London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Kensington 1938
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]
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| Trade or Business. | Factories in which power is used. | Factories in which power is not used. | Total. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Radio repairers | 3 | 8 | |
| Sadlers | _ | 1 | 1 |
| Sausage makers | 24 | 24 | |
| Scrap metal dealers | _ | 2 | 2 |
| Sign writers | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Soft furnishers | — | 0 | 2 |
| Starch manufacturers | 1 | — | 1 |
| Steam pressers | 3 | — | 3 |
| Stonemasons | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| Sundries | 11 | 11 | 22 |
| Tailors | 17 | 97 | 114 |
| Toilet requisites | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Toy makers | 1 | — | 1 |
| Trunk makers | _ | 6 | 6 |
| Umbrella manufacturers | 2 | — | 2 |
| Undertakers | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| Upholstery | 2 | 19 | 21 |
| Wax figures | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Watch makers | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Wheelwrights | 1 | — | 1 |
| Wig makers | — | 4 | 4 |
| Window blind makers | — | 1 | 1 |
| Window screen manufacturers | 2 | — | 2 |
| Totals | 402 | 555 | 957 |
Outworkers.
The requirements of the new Act with regard to outworkers are substantially the same as those
contained in the 1901 Act. An occupier of a factory is required to keep a list in a prescribed form
of all outworkers employed and to send copies of the list twice annually to the district council.
Where a list includes outworkers employed outside the borough the council must send the names
of such outworkers to the authority concerned.
Of the 225 outworkers employed in the borough, 66 are employed in factories within the
meaning of the Factories Act, 1937, whilst the remaining 159 are genuine outworkers engaged in
their homes on the work given out to them by various firms and contractors in Kensington and
other districts.
The nature of the work given out to the 159 home workers on the register is as follows :—
| Hand knitting | 54 |
| Tailoring . | 45 |
| Dressmaking | 26 |
| Bootmaking | 11 |
| Linen working | 9 |
| Sundries | 8 |
| Fancy goods | 4 |
| Chair caning | 2 |
| 159 |
During the year there have been seven cases of infectious disease (two of diphtheria and five
of scarlet fever) in outworkers' premises. In each case the employers of the respective outworkers
were informed, and work was suspended until the patient had been isok ;ed in hospital, and the
material on hand and the premises had been satisfactorily disinfected.