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36
Outworkers
Under section 110 of the Factories Act, 1937 the occupier of every
factory and every contractor employed by him must keep lists showing
the names and addresses of all outworkers directly employed by him and
of the places where they are employed, and must send to the district
council in February and in August of each year, copies of those lists
showing all outworkers so employed by him during the preceding six
months.
Section 111 of the same Act empowers the district council by notice
in writing to the occupier of a factory or to any contractor employed by
him to prohibit the employment of any persons as home workers in
premises which the council regard as injurious or dangerous to health.
The Home Work Order, 1911, specified the kinds of work to which
these two sections apply. The types of work consist mainly of wearing
apparel and various textiles, the making of paper bags, boxes, brushes,
baskets, artificial flowers, metal fittings, etc.
Outworkers were visited periodically by the district sanitary
inspectors.
The following is a list of trades concerned, extracted from the
August, 1954 lists received :—
Trade Outworkers
employed
Wearing apparel 217
Umbrellas 1
Artificial flowers 1
Boxmaking 14
Carding, etc., of buttons 1
Stuffed toys 2
Paper bags 1
Lampshades 2
Textile weaving 1
240
The inspectors made 469 visits and revisits during the year which
included some to places in which no work was being done at the time of
the visit, although the outworkers were prepared to restart work when
required. Reports were submitted to the Council at the end of the
first six months and again at the end of the year setting out the position
with regard to outworkers in the borough. No adverse comments were
made.
Rag Flock and Other Filling Materials Act, 1951
This Act came into force on November 1, 1951, and repealed the
Rag Flock Acts, 1911 and 1928 and section 136 of the Public Health
(London) Act, 1936. The Act is designed to secure the use of clean
filling materials in upholstered articles and other articles which are
stuffed or lined.