Report to Her Majesty's principal Secretary of State for the Home Department on the conditions of labour in chemical works, the dangers to life and health of the workpeople employed therein, and the proposed remedies / by the Chemical Works Committee of Inquiry.

  • Home Office
Date:
1893
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report to Her Majesty's principal Secretary of State for the Home Department on the conditions of labour in chemical works, the dangers to life and health of the workpeople employed therein, and the proposed remedies / by the Chemical Works Committee of Inquiry. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    APPENDIX. THE CHEMICAL CO M M1TTEE SITTING FOR THE EXAMINATION OE WITNESSES HELD AT THE NORTH-WESTERN HOTEL, LIVERPOOL. Friday, July 28th, 1893. PRESENT : W. DAWKINS CRAMP, Esq., in the Chair. Professor Simpson. } Dr. O’Neil, of Widnes. A. E. Fletcher, Esq., Alkali Inspector. | H. S. Richmond, Esq., H.M. Inspector of Factories (Secretary). John Beetle examined 1. Where do you work p—At the Globe Alkali Works, St. Helens. 2. What department do you work in ?—In the bleach¬ ing powder. 3. How long have you worked there ?—In the yard or in the bleach ? 4. In the chemical works altogether ?—I have worked about 12 years in the Globe Alkali. 5. All that time in the bleaching powder P—No, sir ; about five years in the bleaching powder and about two years in the lime-house. 6. (Mr. Fletcher.) You have spoken of bleaching powder and lime dressing ; which of those occupations do you find most distressing and troublesome and diffi¬ cult for you P—Well, I used to discharge waggons at first when I went to the Globe. 7. That is not what I mean ; which do you like least, working in the bleach chamber or in the lime shed?— I like the bleach the best. 8. And which the worst ?—Well just the bare spade job. I had to to work for 4s. a day emptying waggons. 9. What I want to come at is this, is lime dressing very distressing?—No, sir. 10. Does not it hurt your face at all—the lime dust ? —If you let the lime dust stop on your face when you are sweating it will burn, but if you are not sweat¬ ing very much, it will not affect you. If the sweat lies Dn your face it will burn you. 11. What do you do to prevent it hurting your face P— The lime ? Sometimes I rub a little bit of tallow on it. 12. Did ycNi ever find putting a cloth or respirator over the mouth to be of use ?—Oh, yes, sir; they put a muzzle over the mouth to keep the dust out. 13. The same muzzle that you wear in the bleaching powder ?—They do not need as much as us, only to keep the dust out. 14. You wear bigger muzzles in the bleach ?—Yes, Bir. 15. It is simply to keep the dust out in the lime house. 16. (Dr. O'Neil.) If this tallow which you put on afterwards were put on before would it prevent it P— Yes, you put a little on before you go into the chamber, because when you sweat and the dust gets on you it will stick there, and either lime or bleach will burn if it sticks on your skin. E 77762. by Mr. Richmond. 17. (Mr. Fletcher.) Then you think if you have grease on your skin and a cloth over your mouth, you are sufficiently protected ?—There is no great hardship. 18. You cannot propose anything which could be better p—No, flannel is the best; I have never tried anything else myself. 19. You would not care about a respirator made of metal or india-rubber ?—No, sir ; I think the flannel is very good for us. I am better since I went to the bleach, increasing in health myself. I am fatter now than ever I was since I went to the bleaching powder. It does not do me any harm. Certainly you must get a little bit of gas sometimes. Your flannel may be a little dry sometimes or a little wet, and you have a little gas to contend with, but you can keep it out, not to do you any bodily harm. I am a lot healthier than I was before I went to it. 20. (Mr. Richmond.) Of course in the bleach-house you wear a muzzle to keep out the fumes P—Yes, sir. 21. And in the lime to keep out the dust P—The lime dust, yes. 22. You have worked at bleach and at lime and at the ordinary labour work of the yard, and you would rather work at the bleach, considering the pay and all its conditions, than any other branch. 23. In spite of the chlorine gas p—Oh, yes, sir. 24. You do not count that much P—Oh, no. What little we gee does not do us any harm. Your flannel gets a little dry sometimes, or a little wet, and you cannot get your breath through it, and you have to come out and change it. 25. Do you wash that flannel often P—Yes, sir ; once a day. 26. Is the same flannel used against the fumes and against the lime ?—Yes, you can use the same flannel. Some people use a bit of spun yarn in the mouth, but that causes them to have bad teeth. 27. You are speaking now of the lime, not the bleach P—Oh, you could not do it with the bleach ; you have to draw your breath through your flannel, and blow it out through your notee ; that is how we get our breath. 28. (Mr. Richmond.) You have your bleach muzzle here I believe, and can show it?—Yes, sir; shall I put it on. A J. Beetle. 28 July 1893.
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