London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Kensington 1902
Annual report on the health, sanitary condition, etc., etc., of the Royal Borough of Kensington for the year1902
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whether anonymous or otherwise. They generally prove to be well founded. Complaints regarding
long hours of work are referred to the Lady Factory Inspectors' Department at the Home Office.
Complaints of nuisances observed by the factory inspectors, and forwarded by His Majesty's
Superintending Inspector of Workshops, received due attention.
" General—We are pleased to report that our visits to registered premises are generally
welcomed by employers, who, as a rule, willingly conform to the provisions of the law, when
informed of them. We find an increasing readiness on the part of the occupiers to carry out our
requirements on verbal request only; and even in those cases where written intimations were
served, a reference to the table at the end of this Report will show that, especially in the South
district, only a small proportion of statutory notices were necessary to secure cleansing, repairs, etc.
In no case, during the year, was difficulty experienced in obtaining admittance to any workshop,
laundry, or workplace."
Appended to the report is the subjoined table, setting out certain particulars of the work of the year so far as this admits of tabulation.
| North Kensington. | South Kensington. | Total for Borough. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dressmakers. | Laundries. | Miscellaneous | Total | Dress makers | Laundries. | Miscellaneous | Total. | ||
| Workshop inspections | 93 | 451 | 287 | 831 | 1,009 | 66 | 271 | 1,346 | 2,177 |
| „ re-inspections | 18 | 161 | 16 | 195 | 241 | 11 | 53 | 305 | 500 |
| • Workroom inspections | 129 | 1,867 | 310 | 2,306 | 1,572 | 151 | 388 | 2,111 | 4,417 |
| Workrooms found overcrowded | — | 1 | - | 1 | 18 | — | 7 | 25 | 26 |
| ,, insufficiently ventilated | 8 | 11 | 8 | 22 | 40 | — | 13 | 53 | 75 |
| ,, in a dirty condition | 4 | 86 | 13 | 103 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 16 | 119 |
| ,, measured; number of | 8 | 18 | 4 | 30 | 154 | 1 | 23 | 178 | 208 |
| Workshops, &c., reported to H.M. Inspector, on discovery | 4 | 8 | 6 | 18 | 40 | 1 | 7 | 48 | 66 |
| Workshops, &c., reported by H.M. Inspector | 3 | 3 | — | 6 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 22 |
| Workshops, &c., newly discovered and registered | 6 | 9 | 38 | 53 | 52 | 1 | 71 | 124 | 177 |
| Workshops, &c., removed from register | 17 | 8 | 2 | 27 | 29 | 5 | 1 | 35 | 62 |
| Houses visited for enquiry where no females were employed* | 7 | 4 | 177 | 188 | 30 | 7 | 96 | 133 | 321 |
| Domestic workshops and workplaces inspected | 13 | 105 | 91 | 209 | 38 | 11 | 32 | 81 | 290 |
| Written intimations issued | 1 | 86 | 6 | 93 | 66 | 3 | 18 | 87 | 180 |
| Statutory notices issued | 1 | 31 | 1 | 33 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 16 | 49 |
| 1 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 13 | — | 7 | 20 | 26 | |
| (b) Rooms cleansed and whitewashed | — | 66 | 2 | 68 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 75 |
| (c) Yards, floors, roofs, &c., repaired | — | 38 | 4 | 42 | 3 | 1 | — | 4 | 46 |
| 1 | 19 | — | 20 | 34 | 1 | 8 | 43 | 63 | |
| (e) Dustbins provided or repaired | — | 5 | — | 5 | 6 | — | 2 | 8 | 13 |
| (f) Miscellaneous defects remedied | 1 | 26 | 2 | 29 | 15 | — | 5 | 20 | 49 |
| Nuisances reported to Medical Officer of Health | 8 | 8 | 15 | 26 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 37 |
| Cases of overcrowding of workshops abated | — | 1 | — | 1 | 18 | — | 7 | 25 | 26 |
| Workroom cards distributed, number of | HI | — | 5 | 36 | 181 | — | 22 | 203 | 239 |
* Houses, that is at which the business plate, or the local directory, or advertisements in newspapers, implied a probability
that female workers would be employed, but at which none were found.