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in number, 37, came those relating to an unsanitary state of w.c.'s
and drains. Ventilation was found deficient or not maintained in 41
workrooms. Overcrowding existed in 20 workrooms. Separate
sanitary accommodation was lacking in 6 cases where members of
both sexes were employed on the premises. Damp walls, ceilings,
etc., were found in 19 workshops. General nuisances relating to
defective conditions of yards, guttering, rain-water pipes, floors,
roofs, and dustbins amounted to 43.
We have now on the register 946 workshops, including 166
laundries, in which women and female young persons are employed.
Workroom cards shewing the number of persons permitted in each
room have been distributed to 123 workrooms.
Outworkers. — The work in connection with the inspection of
premises occupied by outworkers has increased very considerably
during the past year. The Factory and Workshop Act of 1901,
which came into force on 1st January, 1902, gave to District Councils
very important powers of controlling the conditions under which
certain classes of work are done in the homes of the workers. In
addition to the benefits conferred upon the workers by improved
sanitary surroundings, these inspections are frequently the means of
bringing to light workshops which have previously escaped notice.
The magnitude of this work may be judged by the fact that the
outworkers resident in this district at the end of 1902 (as far as
ascertained) numbered 1,600, and that this number is being almost
daily increased by the receipt of further lists of workers from employers
and local authorities. Of this large number I have only been
able to visit 219, for a great proportion of the time I felt justified in
devoting to this branch of my duty had to be given up to clerical
work in connection with the registration of employers, and of the
outworkers employed by them. Of course the initial work in this
respect was the heaviest, but each year in February and August some
considerable amount of time must be consumed in examining the
lists sent in, and in the registration of new names and addresses.