In considering the main provisions of the act of 1878, it must be kept in view that a "factory" means a place in which machinery is moved by the aid of steam, water, or other mechanical power; a " child" meansa person under the age of 14 years; a "young person" means a person between 14 and 18 years of age; a " woman" means a woman of 18 years and upwards; " parent" includes the person having the custody or control of any child; "night" means the period between 9 P.M. and 6 A.M. Thegeneral sanitary provision applicable to all factories and workshops is, that they shall be clean, free from effluvia, not overcrowded, and ventilated so as to render harmless, so far as practicable, the gases, vapors, dust, etc., which are generated in the process and are injurious to health. Where anything is wrong, the factory inspector gives notice to the sanitary (local) authority. Every factory is to be lime-washed once in 14 months, unless painted in oil once in 7 years, when it must be washed once in 14 months. The inspector may order fans to be used where dust is generated by grinding, glazing, or polishing on a wheel Special provision is made for the painting of bakehouses, and for the protection of workers in the wet-spinning process. The obligation to fence factory machinery in an efficient manner applies to every hoist or teagle near to which any person is liable to be employed, every flywheel connected with mechanical power, every part of a steam engine and water-wheel, and every wheel-race. The inspector may also require the fencing of. any driving-strap, or band, or other part of machinery which he considers dangerous, or of any vat, pan, or other structure filled with hot liquid or molten metal So as to be a likely source of danger to the protected classes. Children must not be set to clean any part of the machinery while in motion; as regards young persons and women, the prohibition extends only to mill-gearing. No work is to be done between the fixed and traversing parts of a self-acting machine while moved by mechanical power. The general rules for the employment of young persons and women in textile factories are 6 A.M. to 6 P.3I., or 7 A.M. to 7 r.m., except on Saturdays, and on Satur days 6 A.M. to 12.30 or 1 P.M. (according to the time allowed for meals), or 7 A.M. to 1.30 r.itr. Two hours (one of them before 3 P.M.) must be allowed for meals on every day except Saturday, on which half an hour is sufficient. The employment is not to be continuous for more than 41 hours without an interval of half an hour for meals. The variations on these rules for young persons and women in a non-textile factory, and for young persons in a workshop, are that the minimum time for meals is reduced to 11 hour, and the period of continuous employment is extended to 5 hours. As regards children in textile factories, they must be employed on the system of morning and afternoon sets, or on that of alternate days. Their morning set ends at 1 P.M., or dinner-time, if that is earlier; the afternoon set begins at 1 P.M., or after dinner, if that is later. The Saturday hours for children are the same as for others. Neither set is to be continued more than seven days, and no child may be employed on two successive Saturdays. Under the alternate day system, the hours for employment and meals are the same as for young persons. In workshops in which neither children nor young persons are employed, the hours for women are 6 A.M. to 9 P.m., with 41 hours for meals and absence for work; and on Saturdays, 6 Ax. to 4 P.M., with 24 hours for these purposes. As regards domestic workshops, the most important specialty is that the alternate system for children may not be used. The actual times for work and meals are not fixed, but overtime is prohibited, and the shops remain under the sanitary super vision of the local authority. The two points fixed by statute with reference to meals
in factories and workshops generally are: That the three classes of children, young persons, and women must have their meals at the same hour; that during that hour none of them is allowed to remain in it room where the manufacturing process is being carried on. In every factory and workshop the period of employment, prohibi tions; meal-hours, and system of children's labor, must all be published in a notice put up within the premises. Employment of children under ten, and of any of the pro tected classes on Sunday, is prohibited. The occupier is also bound. to give eight half holidays in every year, besides (in Scotland) the sacramental fasts. In trades carried on in connection with the retail business, the home secretary may authorize the giving of separate holidays to different classes of workers; and in other cases (e.g., in provincial towns where Saturday is the market-day) he may substitute another week-day for the Saturday half-holiday. A child, employed on- the morning and afternoon set, must give one school attendance on each work day, and, if employed on the alternate day system, two attendances on each non-working day. The penalty is that the child cannot be employed in the following week before the deficiency in attendances has been made up. It is the duty of the employer to get every week from the teacher a certificate of attend time. He may also be obliged to pay to the school-manager a sum not exceeding 3d. a week, or one twelfth part of the child's weekly wages. A child of 13, however, on obtaining a certificate of proficiency, will be treated as a young person. No child or young person under the age of 16. is to be employed in a factory for more than seven days without a certificate of age and physical fitness granted after personal examination by the medical officer or certifying surgeon of the district. When an accident occurs in a factory or workshop which causes loss of life, or prevents the person injured resum ing work within 48 hours, notice must be given to the inspector and the medical officer or certifying surgeon, the latter of whom must go at once to the premises and report to the inspector on the nature and cause of the death or injury.
It is impossible to mention all the special the act imposes. For instance, no children or young persons are allowed to work at silvering mirrors by the mercurial process, making white lead, melting or annealing glass. Children must not be employed in dipping Lucifer matches, or dry grinding in the metal trade. Girls must not be employed in making or finishing bricks or salt. In glass and earthenware works and others, certain parts of the works must not be used for taking meals. The home secretary has power to extend such restrictions to other unwholesome occupations. Again, where the customs and exigences of a trade require it, the home secretary may alter the hours of labor to 8 A.M. and 8 P.M., or even. 9 A.M. and 9 P.M. Of the first class, lithographic printing, envelope making, biscuit making, and bookbinding are examples; of the second, the straw-hat making at Luton, and warehouses in London and elsewhere.
The administration of the act is carried on by inspectors. appointed and paid by govern ment. They have large powers of entering factories, workshops, and schools, of asking for documents, of examining persons on oath. A special warrant is required to enter a dwelling-house. The inspectors report to government annually. The certifying stir geons appointed by the inspectors are entitled to charge for their statutory duties certain fees, which are paid by the employer, Hut which he may deduct from wages.