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167
[1908
Workplaces are not defined in the Act, but the term is used in the Public
Health (London) Act, 1891, sec. 38, where the words " factory, workshop and
workplace" occurs, and it was held in a case (Bennett v. Harding) that the
word "workplace" is not to be limited to places where something is being
manufactured or made, but includes " any place where work is done permanently,
and where people assemble together to do work permanently of some kind or other.''''
It is, therefore, a word of wider signification than " workshop." In the case
mentioned a stable and stable yard where men were employed as cab cleaners
and horse keepers were held to be a workplaces. Since then the Secretary of
State has been advised that the kitchens of restaurants, etc., though they are
not workshops, come within the meaning of the term "workplace."
Duties of the Borough Council.—Factories.—The chief duty with
respect to factories is the enforcement of the 38th section of the Public Health
(London) Act, 1891, which requires that every factory, workshop or workplace
shall be provided with sufficient and suitable accommodation in the way of
sanitary conveniences.
Workshops and Workplaces.—The Borough Council has important duties
with respect to these places: (1) As to their sanitary conditions; (2) As to
special sanitary regulations for bakehouses; (3) As to home work.
(1) "Sanitary Conditions."—The Council is made responsible for the
sanitary condition of the workshops and workplaces, while the Factory
Inspector is responsible for the sanitary condition of factories. Sanitary
conditions include (a) Cleanliness; (b) Air space; (c) Ventilation, and
(d) Drainage of the floors.
(a) Cleanliness.—(Sec. 2). Every workshop and workplace must be kept in
a cleanly state and free from effluvia arising from any drain, privy
earth closet, water closet, urinal or other nuisance ; and if they be not
so kept the Council may deal with them under sec. 2 (g. i) of the
Public Health London Act, 1891.
(b) AirSpace.—(Sees. 2-3). Workshops and workplaces must not be
over-crowded so as to be dangerous or injurious to the health of the
persons employed, and if they are in this condition the Council is
empowered to deal with them as a nuisance under sec. 2 (iii) of the
Public Health (London) Act, 1891. Under sec. 3 (1) of the Factory
and Workshop Act, a workshop is overcrowded, " if the number of
cubic feet of space in any room therein bears to the number of
persons employed at one time in the room a proportion less than two
hundred and fifty, or, during any period of overtime, four hundred,