Health of the War Worker
1942-04 1942 1940s 44 pages of the factory over which persons pass, lighting should not be less than half a foot-candle measured at floor level. By using a photometer any one can measure illumination, for it is as easy as taking a temperature. So ask for a photometer to be used (by the Factory Inspe...
| Institution: | MCR - The Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick |
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| Language: | English English |
| Published: |
London : Labour Research Department
April 1942
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10796/F17BF17E-69EB-4A89-BB17-D46EB6729990 http://hdl.handle.net/10796/A87E750A-D140-4A13-A378-F8BC7A8B0CEA |
| Summary: | 1942-04
1942
1940s
44 pages
of the factory over which persons pass, lighting should not be less than half a foot-candle measured at floor level. By using a photometer any one can measure illumination, for it is as easy as taking a temperature. So ask for a photometer to be used (by the Factory Inspector if necessary) if you are not sure that the lighting is all that it should be. Cleanliness This is sufficiently important to be the subject of the opening sentence of the whole Factories Act. Part 1, Section 1, starts "Every factory shall be kept in a clean state ... (a) Accumulations of dirt and refuse shall be removed daily from floors, benches, staircases, and passages, (b) The floor of every workroom shall be cleaned at least once a week by washing, or, if it is effective and suitable, by sweeping." In addition under sub-section (c), there are requirements for periodically washing, painting, or whitewashing of walls, ceilings, and partitions and staircases. There is probably no section of the whole Act more consistently and more easily ignored than that dealing with cleanliness. Dirt is unhealthy; it is associated with dust and bacteria get carried around on small particles of dust in the air. It has been shown, for instance, in a hospital ward, that the number of germs (streptococci) of a type responsible for severe sore throats were in far higher concentration in the air just after the ward had been swept than several hours later when the dust had settled again. Dust, therefore, should not be allowed to accumulate, and before wooden floors are swept, they should be treated with some substance such as spindle oil.* Besides being unhealthy, dirt is demoralizing. It lowers morale to have to work in squalid, dirty surroundings. Lastly, a dirty factory means dirty machines and therefore unnecessary wear and tear and, eventually, the breakdown of the machine earlier than need be. It would be very profitable, from a production point of view, and easily carried out in those periods when supplies are not coming through smoothly, to institute a real clean-up of the factories. It has been done in recent years with regard to cowsheds in many areas, although thousands of out-of-date farmers said it was impossible; and it should and could be done in thousands of our older factories and workshops. *The Horder Committee on Shelters suggested that cement or stone floors should be sprinkled with sawdust, soaked with 5 per cent calcium chloride before sweeping. In any case, they should be damp-swept. 6
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| Physical Description: | TEXT |