London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Willesden 1955
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Willesden]
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30
Frequent inspections are made of the dairies. During the year some minor defects were found
but were soon remedied.
The 129 samples of milk taken in 1955 were all satisfactory.
FACTORIES
There are 902 factories in the borough, a decrease of 3 compared with the previous year (there was a decrease of 5 in power factories and an increase of 2 in non-power factories).
| Type of factory | On register 1.1.55 | Added to register | Deleted from register | Totals at 31.12.55 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-power | 78 | 4 | 9 | 73 |
| Power | 827 | 25 | 23 | 829 |
| Total | 905 | 29 | 32 | 902 |
The general improvement in the sanitary conditions of factories for which the local authority is responsible (see 1949 annual report) has been maintained. Most notices were served for minor defects only, and were complied with without legal action.
Factories Inspected, Defects Found, and Action Taken
| Type of factory | Inspected | Total Inspections | Unsatisfactory | Outstanding from 1954 | Made satisfactory 1955 | Outstanding 31.12.55 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-power | 64 | 73 | 9 | _ | 9 | - | ||||
| Power | 787 | 850 | 63 | 17 | 69 | 11 | ||||
| Details of Defects in Non-power Factorie: | ||||||||||
| During 1955 | Outstanding from 1954 | Remedied during 1955 | Outstanding at 31.12.55 | |||||||
| Want of cleanliness | 9 | - | 9 | - | ||||||
| Overcrowding | - | - | - | |||||||
| Unreasonable temperature | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| Inadequate ventilation | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| Defective drainage of floors | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| Insufficient | 3 | - | 3 | - | ||||||
| Unsuitable or defective | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| Not separate for sexes | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| Details of Defects of Sanitary Accommodation in Power Factories: | ||||||||||
| Insufficient | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| Unsuitable or defective | 62 | 20 | 76 | 6 | ||||||
| Not separate for sexes | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| There are 15 underground rooms used as factories; 13 are used with premises above ground. | ||||||||||
Basement Bakehouses
The local authority is responsible for the supervision of' basement bakehouses under section 54 of
the Factories Act, 1937. A basement bakehouse is defined as a bakehouse, any baking room of which is so
situated that the surface of the floor is more than three feet below the surface of the footway of the
adjoining street or of the ground adjoining or nearest to the room; a baking room is defined as any room
used for baking or for the process incidental thereto.
There are eight basement bakehouses in Wille6den. They have been regularly inspected and are
satisfactory.
During the year 1 basement bakehouse which had not been used for baking purposes for over 12
months, was officially closed and may not be used again as a bakehouse.