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4. OFFICES, SHOPS AND RAILWAY PREMISES ACT, 1963
The provision and maintenance of satisfactory standards of hygiene, welfare and
safety for employees in offices, shops, warehouses, is broadly what the Act seeks to achieve
and this work occupies the services of two full-time officers and approximately half the
time of a Senior Public Health Inspector.

Part 1 — Registrations and Inspections
Of the total of 2,069 registered premises 208 were newly registered during the year.
In the same time 267 were removed from the register. The general inspections carried
out represented 85% of the total premises. This is considered to be a very satisfactory
coverage and ensures that conditions in our shops and offices are maintained at not less
than the minimum statutory level in the interests of the 16,236 men and women employed
in them. Few intractable problems arose over registration and in the few cases of doubt
demarcation discussions with H.M. District Inspector of Factories decided the issue. It
is perhaps indicative of the pressure on space in business that an unusual case arose of
the use of a single premises by two entirely different businesses at different times. From
Monday to Friday the premises operated as an employment agency but on Saturday it
became a retail gramophone record shop — from pick of the jobs to top of the pops.
Part II — Operation of the Act
General.
It is gratifying to report that no specific instances arose of exceptionally poor stand'
ards for employees in offices and shops within this Borough. It is, however, necessary to
add that few instances have been observed of exceptionally high standards. The provision
of amenities above the minimum required by the Act such as staff rest rooms,
kitchens, etc., imposes upon employers substantially higher costs due largely to the.
inflated price of floor space in offices and shops. It is therefore perhaps unrealistic to
expect any other than the most wealthy organisation to provide the staff with these extra
refinements.
In an assessment of those sections of the Act most frequently contravened, it is worth
recording that absence of the Abstract of the Act (Section 50) easily heads the list.
One wonders what happens to all the Abstracts placed on display. Inadequate first aid
equipment (Section 24), obstructed floors, passages and stairs (Section 16), were the
next most frequent contraventions whilst the failure to notify the fact of employment of
persons on Form O.S.R. 1. (Section 49) arose 87 times. Remarkably few businesses appear
to initiate registration of their own volition despite the requirements of the Act. They
are gathered into the fold only as a result of the vigilance of the officer responsible for the
area. Only 11 instances arose of failure to fence machinery (Section 17) and 4 cases of
inadequate lighting (Section 8) were recorded.
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