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31
Outworkers
Many firms arrange for some work to be undertaken as outwork
either under contract by other factories or by homeworkers and, in
order to check the spread of vermin or infectious disease, information
as to such outwork must be supplied in relation to certain classes of
work. Because smallpox and scarlet fever, the two diseases considered
most likely to be spread in this way, are no longer of serious concern
and verminous premises only infrequently discovered, the supervision
of outwork has become of less importance than heretofore. Nevertheless
the information supplied, which it must be remembered does not embrace
all forms of outwork, is still of use in that it enables some supervision
of the home circumstances.
A proportion of the homes have been visited each year and the
conditions are on the whole satisfactory, and no evidence has been
found of children being required to spend long hours on this type of
work or of it being carried out by groups of persons working in unhygienic
ill ventilated and ill lit rooms as occurred frequently at one
time. The rate of pay for outwork may not be good but it often
provides occupation for those who for one reason or another are unable
to go out to work and eases financial stresses.
The number of firms employing outworkers in
1957 was 164
The number of Finsbury outworkers employed
by them was 370
The number of non Finsbury outworkers
employed by them was 4,419
The number of Finsbury outworkers employed
by firms outside the Borough was 90
The total number of Finsbury outworkers
employed by firms in or outside the
Borough was 460
Of these 78 were firms and 382 homeworkers.
Number of visits paid to homes 335
The registers of outworkers which firms are required to maintain
are inspected as part of the routine during the inspection of the
factories concerned.