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The Act does not make the provision of appliances in workshops for
washing hands, &c., compulsory. As it is to the advantage of the workers
that they should have facilities for personal ablution, owners of workshops
have had their attention directed to this matter where occasion arose, and in
many cases your Medical Officer of Health has succeeded in persuading them
to furnish the requisite fittings.
The question as to the best methods of ventilation and the maintenance of
a uniform and proper temperature continually arises. The latter is a
subject that appears to rest with ELM. Factory Inspectors, but at present no
definite standard for this purpose has been prescribed by the Secretary of
State.
Ventilation, however, is dealt with by your Officers, and its provision in
an efficient and continuous manner must be insisted upon in all cases if the
workers are to carry on their duties under healthy conditions. The mere
opening of doors, windows and skylights cannot be considered anything more
than a makeshift method of dealing with the matter, and in most cases
some inexpensive mechanical appliance is found best for the purpose. The
extension of electricity affords a ready means of operating a fan which,
when properly fixed, causes a continuous change of air without producing
draughts.
Section 2 of the Public Health (London) Act, 1891, provides that any
factory, workshop or workplace not ventilated in such a manner as to render
harmless, as far as practicable, any gases, vapours, dust, or other impurities
generated in the course of the work carried on therein, that are a nuisance,
or injurious or dangerous to health, is a nuisance liable to be dealt with
summarily under that Act. The Secretary of State has also power under the
Factory and Workshop Act, 1901, to prescribe a standard of sufficient
ventilation to be observed in the case of any class of workshops, but those
places where men only are employed are excluded from this requirement.
WORKSHOPS.
Details of Inspections, &c., 1903.
Inspections 264
Re-inspections 1,364
Workers employed—
Males 1,116
Females 1,332
Young persons
Males 5
Females 4
Total workers employed 2,457