View report page

52
FACTORY AND WORKSHOP ACT, 1901.
The number of workshops, exclusive of bakehouses, on the register at the end
of 1911 was 1,136, 189 having been placed on and 226 taken off during the year.
The number for previous years were: 1,173 in 1910, 1,226 in 1909, 1,183 in 1908,
1,254 in 1907, 1,278 in 1906, 1,218 in 1905, 1,133 in 1904, 1,133 in 1903, and 1,081
in 1902. A classification of the workshops registered is contained in the summary
of proceedings under the Act, which is appended. Some 2,720 visits of inspection
were made in connection with workshops, and 298 to factories. Fifteen communications
were received from the Factory Inspector relative to the establishment of 148
new workshops in the Borough. On inspection 108 were found to be in a satisfactory
sanitary condition, 9 were not in occupation at the time they were visited, at one
no work was being carried on, one was being cleansed at the time of visit, and in one
the occupier could not be traced. The remainder were all more or less unsatisfactory
from a sanitary point of view, and some 28 notices were served.
From the Factory Inspector 29 written intimations were received relating
to insanitary conditions and infringements of the law as to public health in connection
with 52 workshops and 25 factories. The chief insanitary conditions to which
the Factory Inspector directed attention were: dirty conditions of walls and ceilings
in 20 instances, defective and insufficient water closet accommodation in 38, want
of proper separate accommodation for the sexes in 6, absence of sanitary accommodation
in 2, overcrowding in 5, no drinking water in one, want of proper ventilation
in one, a defective soil pipe, gas heaters insufficiently ventilated, an insanitary
urinal and a leaky gas pipe.
Including those brought under our notice by the Factory Inspector, 242 workshops
were dealt with and 227 sanitary notices were served upon the parties responsible
for keeping them in a proper sanitary condition. In some instances more than
one workshop was dealt with on the same notice. The following is an abstract
of the sanitary work carried out to comply with notices served in connection with
the workshops referred to during the year 1911 :—
New drains constructed 6 Water-closets' flushing apparatus
Drains relaid or repaired 34 repaired 62
Stack pipes disconnected 22 Water supply laid on or restored 12
Stack pipes reinstated 22 Leaking water-pipes repaired 1
Eaves gutters reinstated 21 Rooms cleansed and whitewashed 234
Sink waste pipes disconnected 20 Yards ,, ,, 41
Yards paved 23 Areas „ ,, 9
Water-closets reconstructed50 Roofs repaired 39
New water-closets constructed 15 Floors „ 22