London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Islington 1900
Forty-fifth annual report on the health and sanitary condition of the Borough of Islington
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150
1900]
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| Nature of Business. | Number of Workshops. | Number of Workrooms |
|---|---|---|
| Picture-frame making | 1 | 1 |
| Bath glove making | 1 | 1 |
| Slate polishing | 1 | 1 |
| Sensitized paper preparing | 1 | 2 |
| Japanning | 1 | 1 |
| Camera bellows making | 1 | 1 |
| Bassinette hood making | 1 | 2 |
| Valentine making | 1 | 1 |
| Bottle washing | 1 | 2 |
| Cork cutting | 1 | 2 |
| Haversack making | 1 | 1 |
| Waterproof making | 1 | 1 |
| Funeral furnishing making | 1 | 1 |
| Blind making | 1 | 1 |
| Portmanteau making | 1 | 1 |
| Medical capsule making | 1 | 3 |
| Pattern card making | 1 | 1 |
| Gold beaters' skin preparing | 1 | 4 |
| Mattress making | 1 | 2 |
| Laundries | 202 | 491 |
| Total | 1,011 | 1,643 |
Inspections.—During the year I have paid 3,365 visits, having made 1,912 inspections and
1,453 calls and re-inspections. I have inspected 2,963 work-rooms. Besides the registered workshops
and laundries, I have inspected homes of female outworkers, the public conveniences for
women, and the sanitary arrangements for females employed in factories and steam laundries.
Overcrowding.—I found nineteen workrooms overcrowded. In these the overcrowding has been
abated. Eight of these workrooms were in the new workshops which have been added to this
district owing to the alteration of the boundaries. In one workshop seven workrooms were overcrowded.
This affords an illustration of the benefit of the system of having a card exhibited in
each workroom, stating its cubic capacity. In the premises in question, the workrooms had been
measured and their cubic capacity was stated on the Home Office form, which was kept in the office,
but the managers seemed to be ignorant of the fact that in each of the seven rooms two or three
persons more than the legal number were at work.
I have distributed 323 workroom cards in the course of the year.
Ventilation.—In two workrooms, structurally insufficiently ventilated, additional ventilators
have been provided.
On the whole, in the majority of the workrooms, more attention is paid than was formerly the
case to condition of the air of the rooms.
I find fewer windows and ventilators pasted over. In most cases the practice of heating the
rooms by gas jets only has been discontinued, and gas stoves have been substituted with good
results. There is still, however, great room for improvement in ventilation, and it is to be hoped
that in time the evils of breathing vitiated air will be more fully realised.
Cleanliness.—I found sixty workrooms in a dirty condition. These have been cleansed and
whitewashed.
Sanitary Defects.—In addition to the defects as regards cleanliness, &c., mentioned above, I have
discovered, in the course of my inspections, 185 sanitary defects, liable to be dealt with under the
Public Health Act. These are detailed in the appended summary of my work, and include fifteen
defective drains, five cases of insufficient sanitary accommodation, forty-one sanitary conveniences
with a defective water supply, &c.