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
City of Westminster 1904
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Westminster, City of]
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59
places already on the register is constantly changing. This is especially
true with regard to home workers' premises, of which we have
knowledge of 1,543.
Since the appointment of two Women Inspectors by the Council, it
has been possible to overtake the work of supervision required by the
Factory and Workshops Acts to a considerable extent and with much
beneficial effect. From the Table below it will be seen that 1,152
defects have been found and remedied during the year; but this is not a
complete list, as many defects in connection with houses in which
work-places are situate have been included in the list given under
" House Inspections." One hundred and fifty defects are stated to have
been notified by the Home Office, but in a certain proportion the
matter was already receiving attention.
Defects found.
| Particulars. | Number of Defects. | Number of Prosecutions. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Found. | Notified by Home Office. | Remedied. | ||
| Nuisances under the Public Health Acts :—1 | ||||
| Want of cleanliness | 171 | 52 | 223 | — |
| Want of ventilation | 88 | 14 | 109 | — |
| Overcrowding | 48 | 22 | 70 | — |
| Want of drainage of floors | 20 | 20 | — | |
| Gas stoves improperly ventilated | 40 | 12 | 52 | — |
| Other nuisances | so | 3 | 33 | 1 |
| Sanitary accommodation— | ||||
| Insufficient | 56 | 3 | 59 | — |
| Unsuitable or defective | 445 | 17 | 462 | — |
| Not separate for sexes | 67 | 27 | 94 | — |
| Offences under the Factory and Workshop Act:— | ||||
| Illegal occupation of underground bakehouses (Sec. 101) | — | — | - | — |
| Breach of special sanitary requirements for bakehouses (Sees. 97 to 100) | 2 | - | 2 | - |
| Failure as regard lists of outworkers (Sec. 107) | 20 | 20 | - | |
| Giving out work to be done in premises which are— | ||||
| Unwholesome (Sec. 108) | — | — | — | — |
| Infected (Sec. 110) | 15 | 15 | — | |
| Allowing wearing apparel to be made in premises infected by scarlet fever or small-pox (Sec. 109) | - | - | - | - |
| Other offences | — | — | — | — |
| Total | 1,002 | 150 | 1,152 | 1 |
* Including those specified in Sections 2, 3, 7 and"8 of the Factory Act as remediable
under the Public Health Acts.