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1905]
186
FACTORY AND WORKSHOP ADMINISTRATION.
The Factory and Workshop Act of 1901 was, according to its title, an Act
to consolidate with amendments the various Factory and Workshop Acts. It
came into operation in the United Kingdom on January 1st, 1902, and it
consolidates the Acts of 1878, 1883, 1891 and 1895, as well as the Clothing
Factories Acts of 1889 and 1897.
By its 132nd section it requires that the Medical Officer of Health of
every District Council shall, in his annual report to them, report on the
administration of this Act in workshops and workplaces, and that he shall send
a copy of his annual report, or so much of it as deals with this subject, to the
Secretary of State.
The duties of the Borough Council are also defined, and they are made
responsible for the sanitary condition of workshops, for the enforcement of the
special sanitary regulations for bakehouses, and for the condition of places
where home work is carried on, so that such work may not be performed in
unwholesome dwellings.
The full particulars as to the duties of the Council were given in the
report of the Medical Officer of Health for 1903.
Although the work of the year was greatly interfered with owing to time
lost between the 7th June, when Miss Gray resigned, and the 27th August,
when Miss Brown commenced her duties, as well as to the illness of Inspector
West, which extended to two months, nevertheless it is satisfactory to be able
to say that through the efforts of the Inspectors the total number of inspections
exceeded the record of 1904 by 451.
Inspections and Visits. There are two Inspectors employed for
this purpose, viz.: Miss Brown, whose duty it is to inspect workshops and
workplaces where women are employed, as well as the homes of outworkers,
and Mr. West, who inspects all places where men work.
During the year 7,914 inspections and visits were paid by the Inspectors
to the several workshops and workplaces as compared with 7,463 in 1904 and
with an average of 7,293 in the preceding ten years. On only one occasion in
the preceding ten years has this number of inspections been exceeded and that
was in 1902, when they numbered 8,060.