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140
1897
I append a table giving particulars as to the trades carried oil in the different
workshops.
Two hundred and twenty-nine workshops containing 280 workrooms have been added
to the registers during the year; 87 workshops have been removed from them, owing to
various causes, such as:—the giving up of the business, removal from the Parish, or the
introduction of machinery into laundries.
I have notified to the Homo Office the addresses of 138 workshops not previously
visited by H.M. Inspectors of Factories.
Inspections.—I have inspected 1,361 workshops, containing 2,302 workrooms, and I
have made 1,320 calls and re-inspections, in reference to work being carried out under
notice, &c.
The above figures include 13 inspections of the three public lavatories for women, as
well as visits paid to the homes of outworkers and the smaller laundries.
Cleanliness.—I found 113 workrooms in a dirty condition. These have been cleansed
and whitewashed. Mora than half of those rooms were washhouses and ironing rooms in
laundries, where the steam combining with the dust from the stoves makos frequent whitewashing
a necessity. Notices for cleansing in laundries have usually been accompanied by
notices asking for repairs in floors, ceilings or walls. In one case the house was so
dilapidated that the tenants had to leave before any repairs could be carried out.
Ventilation.—In six workrooms I found that the means of ventilation was inadequate
In these rooms additional ventilators have been provided. Every winter the difficulty of
sufficiently ventilating the workrooms recurs. There is great need for hygienic education
for the women and girls employed, to rouse them to do their share in keeping the rooms
in a healthy condition.
Overcrowding.—I found eleven workrooms to be overcrowded. In these the number of
persons at work has been reduced. As the overcrowding occurred during the busy season,
additional accommodation was, as a rule, provided for the extra hands. Six of the overcrowded
workrooms were among those that were " newly discovered" during the year.
I have distributed 184 workroom cards stating the number of persons who may be
employed in each room.
In comparing the figures of my previous reports with those of this year, it will
observed that there has been a steady decrease in the number of cases of overcrowding
discovered during inspection. The figures are :—
In the 7 months ending 31st December, 1895, there were 29 cases reported.
,, 12 „ 31st December, 1896, „ 27 ,,
„ 12 „ 31st December, 1897, „ 11 „
Before the amount of cubic space required per head in workshops was definitely stated
by the Factory Act of 1895, many employers were very much in the dark as to what constituted
overcrowding. One dressmaker frankly told mo that, in the season, she always
had as many workers as Bhe could possibly seat in her room, without troubling as to
whether it was overcrowded or not, and many others seem to have acted on the same