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201
[1906
the making, altering, repairing, or ornamenting, finishing or adapting for
sale of any article, and to or over which the employer of the persons
working there has the right of access or control.
(3) Any workplace (termed in the Act " tenement workshop ") in
which, " with the permission of or under agreement with the owner or
occupier, two or more persons carry on any work which would constitute
the workplace or workshop of the persons working therein, were in the
employment of the owner or occupier."
Laundries do not come within the definition of "factory" or "workshop;"
but under sect. 103 are, so far as sanitation and means of escape from fire are
concerned, to be treated as factories, if mechanical power is used, and as
workshops if mechanical is not used.
Workplaces are not defined in the Act, but the term is used in the Public
Health (London) Act, 1891, sec. 38, where the words " factory, workshop and
workplace" occurs, and it was held in a case (Bennett v. Harding) that the
word " workplace " is not to be limited to places where something is being
manufactured or made, but includes "any place where work is done permanently,
and where people assemble together to do work permanently of some kind or other."
It is, therefore, a word of wider signification than " workshop." In the case
mentioned a stable and stable yard where men were employed as cab cleaners
and horse keepers were held to be a workplace. Since then the Secretary of
State has been advised that the kitchens of restaurants, etc., though they are
not workshops, come within the meaning of the term " workplace."
Duties of the Borough Council.—Factories.—The chief duty with
respect to factories is the enforcement of the 38th section of the Public Health
(London) Act, 1891, which requires that every factory, workshop or workplace
shall be provided with sufficient and suitable accommodation in the way of
sanitary conveniences.
Workshops and Workplaces.—The Borough Council has important duties
with respect to these places: (1) As to their sanitary conditions ; (2) As to
special sanitary regulations for bakehouses; (3) As to home work.
(1) " Sanitary Conditions."—The Council is made responsible for the
sanitary condition of the workshops and workplaces, while the Factory
Inspector is responsible for the sanitary condition of factories. Sanitary
conditions include (a) Cleanliness; (6) Airspace; (c) Ventilation, and
(d) Drainage of the floors.