View report page

THE FACTORIES ACT, 1937.
This Act came into operation on the 1st July, 1938. It contains
various general requirements relating to cleansing, overcrowding,
temperature, ventilation, lighting, drainage of floors, and sanitary
conveniences, the enforcement of which, in London, is in part placed
upon the Metropolitan Borough Councils.
Cleanliness (Section 1).—The general rule that every factory
shall be kept in a clean state is supplemented by two new definite
requirements:
(a) Accumulations of dirt and refuse must be removed daily from
floors and benches of workrooms and from the staircases and
passages;
(b) the floor of every workroom must be cleaned at least once a
week by washing, or, if it is effective and suitable, by sweeping
or other method.
Further
(c) the provisions as to cleaning or whitewashing or colourwashing
walls and tops of rooms, passages and staircases at
least once in every 14 months are modernised and made more
precise;
but paragraph (c) does not apply to a factory where mechanical
power is not used (mechanical power used only for heating, ventilating
or lighting the workrooms or other parts of the factory does not
count for this purpose), and less than 10 persons are employed unless
the Medical Officer of Health or the District Inspector of Factories,
as the case may be, so directs.
Overcrowding (Section 2).—The main changes here are that
the standard for prevention of overcrowding in workrooms is raised
from 250 to 400 cubic feet per person and that no space more than
14 feet from the floor is to be taken into account in making the
calculation.
A concession is, however, made as respects rooms used as workrooms
on the 30th July, 1937 (the date of the passing of the Act). In
such rooms the figure need not be more than 250 at any time during
the next five years, and if before the end of that period (i.e., before
37