§ MR. TENNANT (Berwickshire)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that in match factories provisions for the health of the workers largely turn upon questions involving structural alterations which by the regulations are ultra vires for the women inspectors; whether, when visiting a match factory, a woman inspector has no direct power under Special Rules, Nos. 2 and 3, to 412 require the separation of the dangerous from the non-dangerous departments by the erection of a door, or an addition to washing appliances by the erection of a basin and tap; and whether such matters must be referred by her to the district inspector?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENTStructural questions are undoubtedly very important. Any such questions other than questions of sanitary accommodation for females which appear to the lady inspector to require attention are referred by her to the district inspector. It then becomes his duty to take immediate steps to secure the enforcement of the law, or of the special rules, to inform the lady inspector of the result, and to forward to headquarters her communication, with a statement of the steps he has taken upon it. This practice applies to all factories, whether special rules are in force or not, and the matters mentioned in the Question would, in the ordinary course, be dealt with in this way.