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During the year the following matters of interest arose in implementing the various
provisions of the Act:
(1). Registration and Inspection.
New registrations (due to change of ownership, new businesses, etc.) involved
approximately 8.5% of total registrations. The obligation to register and the Act itself
are now well known to employers and accepted by them. There are less attempts to
avoid registration.
Most premises have received their second general inspection. The response to
requests to remedy contraventions has been generally good with the usual number of
recalcitrant employers necessitating prosecution.
The readiness to remedy defects in connection with machinery has improved.
The emphasis this year by the inspectorate has been on accident prevention.
(2). Operation and General Provisions of the Act.
(a) Temperature.
It is still necessary to make special checks in shops on cold days; when heating has
been found inadequate the general reaction of employers has been co-operative.
Instances do occur in which shop doors remain open, whatever the weather, as a policy
of the proprietor or company in the belief that sales are thereby encouraged, but
increasingly this practice is shown to add considerably to the difficulty of maintaining
the minimum statutory temperature (60.8°F) in such shops.
(b) Ventilation.
Although there is no statutory standard by which to measure means of adequate
ventilation, unsatisfactory conditions were found in some hairdressing salons, in some
laundrettes with self-service dry-cleaning service and in the smaller type of shop.
(c) Lighting.
There is still a lack of understanding of the importance of good lighting in the
prevention of accidents, especially on stairways, in passages and basements. Unsuitable
lighting on stairways has been found to result in shadows being cast in such a way
that obstructions are not seen.
In a dinner-dance-hall the use of ultra violet lighting caused some concern. It
proved unsatisfactory for staff coming from the kitchen area in which fluorescent
lighting was used, and the manufacturers admitted that a blurring effect on the eyes
could be caused. A substantial improvement was obtained when some of the ultraviolet
lights were replaced by more traditional fittings, and confirmation was given, by
the Scientific Adviser of the Greater London Council, that the ultra-violet lighting
afforded no radiation hazard.
(d) Overcrowding.
Notice was taken that the 1st August, 1967 marked the operation of an overcrowding
standard in those premises operating three years earlier when the Act came
into force; these overcrowding provisions have not presented any problem.
(e) Clothes Drying.
In a small number of instances, difficulty was experienced in persuading employers
to make adequate provision for drying outdoor clothing in wet weather.
(f) Sanitary Conveniences and Washing Facilities.
The shortcomings which existed before the Act, have now been largely overcome.
(g) Floors.
Defective floor covering has often been noted and has been the cause of one serious
accident. Floor covering deteriorates rapidly, especially in the service sections of
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