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25.
SANITARY CIRCUMSTANCES (Contd.)
confirmation, the speed of progress in this direction exceeding the original
Smoke Control programme, and (b) investigations and research work carried out
in respect of 648 heavy vehicles passing through Shoreditch during the year.
Once again details of this work will be fully elaborated in the body of
this Report.
Mechanical Aids for Public Health Inspectors.
The policy of introducing tape recorders in the Department for the use of
each Public Health Inspectorin an effort to take full advantage of his technical
abilities and at the same time reduce the amount of clerical work to a
minimum, has proved successful, and there can be no doubt that where Public
Health Inspectors are properly trained in the use of this equipment, their
work can be carried out more efficiently and more pleasantly (particularly in
inclement weather) and output of Public Health Inspectors work is very
considerably increased.
Another mechanical aid recently applied to the Department is known as a
"Revealer". This instrument fully described under the Rodent Section of this
Report is capable of locating the run, depth and diameter of any drain, and
has already been used by the Public Health Inspectors, solving problems in a
few minutes which hitherto could only be solved by methods of trial and error
at an exorbitant cost.
Housing Act 1961.
Whilst the Housing Act 1961 became operative towards the end of 1961, the
problem of dealing with houses in multiple occupation which are in a squalid
state does not present a serious problem in this Borough. In only a few
instances has the Act been applied and in each case success has been achieved
by making informal approaches to the owners of the premises in accordance
with the spirit of the Minister's Circular.
Food Administration.
The employment of a Senior Food Inspector in the Department since
January 1962 has resulted in full basic routine inspections of all food premises
in the Borough being made this year. It is the first time that this has
been achieved for many years together with a one hundred per cent programme
of food sampling. The growing tendency for the use of chemical additives to
foodstuffs has not gone unnoticed by the Department and plans are being
formulated to concentrate on this work during the coming year. The use of
pesticides and their effect on foodstuffs has also been noted and this too
will have considerable attention in the near future.