container, motor vehicle body, chassis part or motor, machinery or part thereof, or other similar article;
"vendor" and "peddler" mean any person who trades or does business by offering or displaying goods for sale or exchange other than at fixed premises and for such purpose moves his wares from place to place on foot, by vehicle, pack animal or carrier and includes a hawker;
"veterinarian" means any veterinary surgeon registered in terms of the Veterinary Surgeons Act (Cap. 61:04), and includes any stock inspector or veterinary assistant;
"waste container" means any approved container kept on food premises for the collection of waste food and its removal to a refuse bin.
PART II
Family Housing (regs 4-8)
No person shall occupy or cause or allow to be occupied any dwelling in such a manner that it is overcrowded or unhygienic or creates any other condition that constitutes a danger to the health of any person.
No person shall occupy or cause or allow to be occupied any dwelling or other premises unless an adequate supply of water is available to the occupants.
(1) No person shall occupy or cause or allow to be occupied any dwelling or other premises not provided with adequate and suitably situated sanitary conveniences for himself, his employees and all the occupiers of such dwelling or other premises.
(2) A water-closet shall be connected to an approved sewer system.
(3) No person shall keep or cause or allow to be kept any pit or pail privy or similar sanitary convenience in any building unless such building is used exclusively for this purpose; a pit or pail privy or similar sanitary convenience shall not be situated within 10 m and a conservancy tank or French drain shall not be situated within 2 m of any dwelling or business premises.
(4) A pit or pail privy or similar sanitary convenience and conservancy tank or French drain shall not be situated within 30 m of any water supply which can be polluted and which the public within the district of a local authority has the right to use or actually uses for drinking or domestic purposes.
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