254 



BIOLOGICAL PROBLEMS 



Output in Relation to Hours of Work. If, as I 

 have concluded, the men were not unduly fatigued by 

 working a twelve-hour day, or the women by a ten- 

 hour day, does it follow that these long hours are 

 calculated to yield the best output? By no means, as 

 was proved by direct observations on the output of 

 selected groups of men and women. 1 I was fortu- 

 nately able to obtain the output of large groups of 

 workers week by week over continuous periods of as 

 long as twenty-two months, during which there was 

 absolutely no change in the conditions of production 

 except the hours of work. The articles produced were 

 the same throughout, and of the same material, whilst 

 the machinery was not altered in any way or speeded 

 up. Groups of men engaged in the somewhat heavy 

 operation known as " sizing fuse bodies", which con- 

 sists in screwing the aluminium fuse bodies into steel 

 taps so as to cut screw threads on them, showed these 

 relative outputs : 



TABLE I MEN SIZING FUSE BODIES 



It will be seen that in the November to December, 

 1915, period, they were nominally working 66.7 hours 

 per week, or they sometimes worked a twelve-hour 

 day and sometimes a ten-hour day, but on an average 



1 Memoranda Nos. 12, 18, and 20 of The Health of Munition Workers' 

 Committee. 1916 and 1917. (Cd. 8344, 8628 and 8801.) 



