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79
by four women, there was a disused w.c. in a very objectionable condition.
In the neighbourhood of the market certain fruit and vegetable
firms nave premises in some of which women are employed. In one of
these, in a space which on the Factory Act scale would allow 40 persons,
90 women were found sitting as close together as possible, the seating
accommodation occupying about two-thirds of the floor space. It was
admitted that in wet weather 20 women who usually work in the open
were also sent to this room. It is a fairly well ventilated room when
not overcrowded. Work is carried on from 3 a.m. to mid-day during
three or four months of the year. It is evidently necessary to make
inspections during these special seasons to ensure that better arrangements
are maintained.
Outworkers.—Firms giving out work in certain trades are required
to send in a list twice a year of those they employ. Outworkers
are constantly changing their addresses and their employers, so that
it is difficult to maintain a correct register. Less trouble has been
experienced in getting in the lists since the Council adopted the plan
of sending a printed form to all known or likely employers to be filled
up by them; in addition 34 visits of enquiry to ascertain if outworkers
were employed were made by the women inspectors.
The accompanying table gives the details of the returns made in Westminster
in 1911. 603 lists were sent in by employers ; 3,357 addresses
were sent to other local authorities in whose jurisdiction lived persons to
whom work, chiefly tailoring, is sent from Westminster to be done in other
boroughs; 550 addresses were received of persons in Westminster taking
in work from other boroughs. They were distributed thus:—