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45
service. Such a service should be made available as soon as possible for all
industries, and should be extended to cover non-industrial employment.
Some seem to foresee the picture of a future industrial health service embracing
all aspects of health created as a separate entity and controlled by
a central department which will not necessarily be that concerned primarily
with the administration of the health services. Some bodies such as the
British Medical Association and Royal College of Physicians consider that
the industrial health service should be an integral part of the National Health
Service in its fullest sense. The Dale Committee considered there should be
a considerable measure of co-ordination between the various agencies—
medical, legislative, and administrative, at present providing health services
for industry. It is not clear from the report though, how they intend that
this should be done. In any event, the Dale Committee were considering the
matter within a restricted framework.
"The subject 'Hygiene in Industry' was discussed at the Annual Congress
of the Royal Sanitary Institute this year. One of the opening papers
was given by the Medical Officer of Health of Leeds. He divided the
various types of service which might be needed in varying degrees at different
factories into three—(1) treatment and rehabilitation services, including
emergency treatment and first-aid, these being services of the kind already
provided by the National Health Service; (2) environmental and preventive
health services, including replacement and retirement examinations, routine
medical examinations for fitness for employment, the medical aspects of job
selection, the maintenance of health standards in all places of work, and
the routine investigating of known industrial hazards together with the
application of methods of prevention; and (3) the research into new and
existing health hazards and into the scientific aspect of working conditions;
this is essentially a function of special scientific research organisations.
"If local authorities are to have a place in industry, it will be essentially
in regard to the second type. ' Artificial division between the medical treatment
of the man at work and at home is undesirable, but the preventive
health aspects of the man at home and at work are distinct and can be dealt
with as separate problems.' Dr. Davies suggests the medical officer of
health and his staff assisted by the appointed factory doctor, should be
responsible, in association with the local factory inspectorate, for detailed
enforcement and maintenance of health standards and for medical
examinations.
"The Dale Committee pointed out 'The maintenance of industrial
health and the prevention of industrial diseases and accidents may often be
a matter for administrative action in the light of facts established by
research.' Others have suggested that if the state of the small factories is
bad, are they not to be improved less by direct action by doctors than by
stronger enforcement of stricter minimum standards in matters of legislation
and inspection, not of medical services."
Shops.
During the year 1,574 inspections were made by the Shops Act
Inspector. The contraventions found and dealt with included eight cases
of assistants being employed on the day of their weekly half holiday, one
of a young person being employed in excess of the permitted number of
hours; two of failing to allow assistants compensatory holidays for Sunday
employment; 11 of failing to keep records of Sunday employment;