London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Kensington 1936
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]
This page requires JavaScript
The nature of the work given out to the166 home workers on the register is as follows :—
| Tailoring | 56 |
| Dressmaking | 40 |
| Hand knitting | 20 |
| Bootmaking | 16 |
| Linen working | 12 |
| Outfitting | 8 |
| Fancy goods | 5 |
| Drapery | 4 |
| Blouse making | 4 |
| Dyeing and cleaning | 1 |
| 166 |
No instance of infectious disease occurring in premises where home work is carried on was reported
during the year.
| Premises. | Number of | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Inspections. | Written notices. | Prosecutions. | |
| Factories (including factory laundries) | 865 | 66 | — |
| Workshops (including workshop laundries) | 1,465 | 58 | — |
| Workplaces (other than outworkers' premises) | 231 | 14 | — |
| Totals | 2,561 | 138 | — |
| Number of defects. | Number of prosecutions. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Particulars. | Found. | Remedied. | Referred to H.M. Inspector. | |
| Nuisances under the Public Health Acts :— | ||||
| Want of cleanliness | 98 | 94 | 2 | — |
| Want of ventilation | 10 | 10 | — | — |
| Overcrowding | — | — | — | — |
| Want of drainage of floors | 1 | 1 | — | — |
| Other nuisances | 79 | 72 | 2 | _ |
| Sanitary accommodation :— | ||||
| Insufficient | 3 | 1 | — | — |
| Unsuitable or defective | 100 | 83 | _ | _ |
| Not separate for sexes | 6 | 4 | — | - |
| Offences under the Factory and Workshop Act:— | ||||
| Illegal occupation of underground bakehouse (S. 101) | — | — | — | — |
| Breach of special sanitary requirements for bakehouses (Ss. 97 to 100) | — | — | — | — |
| Other offences (excluding offences relating to outwork and offences under the Sections mentioned in the Schedule to the Ministry of Health (Factories and Workshops Transfer of Powers) Order, 1921) | 4 | 4 | ||
| Totals | 301 | 269 | 4 | — |
III.—Outwork in Unwholesome Premises (Section 108). No case came to my notice during the year of outwork being carried on in unwholesome premises.