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Housing Act, 1957 • Closing Orders
During the year 5 Closing Orders were made and Closing Orders on 9 properties were
determined.
Offices, Shops & Railway Premises Act, 1963
(1) Registration and Inspections
A programme of street-by-street inspections of all premises has continued during the year
to ascertain any existing or new premises covered by the Act which have not returned registration
forms. The occupiers have been notified of the necessity for doing this, and only in a few
instances has any difficulty occurred in obtaining the necessary form O.S.R.I.
A total of 2347 inspections of all kinds were made of registered premises, of which 896
were general inspections; the majority of the remaining inspections were in the form of revisits
to ascertain if the necessary works had been carried out.
Initial inspections to food premises and hairdressers have continued to be carried out
by the District Public Health Inspectors in the normal course of their duties.
(2) Operation of the General Provisions of the Act
Cleanliness
It was necessary to draw the occupiers' attention to the lack of cleanliness in 49 cases
during the year. Most of these were relating to storerooms, staffrooms, passages and staircases.
Overcrowding
The Section relating to this became fully operative on 1st August last, and reinspections
were carried out of all premises where contraventions would occur after this date. In all
except two cases, the overcrowding had been remedied prior to the coming into operation
of the Section, and in the other two instances work was in progress to provide suitable
offices.
Temperature
It has been found again that most employers provide adequate heating or heating points
for staff, the most usual contravention being the absence of a thermometer.
Ventilation
In most premises this was found satisfactory, but in a number of shops small cash desks
were provided without adequate ventilation either into the shop itself or direct to the outside
air. Another problem is one of security of the premises, and a number of employers
are reluctant to provide permanent ventilation openings as these appear to provide means
of access to intruders.
Lighting
This was usually found to be adequate and the main contravention was the failure to maintain
the fittings provided, particularly on staircases and in passages.
Sanitary Conveniences
The most usual contraventions of the Act and Regulations were the lack of marking, lack
of cleanliness, and the failure to maintain adequate lighting. In a number of cases additional
facilities have been provided, necessitating alterations to the buildings.
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