View report page

75
which is also dealt with in the same section, no discretion appears
to be left with the local authority. This latter part of Section (38)
would, I am of opinion, if literally and rigidly enforced in any
London Borough,operate in certain cases severely upon a large class
of small employers, without any corresponding health advantages.
I can illustrate my meaning by quoting typical cases, drawn
from inspection work in the Borough of Hackney.
1. Mr. L., Boot Manufacturer, lives in a house of 14 rooms, the
two rooms in the basement constituting his workshop. He lets off
two of the rooms of the house to a man and his wife. Besides
himself he employs in his workshop two men and one woman.
The only sanitary conveniences on the premises is one W.C.,
approached from the yard. Thus there is one W.C. for four men,
three women and two children, of which the workpeople, two men
and one woman, are on the premises only during working hours,
while on the other hand, the male lodger and his wife are away
from the premises during working hours.
2. Mr. S.,Boot Machinist, lives in a house of 12 rooms and a retail
shop with his wife and two children. He reserves one room in the
basement for his workshop, in which he employs one man and one
woman, he of course working with them. Two rooms of the house
are let out to a man and his wife, one of which rooms is used as a
retail shop for provisions. The only sanitary accommodation on
the premises is one W.C. Thus there is one W.C. for three men,
three women and two children, one man and one woman being on
the premises only during working hours.
3. Mr. M., Tailor, lives in a house of eight rooms and a retail
shop, reserving one room on the ground floor as a workshop.
Besides himself there is employed in the workshop two men and
three women. Mr. M.'s family consists of his wife, a grown up
daughter and three children. An additional man works in a retail
shop, for which one room is reserved. The sanitary accommodation
here is one W.C. for four men, five women and three children, but
two men and three women are on the premises only during working
hours.