Fifth Annual report of the Industrial Fatigue Research Board : to 31st December 1924.

  • Great Britain. Industrial Fatigue Research Board.
Date:
1925
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Fifth Annual report of the Industrial Fatigue Research Board : to 31st December 1924. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    73/80 (page 71)
    No. 21.—Atmospheric Conditions in Cotton Weaving, by S. WyaTT, M.Sc. 1923. (x and 36 pages). [Price 2s. net, post free 2s. 2d.] [The report is based on an extensive series of observations of the temperature and movement of the air, and of its cooling power as measured by the dry and wet kata-thermometer in eight humid weaving sheds. A comparison is drawn between winter and summer observations, and examples are given of the daily variations in temperature and cooling- power with explanations of the differences which occur. Suggestions are made for increasing the cooling-power by increasing the air movement, and an account is given of a small-scale experiment carried out with this object. Finally, the atmospheric conditions in humid weaving sheds are compared with those in other factories, and detailed instructions are given for using the kata-thermometer, the instrument with which the observations of cooling-power were made. The preface contains a short account of the legislative and official action taken in regard to humidified factories in the United Kingdom.] No. 23.—Variations in Efficiency in Cotton Weaving, by S. WyaTT, M.Sc. 1923. (vii and 60 pages). [Price 3s. Od. net, post free 3s. 2d.] [This report is based principally on hourly output (pick-recorder) readings taken on about 600 looms over a period of one year, amounting in all to over one million. In these the high and uniform standard of efficiency generally maintained in cotton weaving is clearly indicated. The variations in efficiency over the year, week and day, are fully dis- cussed, and the various factors in efficiency (distinguished as environmental, personal, and physical) analysed. Owing to the large volume of data involved, individual and chance variations are eliminated in the final ‘results, but the general tendencies that emerge may be accepted as real. It is shown, for instance, that at temperatures over 75°F. productive efficiency tends to fall owing to fatigue on the part of the workers, and also that during periods of artificial lighting output may be reduced by 5 per cent.] Boot and Shoe Industry. No. 10.—Preliminary Notes on the Boot and Shoe Industry, by J. Lovepay, B.A.,and S.H. Munro. 1920. (32 pages). [Price ls. 6d. net, post free Is. 74d.] [The report embodies some miscellaneous points of interest arising during the initial stages of an investigation into the boot and shoe industry. It contains an historical introduction and an illustrated description of the principal processes, followed by two short sections bearing on fatigue and efficiency. The first of these deals with variations in output during the day for certain operations, and in it two inferences are drawn, first, . that output on Saturday is always relatively low, and secohdly, that the rate of production of a skilled worker is more regular and tends to fall later in the week than that of a. worker whose skill is less or who is ill-suited to his work. The final section of the report is devoted to an account of an experiment with regular rest-pauses in a certain pressroom, by means of which the average output from six presses.was increased by 44 per cent. without the addition of new machines and with a reduction in the working hours of the individual operative. ]