FACTORY ACTS 



with every type of hoist and pulley 

 for the easy handling of heavy 

 castings. 



Electricity is increasingly em- 

 ployed to supply power to the 

 shops ; but the earlier system of 

 large central dynamos with huge 

 shafts and many driving belts is 

 replaced more and more by small 

 electric motors at various points, 

 each being supplied with current, 

 which can be converted into power 

 at will. 



Expenditure and Economy 



Fearless expenditure and vigilant 

 economy are required to ensure 

 success. Large savings have been 

 effected by the utilisation of waste 

 and of by-products. In a steam - 

 heated factory, the warm water 

 arising from condensation of the 

 vapour is usually "fed" to the 

 boilers instead of cold water from 

 the main. A substantial saving 

 of fuel is thus effected. Coal tar, 

 once thrown away in the process of 

 preparing coal-gas, has proved to 

 be of greater value than the gas 

 itself. Otherwise useless rubbish is 

 burnt in a destructor, the resultant 

 heat being duly turned to account. 

 The sheets of tinned iron " scrap " 

 from tinware factories, formerly 

 discarded as useless, are now chemi- 

 cally stripped, and the recovered 

 tin is used again. 



The work of a factory is technic- 

 ally divided into two classes : (a) 

 the actual process of manufacture, 

 and (6) the services which facilitate 

 those processes. The latter and 

 subsidiary branch comprises the 

 supply of power, maintenance of 

 buildings, repair of tools and 

 machines, packing and labelling 

 finished products, and the care of 

 the workers. 



A typical factory includes most or 

 all of the f ollowing departments : 



(a) Manufacture : Receipt and 

 storage of raw material ; actual 

 manufacture (in successive stages) ; 

 finishing and assembling ; packing, 

 labelling, and analysis ; and di- 

 spatch. (6) Services : Transport by 

 motor, rail, or water ; power (in- 

 cluding water services, light, heat, 

 and motive force hydraulic, 

 steam, or electrical); engineers' 

 shop and stores ; social service 

 (rest rooms, canteens, etc.) ; time- 

 keeping ; accountancy, and store- 

 keeping. 



Each manufacturing department 

 is restricted to a single phase of the 

 complex process of converting the 

 raw material into the finished 

 product. To coordinate the output 

 of all these independent parts, so 

 that none of them is kept idle by 

 any other, is a task requiring the 

 closest care, and it is upon such 

 fine adjustments and economies 

 that the margin of profit often 



3063 



depends. Under the general con- 

 trol of the departmental managers, 

 a foreman in charge of each work- 

 shop is responsible for the work it 

 turns out. 



The modern tendency in favour 

 of a shorter day for the factory 

 hand appears to be justified even 

 upon purely economic grounds. 

 Experimental studies in the psy- 

 chology of fatigue as exhibited in 

 factories, have afforded surprising 

 results. Ten minutes rest per hour 

 was found to increase the hourly 

 output, and an eight-hour day to 

 be more productive than one of 

 nine hours. But the enormous sums 

 now sunk in machinery require a 

 longer working day than before, so 

 that the earning capacity of the 

 machines may be increased. 

 Psychology o! Factory Life 



The problem is solved by em- 

 ploying two shifts of labour daily, 

 of 7 or 8 hours each. It is found 

 that a weekly or fortnightly change 

 of shift has a beneficial effect on 

 the psychology of factory em- 

 ployees, and stimulates their 

 powers of work. Strict cleanli- 

 ness, order and quiet in the work- 

 rooms, and tools and equipment 

 exactly adapted to their function, 

 have similar results on output. 



Increased care for the worker's 

 well-being, thus justified by finan- 

 cial as well as moral considerations, 

 is not restricted by providing him 

 with better physical conditions 

 at his work. Many factory owners 

 maintain a "social service" de- 

 partment, supplying rest rooms, 

 libraries, and recreation grounds, 

 and promoting schemes for sport 

 and study. They regard as proven 

 the contention that the master key 

 to successful factory control is 

 health and content in the worker. 

 Ernest A. Carr 



Factory Acts. In the United 

 Kingdom, a series of over twenty 

 statutes, aimed at regulating con- 

 ditions in factories and workshops, 

 especially on behalf of women and 

 children. The first was passed in 

 1802, Addington's Act, "for the 

 preservation of the health and 

 morals " of apprentices, etc., em- 

 ployed in cotton and other fac- 

 tories ; child employees were not 

 allowed to work more than 12 

 hours a day nor later than 9 p.m., 

 and had to be taught the three R's 

 in working hours. 



The Act of 1833 barred the em- 

 ployment of children under nine 

 years of age at factories and pro- 

 vided inter alia for an eight-hour 

 day for children under 13, for 

 certain holidays, and for factory 

 inspectors. The 1844 Act initiated 

 the following interpretations, viz. 

 " young person," between 13 and 

 18 years old ; child, under 13 years ; 



FACTORY ACTS 



it laid down that women were to 

 be employed on the same conditions 

 as to hours as young persons, who, 

 together with children, were not to 

 work on Saturdays after 4.30 ; and 

 regulated the fencing of machinery. 

 The 1847 Act set up an eleven-hour 

 day maximum for factory workers 

 and a ten-hour day for women and 

 young persons, with a 58 hours' 

 maximum for the week. 



Lord Ashley (earl of Shaftes- 

 bury) was perhaps the most pro- 

 minent of the reformers of abuses 

 which for years disfigured the in- 

 dustrial system in the 19th cen- 

 tury. Other Factory Acts were 

 passed at intervals to safeguard 

 the workers further from accident, 

 disease, or oppression, and to pro- 

 vide for the education of children 

 employed at factories before na- 

 tional education was adopted. 



Important changes were made 

 by the 1874, 1878, 1883, 1891, 

 1895, and 1897 Acts, but the 

 present law is contained in the 

 consolidating Factory and Work- 

 shop Act, 1901, of 163 sections. 

 By this Act a young person is be- 

 tween 14 and 18 years and a child 

 under 14, unless such child, though 

 over 13 and under 14, has obtained 

 an educational certificate of pro- 

 ficiency. A child is not allowed to 

 clean machinery, and women and 

 young persons may not clean ma- 

 chinery in motion. Minute pro- 

 visions are laid down for ventila- 

 tion, sanitary conveniences, means 

 of escape from fire, as to inspection 

 and accidents, and working hours. 

 Working Hours for Women 



In textile factories the hours for 

 women and young persons must 

 not exceed 66 a week, which 

 period includes at least 10 hours 

 for meals, and they must not 

 start before 6 a.m. or leave off 

 after 7 p.m. There are detailed 

 working-hour limitations for this 

 type and other classes of fac- 

 tories. The Saturday half-day is 

 stereotyped with few exceptions. 

 No female may be employed within 

 four weeks after her confinement. 

 Children who work half-time are 

 not to be employed otherwise. For 

 these classes of employees Sunday 

 work is barred, with specific excep- 

 tions, and overtime and night 

 work are the subject of restrictions. 



In 1911 a further Factory Act 

 was passed empowering the Home 

 Secretary to make regulations for 

 cotton cloth factories, and a statu- 

 tory order was made for the regu- 

 lation of " home-work." There are 

 now many women as well as men 

 inspectors, and during the Great 

 War welfare committees were set 

 up throughout the industrial sys- 

 tem on behalf of the workers. See 

 Children ; Labour. 



