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Factory and Workshop Act.
Under the provisions of section 132 of the Factory and Workshop Act, 1901, the medical officer
of health of every district is required to report, in his annual report, specifically on the administration
of this Act in workshops and workplaces, and to send a copy of his annual report, or so much of it as
deals with this subject, to the Secretary of State.
A form of table has been prepared for the guidance and convenience of medical officers of health
in the preparation of this part of their report and forwarded to them by the Local Government Board
at the request of the Secretary of State. A note on the table points out that " it is not intended to
supersede the fuller statement which is desirable in the text of the report but to provide for uniformity
in the presentation of such particulars as lend themselves to statistical treatment. The table
has, however, not sufficed to ensure the uniformity of statement which is needed and the
amount of information as to the administration of this Act which is contained in the annual reports
varies considerably. From the tables contained therein or supplied subsequently and from other
information, the summary table on pages 74 and 75 has been prepared. A similar table was included
in the report of the preceding year and comparison on certain points therefore may be made between
the figures relating to 1904 and 1905—
Including—
1904. 1905.
Number of workshops on register 34,488 35,187
Number of inspections 84,600 85,263
Total number of defects found 18,922 19,023
Want of cleanliness 5,752 6,522
Want of ventilation 799 828
Overcrowding 413 347
Sanitary accommodation*
Insufficient 403 284
Unsuitable or defective 8,645 8,411
Not separate for sexes 808 239
The figures, therefore, show some increase in the number of workshops on the register in 1905,
about the same number of inspections as in 1904, and a slight reduction in the number of defects found.
In several of the reports the statement is made that as the result of the work done workshops
are in better condition than formerly. Eeference is made to the use of basement rooms as workrooms,
and on this point Dr. Parkes, who says there are in Chelsea 19 such workrooms occupied by milliners
and dressmakers with accommodation for 167 workers, states that these rooms are by no means
* Exclusive of sanitary accommodation in Woolwich (one in 1904 and ten in 1905), insufficiently classified
for the purposes of the above table.