View report page

124
Bakehouses.
The Factories and Workshops Act, 1901, contains the following provisions for
the regulation of bakehouses:—
(a) A bakehouse must not contain or communicate directly with a water-closet
or ashpit. A drain must not have any opening in the bakehouse. The penalty for
contravening either of these is a fine of £2 on the owner or occupier.
(b) The inside walls and ceilings must be limewashed every six months, or coated
with three coats of paint or varnish every seven years, and washed with hot water
and soap every six months.
(c) Places on the same level with a bakehouse and forming part of the same
building must not be used as sleeping places unless effectually separated from the
bakehouse by partition from floor to ceiling, and provided with an external glazed
window, 9 square feet, of which 4½ feet must be made to open.
(d) No underground bakehouse shall be used as such, unless it was so used on
August 17th last.
(e) After January 1st, 1904, it will not be lawful to use any underground bakehouse
(whenever established) unless the Borough Council are satisfied that it is
suitable for the purpose in regard to construction, light, ventilation, and in all other
respects, and have given it a certificate of suitability, This provision will apply to
all bakehouses, whether wholesale or retail.
Every bakehouse will be deemed an underground bakehouse if any room used
for baking 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 the room.
(d) and (e) are new provisions entirely.
In order to carry out the requirements of the Act, the following suggestions
were approved by the Public Health Committee. They were printed and distributed
among the owners of bakehouses. The Public Health Committee will consider
the condition of each bakehouse on this basis before granting a certificate.
(a) Construction.
(1) The bakehouse shall be of a minimum capacity of 1,500 cubic feet, and
shall be at least eight feet high in every part thereof, measured from the floor
to the ceiling.
(2) The floor and walls shall be constructed of hard, smooth, durable, and
impermeable material.
(3) Provision must be made for suitable means of access—other than by a
ladder—to the underground bakehouse, in the form of convenient stairs. No
entrance from the shop floor will be allowed.
(4) All areas must be constructed of white glazed bricks or tiled faces.