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53
SHOPS ACT, 1934.
The Shops Act, 1934, enacts that in every part of a shop in which persons are employed
about the business of the shop :—
(a) Suitable and sufficient means of ventilation shall be provided and suitable and
sufficient ventilation shall be maintained;
(b) suitable and sufficient means shall be provided to maintain a reasonable temperature
and a reasonable temperature shall be maintained
The Act also enacts that:—
"In every shop, not being a shop which is exempted, there shall be provided and maintained
suitable and sufficient sanitary conveniences available for the use of persons employed
in or about the shop."
A shop is exempted if there is in force a certificate exempting the shop, granted by the
Council, and any such certificate remains in force until it is withdrawn by the authority. No
such certificate may be granted unless the Council is satisfied that by reason of restricted accommodation
or other special circumstances affecting the shop it is reasonable that such a certificate
should be in force, and that suitable and sufficient sanitary conveniences are otherwise
conveniently available.
A certificate must be withdrawn if the Council is at any time not satisfied that it should
remain in force.
Up to the end of August, the inspection of the shop premises in the Borough was carried out
by the District Inspectors; for the remaining part of the year the work was performed by Mr. A.
C. Harrison, one of the Meat and Food Inspectors,
On the 4th February, 1936, the Council adopted the following standards regarding sanitary
accommodation :—
In shops where members of both sexes are employed separate sanitary conveniences for each sex
are to be provided if the number of assistants exceeds four; but if the number is four, or less, one
sanitary convenience is to be regarded as suitable and sufficient, provided that the door of such
convenience is fitted with a proper lock or fastener on the internal side and an automatic indicator
showing on the external side of the door whether the apartment is engaged or vacant.
With regard to the distance from a shop at which an outside convenience may be
situate, generally speaking, no certificate of exemption is to be granted unless the sanitary convenience
provided for a male assistant is less than 100 yards from the shop, and it may be a public
or private convenience. As regards a female shop assistant, the maximum distance is to be 25 yards
and the convenience must be a private one.
The following particulars relate to work carried out under the Shops Act, 1934, during the year: —
First inspections 284
Re-inspections 511
Exemption certificates as regards sanitary conveniences applied for 37
,, ,, granted 35
The following contraventions of the Act were discovered during the year :—
Insufficient sanitary conveniences 6
Sanitary conveniences unventilated 7
,, ,, improperly sealed from lobbies 9
Absence of lobbies to sanitary conveniences 18
Water-closet walls and ceilings defective or dirty 37
,, roofs defective 1
,, pans defective or dirty 6
,, windows defective 10
,, doors defective 26
,, fittings defective 18
Absence of indicators to water-closet doors 40
,, lighting to water-closets 1
Reasonable temperature not maintained 9
Insufficient ventilation 3