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73
FACTORY AND WORKSHOP ACT, 1901.
WORKSHOPS AND WORKPLACES.
This Act came into operation on the 1st January, 1902, and during the
preceding year a systematic inspection of workshops and workplaces was
commenced in view of the additional obligations the Act imposed upon the
Corporation as a Sanitary Authority.
A Register of workshops was compiled from information supplied by H.M.
Factory Department, and by the end of the year under review (1904) all
these premises had been visited, in addition to the new workshops notified by
H.M. Factory Inspector from time to time.
Upon inspection it was found that many of the workshops entered had
long since ceased to be used, some were found not to be within the City's
limits, a number of factories had been included in error, whilst in other cases
the premises had since been demolished.
As the work progressed the errors above mentioned were eliminated, and
by the end of 1904 a Register of Workshops—complete so far as they were
then known to exist in the City—was in use.
This will be largely added to, from time to time, by systematic inspection
of the City, which has already brought to light many workshops not
previously known.
The City's Register of Workshops up to the end of the year shows 1,336
separate premises as existing, and containing 3,066 workshops. In my Annual
Report for 1902 I estimated that 2,500 workshops needed inspection, which, it
will be seen, has been considerably exceeded, whilst many more are still being
discovered.
With respect to workplaces there is no statutory obligation to register
them, but this course was adopted in the case of kitchens of restaurants, &c.,
with the result that we now have a complete Register of Kitchens known to
exist in the City, the total number being 918.
The workshops inspected by your Woman Inspector are included in the
above figures, but the details of the work performed appear under a separate
heading on page 90.