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chemical test of the air the period during which the available
means of ventilation have been in use must remain a matter of
conjecture. During the year 21 notices have been served for
insufficient ventilation of workshops. In 11 other instances it has
been necessary to serve notices requiring the provision of means for
the carrying off of fumes from gas stoves, etc. Six notices have
been sent to the Home Office in respect of factories and workshops
which were not effectively heated, and three notices were sent in
respect of insufficient ventilation in factories.
(d) Drainage of Floors where wet processes are carried on.—
The "wet processes" carried on in Finsbury, speaking generally,
are small laundries, of which there are 21 on the register. In seven
workshops and one factory, it has been necessary to require more
adequate drainage.
(e) Provision of Suitable and Sufficient Sanitary Conveniences.—In
respect to this matter we have again found it
necessary to take considerable action. Speaking of small workshops it
must be said in the first place that the sanitary conveniences are situated
in the back yards near the workshops as a rule, and do not gain in
suitability on that account; in the second place, they were constructed
for the use of the residents in the house, at one time a
single family, and latterly several families living on the tenement
system, and now have to serve also as the sanitary convenience for
the workshop. Consequently we may have one sanitary convenience,
not infrequently ill-situated, acting for the house and workshop.
This is undesirable, but it is impracticable in many cases to arrange
otherwise.
In not a few cases the difficulty is due to the fact that whole
floors of, or rooms in, large buildings are let out without reference
to, or arrangements for, sanitary convenience accommodation as
regards the separation of sexes. In large firms owning entire
buildings there is generally ample provision.
In enforcing Section 9 of the Act we have not been without
difficulties, which are not lessened by the fact that many of the