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of districts special inspectors are employed in this duty. Where this is done there is evidence
of better administration than where the inspection of workshops only forms one of numerous
other duties of the inspector. The appointment of female inspectors for the inspection of places
where women are employed is increasing, and where such appointments have been made a
considerable amount of work is being done in connection with such premises. The annual
report for 1900 contained reference to a decision of Mr. Justice Grantham and Mr. Justice
Channel that a stable-yard is a "workplace." In a memorandum on the Factory and Workshop
Act of 1901, issued by the Home Office, reference is made to this case, and it is stated that the
Secretary of State has been advised that the kitchens of restaurants, etc., though they are not
workshops, come within the meaning of the term "workplace." In several annual reports it is
stated that such places have been inspected.
The following information as to the action taken under the Factory and Workshop Act
in the following districts is supplied by the annual reports of medical officers of health—
Paddington.—The number of workshops inspected was 456, and 158 workrooms were
measured. In view of the passing of the Factory and Workshop Act, 1901, special recommendations
as to the increase of the staff were submitted by the Public Health Committee to the Borough
Council, and adopted by them.
Kensington.—A list of outworkers was compiled, and the names and addresses of all
working within the borough, but not residing therein, was forwarded to the medical officers
of health of the districts in which they resided. Corresponding information was received from
other medical officers of health. The duties of occupiers of workshops as to outworkers were
advertised, and with a print of the "'Home Work Order" sent to upwards of 1,000 persons.
At the beginning of the year there were 818 workshops, etc., in which women were employed
on the register. During the year 167 premises were added and 9 removed. Among the workplaces
registered were kitchens of restaurants and dining-rooms, typewriting offices, etc. At
the end of January, 1902, 1,013 premises were on the register. The rooms which were measured
in the 167 premises newly registered in 1901 numbered 297. The kitchens of workmen's
dining-rooms and coffee-houses were as a rule found to be cleaner and better kept than those
of higher class restaurants. At a number of restaurants, chiefly those kept by foreigners, no
lavatory accommodation for customers had been provided. Overcrowding was found in 62
rooms; dirty or defective water-closets in 118 instances; defective staircases were repaired
in several instances; rooms insufficiently warmed, or in such a manner, by open gas jets, as
to impair the purity of the air were found in 91 dressmaking workrooms, and other rooms were
found without the means of warming; ventilation was found to be defective in a number of
rooms, and in others gas iron-heaters were without ventilation. The female inspector states,
"It is "unfortunately the case that the local authority has now no power to enforce the law
regarding 'reasonable temperature' of a workroom, this being tne duty of the factory inspector,
the ventilation merely being under the control of the local authority."
Hammersmith.—During the year 236 notices were served and 235 notices were complied
with. During the previous year 148 notices were served and as many complied with. The
increase is due to the fact that a special inspector was appointed for this duty.
Westminster.—The addresses of outworkers living in other districts were communicated to
the several medical officers of health. At the end of 1901 there were 1,183 outworkers on the
register. These were engaged in making various kinds of wearing apparel. It had not been
found possible to make any systematic inspection of their houses, but in 1902 the Act requires
this to be done. At the end of 1901 a copy of the register of workshops kept at the Home Office
was made, which, together with those already on the list of the borough council, amounted to 2,065
workshops, and to this list many more were added. A register showing particulars of the various
workshops was prepared; 643 were occupied by tailors, 522 by dressmakers, 251 by milliners.
Particular attention has been given to workplaces generally, and especially those in which wearing
apparel was made. In many of the tailors' and dressmakers' workrooms gas stoves for
heating irons are used, and the fumes pass into the room. Instructions have been given to the
inspectors to secure efficient means of ventilation for such stoves. During the year inquiry
was made by the Home Office as to the nature and the extent of, and conditions of women's employment
in West London. One inspector made 344 visits to dressmakers' and milliners'
premises in Westminster, and conditions of overcrowding, defective ventilation and heating, dirtiness
of workshops were found and remedied, but regular supervision is required. In 206 instances
notice of defects was sent to the sanitary authority. The absence of separate water-closet
accommodation for women occurred mostly in tenement houses used by different occupiers.
This can often be remedied, but in some cases persons had to vacate the premises. The number
of workshops inspected by the officers of the borough council was 1,115, and in these any sanitary
defects found were remedied; 199 workrooms were measured and cards issued showing the amount
of cubic space and number of persons allowable.
St. Marylebone.—There are 129 registered workrooms which are exclusively occupied by
men. The principal trades are tailoring and outfitting. These workrooms have been measured and
certain drainage works carried out. The number of visits to such workshops and workrooms was
156. There were on the register at the end of the year, 1,874 workshops and laundries in which
women and girls are employed, 556 having been added during the year. They were registered
to accommodate about 15,000 workers. These are employed in 914 businesses, of which 40
are laundries and the rest principally millinery and tailoring businesses. To these premises
the female inspector made 379 first visits and 1,895 visits of re-inspection, as well as 635 calls
on miscellaneous business, leaving workroom cards, making inquiries, etc. A separate register
of outworkers is kept, of these there are 255. Their premises have been duly inspected. The
addresses of 159 women employed by persons in the borough but resident elsewhere have been
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