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FACTORIES
There is considerable industrial activity in Camberwell,
mainly in the northern half of the Borough. At the end of the
year the factories register contained the addresses of 1,342 such
premises and the following table shows the principal industries
in which they were engaged:
Cabinet making, joinery and other woodwork 89
Engineering, motor and cycle repairs, coach building, etc. 236
Wearing apparel 204
Laundries, dyers and cleaners 45
Printing and sundries, photographic processes, bookbinding etc. 86
Metalwork 72
Furniture, upholstery, perambulators, etc. 31
Instruments and instrument cases 13
Preparation and storage of food 37
Paper making and sorting, stationery, cardboard boxes, etc. 31
Miscellaneous 498
Total 1,342
Briefly, the expression "factory" includes any premises
in which persons are employed in manual labour in any process
for or incidental to the making of any article or any part thereof,
the altering, repairing, ornamenting, finishing, cleaning, washing
or breaking up of any article, or for the adapting for sale of any
article etc. It will be appreciated that a large number of
premises in the above table, although falling within this definition,
are small businesses employing only one or two people.
The local sanitary authority is responsible for enforcing the
legislation relating to sanitary accommodation in all the factories
in its area and in those factories where mechanical power is not
used it is also their duty to ensure the maintenance of a satisfactory
standard of cleanliness, temperature and ventilation, the
effective drainage of floors and the prevention of overcrowding.
At the end of the year there were 270 factories in the Borough
where mechanical power is not used.
The Public Health Inspectors made 330 visits of inspection
to these premises during 1957 and 9 notices were served to
remedy contraventions of the Factories Acts.
On the whole conditions in factories in this Borough are
satisfactory. Indeed, in most of the larger industrial undertakings
the managements are very mindful of the well-being of
their employees and take steps to ensure that the circumstances
in which they work are as comfortable as is reasonably possible.