View report page

81
APPENDIX.
METROPOLITAN BOROUGH OF HACKNEY.
To the Chairman and Members of the Public Health Committee.
Town Hall, Hackney,
February, 1903
Gentlemen,
In accordance with your instruction of the 6th November, 1902, I
have inspected the whole of the underground bakehouses in the
Borough of Hackney, and beg herewith to submit my report on the
same.
The business of a baker has justly been regarded as an unhealthy
trade. The comparative mortality figure stands at 958, that for all
occupied males at 967, and all males at 1000. The death.rate for
bakers and confectioners in the years 1880.2. between the ages of 25
and 45 years, was 8.70 per 1000, and between the ages of 45 and 65
years, 26.12 per 1000. A part of this mortality is no doubt inseparable
from the trade. The workers are exposed to great fluctuations
of temperature during their work. The humidity of the atmosphere
varies greatly, both heat and moisture being at their maximum during
the emptying of the ovens. The workers are also exposed to
dust and steam, and at times to disagreeable emanations from the
materials used. Most of the baking is done during the night, and
the hours of employment are exceptionally long.
It has been observed that all night workers are pale, of a low tone
of body, and are subject to many ailments. But while some of the
high mortality of bakers and confectioners may be inseparably connected
with the business of baking, a large part of it may be attributed
to the bakehouses in which they spend their working hours.