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During the year 335 additional premises were registered under the Act and the
total number of premises registered and inspected at the end of the year is summarised
below:
Total number of registered premises. Number inspected during year.
Offices 694 301
Retail Shops 1,176 455
Wholesale Shops 62 38
Catering Establishments 200 102
Fuel Storage Depots 5 3
2,137 899
Although a great measure of co-operation has been received from employers in the
Borough in implementing the new standards, in fifteen cases summonses were served
for contraventions of the Act, but the necessary works were completed before the date
of hearing.
The Council has not granted any certificate exempting premises from the standards
laid down.
All known premises requiring registration have been registered. Some of the
smaller businesses that had failed to return the registration form, required persuasion
to do so. Their reluctance was due to fear that the information would be used for
Selective Employment Tax purposes.
All registered premises have now received a general inspection.
Compliance with the requirements notified after the general inspection has, in
some cases, been slow and piecemeal, and this has occasioned several revisits. However,
eventual compliance has for the most part been achieved.
The completion of the above inspections has enabled the inspectorate to give more
time to such questions as the design of seating accommodation which had been raised
by shop assistants and safety devices in machinery etc.
During the year the following matters of interest arose in implementing the
various provisions of the Act:
1. Temperature.
Special visits were made on cold days to check temperatures, and some unsatisfactory
conditions were found; few complaints were received from shops. A problem
has arisen in connection with a large block of new offices erected on stilts, and exposed
to the cold winds in the open space below the lowest floor. The result is a temperature
of as low as 50°F in the regions of the floor of the rooms while the upper part of the
rooms showed a satisfactory temperature. Although not finally solved it seems that
the remedy will be the insulation of the exposed floors of such buildings from cold
winds.
2. Ventilation.
Few complaints of unsatisfactory ventilation were received, but in some newly
built premises the ventilation appeared to be inadequate. The assessment of ventilation
based on a natural system presents some difficulty, and through ventilation is looked for,
but is not always possible, and the inclination was to ask for artificial methods as visual
evidence that ventilation is operating. Some simple test and standard of air movement
would be helpful.
3. Lighting.
Basements and stairs still require special attention on re-inspection.
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