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6
The Factory and Workshop Act of 1901
came into force on the first of January, 1902, and imposes
several new and important powers and duties on the Medical
Officer of Health and the Local Authority.
Under section 132 every M.O.H. is required in his Annual
Report to deal specifically with the administration of the Act,
and to send a copy of this part of this report to the Secretary
of State. We have now to keep a register of all workshops
situated in the District. Lists of home workers are to be sent
to the District Council twice a year by owners of factories,
workshops, or other places who give out work to be done at
home. We, on our part, must inspect the premises as to
sanitation and possible sources of infection.
The term " Factory " includes all places in which mechanical
power is used.
" Domestic Factories" include private houses, where
members of the family regularly carry on, without mechanical
power, any class of work included in Schedule VI., part 1.
" Workshops and Workplaces" include laundries, bakehouses,
kitchens of restaurants, stable yards, and all places in
which people assemble to work permanently. It will be your
duty not only to secure proper sanitation and prevent overcrowding,
but also to provide for fire escape in all cases. Among
other things the M.O.H. must notify the Inspector of Factories
whenever he observes that an abstract of the Act is not posted
up in any workshop where women and children are employed.
By this Act your Sanitary Officers have the same powers of entry
as His Majesty's Inspectors, they can take a constable if there
is reason to apprehend serious obstruction, to examine all persons
found therein, and to require the production of all documents,
etc,
This, gentlemen, is merely a brief survey of the 163 sections
of this important Act, a copy of which is now in our office. It