View report page

number of persons who may lawfully occupy each of such rooms, upon the scale of 250 cubic feet
per person, in conformity with the provision in the Factory and Workshop Act, 1901 (section 3,
sub-section (1). The Secretary of State, by an Order, under sub-section 3 of the same section, has
modified the requirement as to space in respect of workrooms at workshops (not being domestic
workshops) which are used by night as sleeping places, a minimum of 400 cubic feet being now
required for each person employed therein.
" Overcrowding has undergone a considerable diminution: in North Kensington one case
only occurred, and that under exceptional circumstances, and on two days only. In South
Kensington 25 cases of overcrowding were recorded, a reduction of 28 on the number in the preceding
year. Written intimations were sent in these 25 cases, and with one exception the nuisance
was immediately abated. In the excepted case proceedings had to be taken It was that of a
Court dressmaker, whose premises had been found overcrowded on several previous occasions
during the last six years. Verbal cautions and notices having been disregarded, the Public Health
Committee ordered two summonses to be taken out, and the defendant was fined £8 with costs ;
since which she has provided herself with additional accommodation.
" Sanitary Conveniences, etc.—Proper attention is now generally given to ensure cleanliness of
the sanitary conveniences attached to workshops; but in 63 cases they were found to be either
dirty, or dilapidated, or defective in water supply, compared with 118 cases in 1901. One closet in
direct communication with the kitchen of a restaurant was abolished; three closets with no direct
light or ventilation to the outer air were provided with windows or air shafts, and three supplied
direct from the drinking water cistern were provided with separate flushing services.
" Defective Workshops, Yards, etc.—At a number of registered premises, chiefly laundries in
North Kensington, roofs and floors found in a defective state and dilapidated, and unsafe staircases
leading to workrooms, have been satisfactorily repaired.
" Ventilation and Warming of Workrooms.—These matters mainly concern registered premises
in South Kensington*: 53 workrooms (compared with 91 in 1901) having been found either
insufficiently warmed, or warmed in such a manner, by open gas-jets and gas iron-heaters, as to
impair the purity of the air, written intimations were served, and the nuisance was abated by the
substitution of coal fires or hygienic gas-stoves. In one instance the manager of a large business
establishment, on our representing to him the insufficient temperature of his workrooms in the
early morning, adopted the recommendation to have the fires lighted for a considerable time before
the arrival of the workers, much to the comfort of the workers and to the advantage of their
employers.
"Infectious Disease.—Notifiable cases of illness occurred at thirty workshops or houses
connected therewith, viz.: Diphtheria—at a dressmaker's, and three laundries; and in the homes of
two laundry outworkers in the North district; Scarlet Fever—at two dressmakers in the South
district, and three laundries and a tailor's in the North district; Enteric Fever —at a laundry and a
tailor's workshop ; Erysipelas—at a dressmaker's, a laundry, and two tailor's workshops ; Chicken-pox
—at a dressmaker's, three laundries, and five miscellaneous workshops, all in the North district.
The necessary precautions were taken, and work was suspended until after the disinfection of the
premises.
"Outworkers—Under the Factory and Workshop Act, 1901, Sec. 107, the occupier of any
factory or workshop, or the occupier of any place from which any work is given out, is directed to
keep lists of all outworkers employed, and to send on or before the 1st day of February and the 1st
day of August in each year, copies of these lists to the Council of the district in which the factory
or workshop is situate. With a view to make known to the occupiers of workshops, etc., the duty
devolved upon them by the Act in this regard, notice was given in the local newspapers, by way of
advertisement, and a copy of the notice was forwarded to upwards of 1,000 persons, in occupation
of premises where the scheduled businesses were being carried on, together with a print of the
" Home Work Order," issued by the Secretary of State, and the schedule attached thereto,
indicating the particulars required to be supplied, and the proper form of the return. In February,
73 lists of outworkers were received, 43 from the North district and 30 from the South, comprising
the names and addresses of 375 outworkers; 130 in the North and 245 in the South district. The
outworkers residing within the borough were visited, and the names and addresses of all those
working for firms within the borough, but not residing therein, were forwarded to the medical
officers of the boroughs in which the said outworkers resided. Corresponding information was
received with respect to 81 outworkers living in the borough, but employed by firms in other
districts. In the majority of cases the homes of the outworkers were found in a cleanly condition,
and in the case of those employed in tailoring, separate rooms were reserved as workshops. Cases
of infectious disease occurred in eight houses where outworkers were known to reside, but in three
cases only (Diphtheria 2, Scarlet Fever 1) did the illness occur actually in the rooms occupied by the
outworkers. In these three cases (children of ironers for laundries in the North district) work was
stopped till after the removal of the sick and disinfection of the premises. The other cases were,
Enteric Fever 1, Erysipelas 2, Chicken-pox 5. The houses where these cases occurred were visited,
but it was not found necessary to stop the work. Since August 1st, when, according to the Act, the
lists were again due, only 23 have been received; 20 from the North district, comprising 56 names,
and 3 from the South, with 21 names of outworkers. The total number of known outworkers
resident in the borough at the close of the year was 222; of these 19 only (chiefly tailors) were
aliens, and in each case work was carried on either in a shop or a room kept solely as a workshop.
" Restaurants and Dining Rooms.—The inspection of these places, reported on in 1901, was
continued last year with satisfactory results. In the South district a water-closet opening directly
out of the kitchen of a restaurant was abolished, there being other accommodation on the premises;
and a water-closet, lighted and ventilated direct from the dining-room of a restaurant was reconstructed
so as to obtain direct light and ventilation to the outer air.
" Complaints—of overcrowding, &c., usually come from workers, visitors or societies, such as
the Industrial Law Committee, the Women's Industrial Council. &c. Complaints relating to