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19
Outworkers
Employers (representing 261 different firms) submitted lists in respect of 2,289 outworkers. Of this
figure 989 resided in Westminster, whilst a further 174 notified to the City by other authorities brought
the total of resident outworkers to 1,163. The nature of the different classes of work involved and the
number of outworkers engaged in each is shown in Table 23, page 62.
Food Shops and Catering Premises—Inspection
Although registration of catering and food premises, as such, is not required by statute, the numbers
of these premises in the City are estimated as 4,500 catering premises and 2,270 food premises. During
the year some 5,766 visits were made by the public health inspectors to catering premises, and 3,225
to food premises. Defects noted were brought to the attention of the person having control, and
249 informal notices drawing attention to contraventions of the Food Hygiene (General) Regulations,
1960, and/or the Offices, Shops and Railway Premises Act, 1963, were issued. Other matters, including
infectious disease and food poisoning enquiries, involved some 600 visits.
The general shortage of public health inspectors during the year led to some curtailment in the
activities of those employed in the inspection of these premises; this particularly related to inspections
to assess compliance with the Offices and Shops legislation.
Many of the defects found related to dirty conditions. These were invariably due to lack of directive
or positive management to rectify the careless attitude of members of the staff. In many establishments
staff is constantly changing, and this leads to circumstances where even the ordinary daily domestic
cleaning to maintain the minimum standard of hygiene is not properly carried out. Many employees
do not observe the standards accepted for those engaged in the preparation and handling of food,
and this state of affairs is not confined to the smaller type of establishment.
Frequent causes of complaint are cooking smells and noise from ventilation plants. These complaints
of smells usually arise because of the discharge of cooking fumes from the premises at a height
which permits them to enter nearby office or residential accommodation, thus causing annoyance or
discomfort to the occupiers. It has not been established that these fumes constitute a statutory
nuisance, although they can be unpleasant, particularly if the prevailing odour is of curry, onion, or
fish. With the advent of specialized types of catering the prevalence of cooking highly spiced food
increases and in such cases the most satisfactory practice is to carry the fumes to discharge at a height
clear of the surrounding neighbourhood, where no nuisance will occur. Sometimes, however, complaints
have their foundation in the lack of maintenance in changing the filters used in the ventilation
equipment. In this connection it is occasionally found that in order to overcome the cause for
complaint the volume of extract is reduced, with the result that the fumes partly remain in the kitchen
and the temperature rises to produce nearly unworkable conditions, as well as deterioration of
decorations. The use of various other forms of odour control, claimed to permit discharge at low
level, has proved only partially effective.
In new premises, when full cooking is intended, every effort is made to ensure that from the outset,
efficient and reliable means of extraction of fumes at a safe height from which no annoyance will
arise, is installed. Unfortunately, some establishments which when opened serve only cold meals and
snacks gradually build up to a full catering service and the ventilation system installed, though
originally adequate, can no longer cope with the additional load. No notice of change in the domestic
arrangements is required to be made to the Health Department, and a complaint received is usually
the first indication that this has occurred.
With the practice of constructing buildings to ever-increasing heights, the problem of ventilation
and extract is less easily solved, and it is now becoming a matter of urgency that some form of odour
control be devised which will render inert cooking fumes immediately they occur, without the necessity
of unsightly and expensive trunking and associated machinery. It is felt that some central Committee
could well give consideration to solving this present day problem, which promises to become more
acute as time progresses.
Noises from extract ventilation plant have also given rise to complaint. In most cases it is found
that the causes are:—
(a) undersizing of the ducting, necessitating high velocity air movement;
(b) the use of direct coupled fans revolving at high speeds;
(c) failure to adopt noise transmission precautions, such as insulation between ducting and
fixing brackets, and flexible connections between ducting and ventilation machinery; and
(d) installing ventilation machinery at the rear of premises without consideration of the noise
factor, the possible need to enclose it in a suitable acoustic chamber, and without regard to
the proximity of dwellings or offices.