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COMMON LODGING HOUSES
The only common lodging house situated within the City is at 116 Middlesex Street. This
establishment is owned and managed by the Salvation Army and consists of 6 floors and a basement.
It provides canteen facilities and rudimentary accommodation for 420 men. A clothing
store and laundry are also available.
Maintenance is carried out by building contractors as a continuous operation and is quite good.
A rise in the number of verminous persons using these premises has given rise to some
concern and measures are at present being taken to obtain transport and revise the Cleansing
Station procedure. It is hoped that this will deal effectively with this problem. The keeper has
been made aware of this nuisance and has undertaken to give complete co-operation.
Cleansing and disinfection of persons and clothing are carried out at the Corporation's
Cleansing Station at Milton Court.
The Public Health Inspectors have carried out 12 inspections during the year and all matters
regarding environmental health therein were dealt with by consultation with the Salvation Army
Authorities.
OFFICES, SHOPS AND RAILWAY PREMISES ACT, 1963
The Offices, Shops and Railway Premises Act, 1963, prescribes standards of working conditions
in a similar manner to those provided for factory workers under the Factories Acts. The
responsibility of enforcing this Act, for securing the health, safety and welfare of persons employed
in offices and shops, is divided between the local authorities, the fire authorities and
the Ministry of Labour.
During the year under review, 4,960 visits were paid to offices and shops, which is a further
increase in the number of visits made during the previous year. This number is made up of general
inspections, i.e. initial visits, and subsequent inspections.
It is known that there are some premises in the City still unregistered notwithstanding the
fact that the number on the register has now reached 8,734. Unregistered premises when discovered
are registered immediately. Statistics of general inspections are very misleading so far
as the City is concerned and give little indication of the time and energy which has been devoted
to the implementation of this Act, as offices in the City are often larger and more complex than
those in other areas. For instance, one office block, which comprised a single general inspection
employed 1,750 persons. Another initial survey lasted for nine days, during which time 3,583
individual items were inspected in three interconnected buildings. The time taken on this inspection
did not include office work or subsequent visits to ensure that the works necessary to
secure compliance with the Act had been carried out.
The total number of accidents notified during the year was 320 which is approximately the
same number as those reported during each of the previous two years. These were generally of a
minor nature, again mainly caused by persons slipping on staircases and in passage ways. There
was one fatal accident resulting from a 63 year old man falling from a set of 4' high steps and
dying during a subsequent operation. All steps and ladders are examined during inspections for
their suitability and state of repair.
A person involved in an accident must be away from work for three days before it is necessary
to report the accident. It would seem, in view of the number of workers in the City, that City
workers enjoy a high safety factor, or alternatively, that employers are unaware of their responsibility
to notify accidents.
Several Orders and Regulations regarding standards for the provision of sanitary accommodation,
washing facilities, first aid equipment and other facilities have been issued since the
passing of the Act, but no regulation for standards of lighting and ventilation has yet been made.
The arrangements for lighting and ventilation in both old and new offices are often found to be
unsatisfactory and there is a tendency for overheating and stuffiness to become worse in deeper
offices remote from external walls and in those premises built for speculative purposes in which
floors have been partitioned to meet the individual needs of the occupiers. Improvement in the
standard of lighting and ventilation generally involves a great deal of expense and, in the absence
of official standards, much time has to be spent by the Inspectors in advising and persuading
managements to improve the lighting and ventilation to an acceptable standard.
During the year there was an increase in the number of enquiries from Employers, Surveyors,
Architects and Estate Agents on the requirements of the Act and Regulations made thereunder.
As a result of these enquiries the Inspectors visited many premises in order to advise on
the measures necessary to secure compliance with the Act. It would appear that an increasing
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