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280
1908
DUTIES OF SANITARY INSPECTORS.
To the Chairman and Members of the Public Health Committee.
Gentlemen,
During the last twelve years, or since the Public Health (London)
Act, 1891, came into force, there has been an increasing number of Sanitary
Inspectors appointed by the different Metropolitan Sanitary Authorities to
enable them to carry into effect the duties which have been imposed on them
by that Act. Thus in 1893 the total number of Sanitary Inspectors in London
was only 188, whereas in 1903 it was 301, or an increase of 60 per cent. This
increase has been particularly noticeable during the last two years, during
which period Paddington has added 6 to its staff, Hammersmith 1, Marylebone
1, Hampstead 2, St. Pancras 2, Stoke Newington 1, Finsbury 2, City 3,
Stepney 1, Bermondsey 2, Battersea 2, Camberwell 2, Deptford 2, Greenwich 2,
Lewisham 2, Woolwich 1. In other districts there has been no occasion to
add to their staffs, because when the Boroughs were recently formed it was
found that the duties could be adequately performed by the Inspectors of the
combined districts, or that even, as in three Boroughs a reduction could be
made. This, however, involved only 4 Inspectors.
A most noticeable feature in the character of the work allotted to the
Inspectors is that, whereas formerly their duties were of a similar character
generally, they now differ greatly, as special men are generally being appointed
for special work; thus it has become customary, as in the great Boroughs of
the country, to appoint men to look after Food, Factories and Workshops;
Houses let in Lodgings, the administration of Food and Drugs Acts, House
to House Inspection, Infectious Diseases, Dairies, Cowsheds and Milkshops,
Ice Creams, and other matters.
Islington was one of the first districts in London to recognise the necessity
for the sub-division of work in this manner, for as the duties increased it
became very evident that the ordinary district Inspector had his time fully
occupied in gaining information as to infectious diseases, in attending to
complaints from householders and others, in inspecting houses and in supervising
drainage work. Indeed it is not too much to say that it almost
impossible for him to map out his duty twelve hours in advance, because his
day's work must largely depend on the complaints that are received each