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174
1903]
depression in trade. In any case a great improvement has taken place in
recent years, especially since the late Vestry commenced to distribute cards to
the owners of workshops for hanging up in the workrooms, showing the cubic
capacity of the rooms and the number of persons who can be legally employed
in them. During the year 339 of these cards were distributed.
Ventilation.—Only 13 workshops, apart from bakehouses, were discovered
with insufficient ventilation. At the end of the year, however, 11 of
these places had been put into a satisfactory state.
With respect to bakehouses a great deal has been done under the supervision
of your Medical Officer of Health and your Chief Inspector. At the
beginning of the year there was not a single underground bakehouse that was
satisfactorily ventilated, while many of them were dependant on such ventilation
as windows provide. At the present time there is not one of these bakehouses,
and they are 117 in number, that is not provided with independent
inlet and other ventilators. That they will be always kept at work is another
matter, for shortly after they had been erected it was discovered that in several
instances the inlet ventilators had been occluded, and in most cases without
the slightest justification for the action.
The overground bakehouses are at present engaging attention, and it is
hoped that in every case where a ventilator, independent of windows, is required
that it will be provided.
Drainage of Floors. —Theworkshops in Islington which require drainage
of floors are laundries, bottle washing, pickle making and gut scraping
workshops. In no other places are any wet processes used in which
women are employed with men, and it is in only such cases that the
law is applicable. Such of the laundries as are workshops were all attended to
in previous years.
Sanitary Accommodation.—In 30 instances it was discovered that
factories or workshops were without sufficient sanitary accommodation, but
after the service of notice on the owners the deficiency was in every case made
good. In 5 instances this accommodation was required in workshops where
women were employed, and in 25 instances where only men worked. In 6
instances the accommodation was unsuitable, and had to be replaced by new
sanitary conveniences, and in 5 instances separate accommodation was provided.