Improving Factory Conditions in England

Manawatu Times, Volume 62, Issue 29, 4 February 1937, Page 6

Improving Factory Conditions in England

PROVISIONS OF NEW BILL. (British Official Wireless.) Received Wednesday, 9.20 p.m. RUGBY, Feb. 2. The Government’s Factories Bill issued to-day consists of 14 parts and a total of 152 clauses. Various distinctions which exist in the present law between factories and workshops and between textile and non-textile factories are abolished and only one term, “factories,” is employed. The part of the Bill dealing with general provisions as to health strengthens the existing provisions and introduces new proposals. Tho latter provide for securing in every factory sufficient and suitable lighting and power and require that reasonable arrangements be made for the medical supervision of workers in certain circumstances, as for czamplc, in cases of outbreaks of disease in particular factories. In the part dealing with general provisions as to safety, the provisions of the existing law have been largely re cast and the Bill contains a number of new proposals requiring or giving power to require the adoption of various safety devices or arrangement* for the protection of workers, particularly in work involving special risks. General- and special provisions as to tho welfare of workers are set out and aew proposals made for the notification and investigation of industrial accidents and diseases. In the part of the Bill dealing with the conditions of work for women and young persons greatly reduced hours are proposed.