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Infectious Disease.—Sections 109-110 (Clause 10 of the Bill) extend the prohibition of
home work in a house where there is infectious disease (which in the Factory and Workshop
Act, 1895, is limited to houses where wearing apparel is made, repaired, cleaned, &c., and in
which scarlet fever or small-pox exists): the prohibition to apply to such other classes of work
as may be specified by an Order of the Secretary of State; and the infectious diseases to which
the section applies, are the notifiable diseases; thus including plague, "fever," diphtheria,
erysipelas, &c. But the prohibition is of a limited character, not coming into force save by
an Order made by the Council of the district, or, in case of emergency, by any two members
of the Council, acting oil the advice of the Medical Officer of Health.
Abstract for Domestic Workshops.—Section 113 (Clause 13 of the Bill) enacts that the
"Secretary of State" (and not the "District Council," as, in the Bill) shall give notice of
the provisions of the Act relating to domestic factories and workshops, by publication of the
prescribed Abstract, or otherwise, as he thinks fit; section 114 (2) enacts that if manual labour
for the purposes of gain, in the making, altering, or adapting for sale of any article, is carried
on in a private house or room by the family (or any member of it) dwelling therein, and does not
furnish the whole or principal means of the family, the work shall not of itself constitute that
house or room a workshop
Power of Entry.—Section 125 (Clause 14 of the Bill) relates to the power of entry conferred
by Section 3 (2) of the Factory and Workshop Act, 1891, with respect to workshops; and
which is extended to workplaces, as defined in section 91 of the Public Health Act, 1875
and is also extended to all District Councils, so that the officials of the Borough Council will,
for the purpose of their duties with respect to workshops, &c., be empowered to enter all
workshops, &c., the same as an inspector, under this Act, as well as under the Public Health
(London) Act, 1891.
Register of Workshops.—Part Till.—Section 131 (Clause 1(5 of the Bill) requires every
District Council to keep a register of all workshops situate within their district.
Report of Medical Officer of Health.—Section 132 (Clause 17 of the Bill) requires the
Medical Officer of Health, in his annual report, to report specially on the administration of the
Act in workshops and workplaces, and to send a copy of his report to the Secretary of State.
Miscellaneous Provisions.—Section 133 restricts the notice to be given by the Medical
Officer of Health of the employment of a woman, young person, or child, in a workshop, to those
workshops in which no Abstract of the Act is affixed, as by the Act required. This "Abstract,"
however, can be purchased by the occupier, and its presence in a workshop, therefore, is not
necessarily evidence that the Factory Department have knowledge of the existence of the workshop;
but under Section 27 of the Public Health (London) Act, 1891, the Metropolitan Medical
Officer of Health is empowered to notifv the addresses of all workshops, without restriction,
where "protected" persons are known to be employed.
Saving for Existing Powers of the Council.—Part X.—Section 155 enacts that the
powers conferred by the Act on District Councils shall be in addition to, and not in substitution
for, any other powers which they may possess.
Men's Workshops-Section 157 excludes from the operation of the Act, in respect of men's
workshops, certain provisions, among others the sections in Part I. relating to temperature,
thermometers, means of ventilation, drainage of floors, sanitary conveniences, etc.; "men" being
workers over 18 years of age. Workshops in which persons of the male sex, under 18 years of age
are employed, are subject to the same regulations as women's workshops.
Register of Workshops.—Having regard to the duties devolved upon the Council with
respect to men's workshops, I thought it well to ask permission to copy the list of such workshops
kept at the Factory Department, at the Home Office, and it was courteously granted. The
list comprised 282 premises, at which trades were carried on, as follows:—Baker 73, bootmaker
21, builder 10, carpenter 7, cabinet maker 6, coach builder 10, cycle maker or repairer 14,
dental work 5, farrier 10, firewood maker 5, frame maker 11, jeweller 20, portmanteau maker 5,
saddler 7, tailor 33, upholsterer 5, wig maker 4, zinc worker 3, and sundry other trades, 33. The
list bore on the face of it evidence of incompleteness, due to the fact that only places where "young
persons" are employed are included therein, and it has since been largely supplemented as the
result of inquiries by the inspectors. The register which has been prepared is of a simpler
character than that of workshops, workplaces, laundries, &c., where women (i.e., females over
18), young persons (i.e., persons of both sexes under 18), and children (i.e., persons of both sexes
between 12 and 14) are employed, some of the provisions of the Act not being applicable to men's
workshops.