LABOR, LIVE STOCK SANITARY BOARD, FORESTRY 59 



LEGISLATIVE RECOMMENDATIONS 



Times and conditions change: population and industry increase; 

 the ways of life, the instrumentalities of our daily existence continually 

 afford fresh experiences. Law, though based on unchanging funda- 

 mental principles must be amended and expanded to include within its 

 scope the ever widening complexities of the changing world. Law 

 based on cummulative experience of others should be provided to meet 

 present conditions as well as it should be designed to meet conditions 

 that will arise in the future. 



For these reasons, the following legislative recommendations, 

 based on close observation and experience, purely for the benefit of 

 the Commonwealth, are made. 



Department Reorganization Necessary: 



Since the establishment of the Labor Department the State of 

 Kentucky has become an industrial center of some importance with 

 industrial enterprises concentrated in and around Louisville and Jef- 

 ferson County as well as being scattered throughout the State. 



These changing conditions in the industrial life of the State have 

 not brought with them a corresponding growth and expansion in the 

 scope and personnel of the Labor Department. The services of two 

 inspectors are constantly needed in Louisville and Jefferson County 

 where the industrial activity of the State is centered. Besides to 

 the factory and workshop inspection, these inspectors are charged 

 with the enforcement of the Woman's Law and the Child Labor Law 

 in addition to the clerical work and statistical data that is compiled 

 and disseminated by this department. 



Field work is necessarily restricted because of limited personnel 

 and funds for traveling. 



The Labor Department is handicapped in the proper and efficient 

 enforcement of factory and workshop inspection by the lack of legis- 

 lation on this subject; the law concerning the employment of women 

 is also inadequate for the protection of women in industries. No 

 codes for the enforcement of safety regulation to protect workers are 

 provided. Inspectors are limited to recommendations which are with- 

 out force and can be rejected at the discretion of the employers. 



Since the Kentucky Legislature has enacted labor laws for the 

 protection of the citizens of this state, provisions should be made to 

 increase the scope of the Labor Department which is charged with 

 the enforcement of these laws. 



Lack of adequate clerical force hampers the department in ful- 

 filling one of its most vital functions — the preparation and distribution 

 of statistical information. When such work is done for the public it 

 is done at the expense of other duties of the department. Necessarily 

 some of the inspectors are temporarily removed from their regular 

 duties to perform this work. 



