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
Harrow 1950
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Harrow]
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Defects Found.
| Particulars | Number of cases in which defects were found | Number of cases in which prosecutions were instituted | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Found | Remedied | To H.M. Inspector | By H.M. Inspector | ||
| Want of cleanliness | 48 | 50 | 1 | _ | _ |
| Overcrowding | — | — | — | — | — |
| Unreasonable temperature | 1 | 1 | — | — | — |
| Inadequate ventilation | 2 | 2 | — | — | — |
| Ineffective drainage of floors | — | — | — | — | — |
| Sanitary conveniences— | |||||
| (a) Insufficient | 2 | 3 | — | 1 | — |
| (b) Unsuitable or defective | 47 | 42 | 1 | 4 | — |
| (c) Not separate for sexes | 1 | 1 | — | — | — |
| Other offences against the Act (not including offences relating to outwork) | 20 | 16 | 1 | — | — |
| Total | 121 | 115 | 3 | 5 | — |
In addition 266 visits were made to premises of outworkers who are
persons undertaking at home work sent out from factories or business
premises.
Shops.
The Shops Act, 1950, came into force on the 1st October, 1950.
This Act repealed eight others, which up to the 1st October contained
much of the legislation relating to the hours of closing of shops and such
matters as concern the welfare of shop assistants. It is essentially a
consolidating Act and does not introduce changes in procedure or practice.
During the year 1,158 visits were made to shops in the district by
the Shops Acts Inspector. The contraventions found and dealt with
included 10 instances of assistants being employed on their weekly halfholiday;
1 of a trader contravening a local closing order by keeping open
on the day when the shop should have been closed on the weekly halfholiday;
2 cases where young persons were being employed after 10 p.m.
contrary to the provisions of the Shops Act, 1934; 5 instances where
records in respect of young persons were not being kept; and 19 cases
where notices required by the Acts were not being exhibited.
27 shopkeepers were warned for serving customers after the hour
upon which the shop should have been closed. 25 were first offences;
in two cases the shopkeepers had been warned previously.
As a result of the visits made by the Shops Acts Inspector, 65 shops
were redecorated and 111 requests for other repairs and improvements
were made and were complied with.
At the end of the year there were 2,275 shops on the register, an
increase of 10 on the previous year.
Smoke Nuisance.
Of the 443 factory premises in Harrow comparatively few have large