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69
FACTORY AND WORKSHOP ACT, 1901.
WORKSHOPS AND WORKPLACES.
This Act came into operation on the 1st January, 1902, and during the
preceding year a systematic inspection of workshops and workplaces was
commenced in view of the additional obligations the Act imposed upon the
Corporation as a Sanitary Authority. Full details of the progress made in
this undertaking will be found in your Medical Officer of Health's Annual
Reports for 1901 and 1902.
The work of registration and inspection was continued through 1903, and
there are at present on the Register 1,781 premises in which workshops are
situated. Of these, 905 have been inspected and found to contain 1,773
workshops, which have been registered in accordance with the provisions of
the Act. With respect to workplaces there is no statutory obligation to
register them, but this course has been adopted in the case of kitchens of
restaurants, &c., with the result that at the end of 1903, 825 kitchens had
been inspected and entered in the books.
The following is a summary of the work done in this direction during the
past three years:—
Registered Workshops.
1901 745 Inspected during the year.
1902 481 „ „
1903 547 „ „
1,773 Total for three years.
Kitchens of Restaurants, &c. (Workplaces).
1902 468 Inspected and Registered.
1903 357 „ „
*825 Total for two years.
Total Number of Workshops and Workplaces.
Inspected during 1903 904
„ during 1901-2-3 2,598
The sanitary defects more generally found at workshops and workplaces
may be classified under the following headings, viz.:—
Want of cleansing.
Insufficient ventilation.
Overcrowding.
The lack of separate and suitable W.C. accommodation for both sexes.
(Some important notes on the last subject will be found on p. 93.)
*These figures refer to inspections, &c., made up to the 31st December, 1903. A supplementary Iteport on the
completion of the inspection of these places was presented to the Sanitary Committee on the 22nd March, 1904.