Health of the War Worker
1942-04 1942 1940s 44 pages schemes. If so, it is almost certain that they are lowering production by doing so. Rest Pauses Apart from the total number of hours worked in the week, the length of a particular working spell has to be considered. It may be possible to produce far more in two spells o...
| 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/10796/1DBF1771-664B-456A-991F-1277B8866A4E http://hdl.handle.net/10796/D9F756B7-F0A0-45BD-9B2E-C5261DDF5975 |
| Summary: | 1942-04
1942
1940s
44 pages
schemes. If so, it is almost certain that they are lowering production by doing so. Rest Pauses Apart from the total number of hours worked in the week, the length of a particular working spell has to be considered. It may be possible to produce far more in two spells of 4 hours with a rest of half an hour between them than in a single spell of 8 hours. Muscles need a rest periodically if excessive fatigue is to be avoided. Recognizing this, the Factories Act makes it illegal for women and young workers under 18 to be employed for more than 4½ hours without an interval of at least half an hour for a break. The spells may be increased to 5 hours if there is an interval of 10 minutes some time during the 5 hours. Since the last war it has been widely recognized that a spell of 4½ hours is too long without a short rest. Workers in their efforts for production should not therefore lightly abandon rest-pauses, which especially in light monotonous work are likely to increase production considerably. Any move in this direction needs to be carefully checked by records of actual production. The benefit of a rest pause is likely to be increased if a hot drink and a bite of food can be taken. Efficient arrangements for this are needed so that work can restart promptly. 5. FILLING FACTORIES Many thousands of workers to-day are concerned about the dangers of working in filling factories. As it is essential that this work be done, the dangers need to be understood and measures taken to combat them. It was amply demonstrated in the last war that if sufficient determination and energy, combined with scientific knowledge were used, the dangers from handling T.N.T. and Tetryl could be eliminated; yet many cases of poisoning and of dermatitis are occurring in the filling factories again in this war. T.N.T. or Trinitrotoluene is a yellowish, crystalline powder widely used, either by itself or mixed with other chemicals (e.g. amatol and baratol), in the explosives industry. It is poisonous. This was fully realized only in 1915 when workers in filling factories died from contact with this substance. About 50 deaths occurred in that year. On January 1, 1916, it became compulsory to notify any case of Toxic Jaundice occurring among T.N.T. workers. In 1916, 181 cases were notified, of whom 52 died; in 1917, 189 cases were notified, of whom 44 died. 27
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| Physical Description: | TEXT |