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281
[1903
morning, or the appointments that are fixed for him by builders and plumbers,
and on the convenience of householders, apart altogether from the direction
his work may be compelled to take by the receipt of certificates notifying
infectious diseases, which it is hardly necessary to say, vary very much from
day to day. Consequently work which is of such importance that it should be
systematically performed should not be placed on the shoulders of District Inspectors.
It was for this reason that the late Vestry appointed Inspectors to inspect
Houses let in Lodgings, Meat, Factories and Workshops, Laundries and
places where women are employed, and to obtain samples under the Sale of
Food and Drugs Acts.
New duties have been gradually added, and it will be in your recollection
that when the Metropolitan Boroughs came into existence, the London County
Council transferred to them the control of the Slaughterhouses, Cowhouses,
and the Dairies and Milkshops. The Factory, and Workshop Act, 1901, in no
uncertain manner, has placed on the shoulders of the Sanitary Authority the
duty of examining into the sanitary conditions under which work is performed
in workshops,workplaces, and in the homes of outworkers, and it has enacted
that the Medical Officer of Health shall report to the Home Secretary how this
work is executed. Among the places included in the definition of "Workplace"
are the kitchens of restaurants, and as there are fully four hundred of
them, it will be seen that in this item alone a very heavy duty is entailed.
Indeed it is evident that as these places should be visited at least every two
months to ensure there being kept in a sanitary state, this work alone will
require 2,400 visits, apart altogether from any return calls that may be necessary
for the supervision of any work that may have been demanded in sanitary
notices.
There are also 60c milkshops on the register, which should be visited at
least every three months, and would therefore entail 2,400 visits.
It is very apparent, judging from these two sets of duties alone, that the
work of inspection is heavy.
It might be well here to set out in more detail the work which at present
devolves on your staff, as compared with London as a whole.