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reasonable amount after occupation of the room for some time, would be so considerable
that persons, unless engaged in active occupation, would find a difficulty in tolerating
it in cold weather. On the other hand a considerably higher standard, particularly one
which approximates the physiological standard would be objected to as impracticable,
and 1 must confess that I should have some sympathy with the objection. I think that
satisfactory conditions can be fairly well maintained if some trouble is taken and common
sense exercised. Rooms are not sufficiently frequently flushed with air, and it is by
no means an unusual experience to find that rooms are reoccupied without the air in
the room being of the standard of the outside air. Systematic flushing of offices
with air, where ventilation is inadequate and cannot be improved would prove useful.
Lighting.—Satisfactory lighting is necessary in offices for many reasons.
Difficulties are experienced as a result of (a) the relation of window space to floor space
being inadequate; (b) windows being wrongly placed; (c) the presence of adjoining
buildings; (d) the kind of glass used in the windows; (e) the cleanliness of the
windows, and ( f) the room being underground.
In new buildings attention can be given to a, b, c and d, and as regards existing
buildings one finds that much can be done by increasing the size, and altering the
position of windows, bringing the windows to occupy a middle position and increasing
the height and so bring them nearer the ceiling ; in underground rooms with an area,
an alteration in the angle of the forecourt sometimes helps, when the area is covered,
the material forming the cover, requires to be carefully considered, and the supports
carrying the glass should be thin but placed at right angles to the wall rather than
parallel.
Obstructing buildings should, where possible, have a good light-reflecting surface.
This is difficult to arrange except in the case of walls which surround a central space.
In badly lighted places highly refractive glass is of service, and finally the condition
of the windows as regards cleanliness should be noted. Soot and tarry deposits hinder
the passage of light, a condition which can readily be remedied.
As already stated additional legislation is contemplated, but Acts of Parliament ar
not easily obtained, a good case must be made out that existing powers when effectively
applied are inadequate, and even in such cases, the new proposals must be free from
what may appear to-be excess of zeal. As an instance of this latter I consider that
one of the defects of the Railway Offices Bill was the cubic space proposed. The Bill
required that there should be 800 cubic ft. during ordinary time and 1,000 cubic ft.
during overtime, and 2,000 and 2,500 cubic ft. respectively in underground rooms, with
intermediate figures of 1,600 and 2,000 cubic ft. for above-ground offices, where the
office is occupied by day and night, or with intervals not exceeding nine hours in any
twenty-four hours. These are practically impossible figures. Less cubic capacity
would suffice provided adequate ventilation exists.
I do not favour the transference of the supervision of offices to the Factory
Inspector. To classify offices with workshops would be resented certainly by employers
and possibly by employees. Such a step would necessitate additional Inspectors
entering offices, and to-day, criticism, with which I have some sympathy, is directed
against over-inspection as well as over-legislation.
Increased powers are necessary in respect of underground places, and in this
connection, as already stated, there is much hope of such being fairly early
forthcoming.