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79
to get the lists, and as the object sought for is to obtain the names of
outworkers who may be taken on for short intervals, it would be better
to require lists to be sent in once a year, and further require employers
to send in the names of any other outworkers they may take on during
the year.
"Clause 6. Underground Workshops.—It is proposed that such
workshops shall not be used unless certified in the same way as bakehouses
have been. This would be useful, especially if extended to
include ' workplaces,' which would bring in many places where food is
prepared; but as no provision is made in this Bill or in the FactoryAct
for the withdrawal of such certificate if at any time the premises
are found not to comply with the requirements, a clause should be
introduced giving a magistrate power to close an underground bakehouse
or workshop on being shown that it was unsuitable for use.
" Clause 34 prohibits the employment of a woman within two months,
and eventually within six months after the birth of a child. The
Conference on Infant Mortality recommended that the period be three
months, but also goes further in prohibiting the employment of a
woman for a similar period before her confinement.
" Clause 69 extends the sanitary provisions of the Factory Act to
men's workshops. One of the sections of the Act which would be
applicable is No. 9, which requires ' proper separate accommodation for
persons of each sex.' This is a very useful power for buildings
which are wholly occupied as workshops or factories, but it presses very
hardly in the case of a single workshop (perhaps only one room) in a
house let out in tenements. Were there no workshop one w.c. for
twelve persons would be provided irrespective of Sex, but so soon as
women are employed separate accommodation must be found for them.
If this section is extended to male employees then a workshop in a
tenement house will require to have a w.c. set apart for the men. In
my opinion, the application of the section in such cases should be left
to the discretion of the Local Authority."
The Bill was eventually withdrawn.
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