§ MR. ARTHUR HENDERSON (Durham, Barnard Castle)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been called to the increase in the number of fatal accidents in factories for October 1906 compared with the same month of last year; whether he can say how many of the seventy-two deaths were attributable to dangerous machinery or structures as to which the Factory Act empowers the enforcement of means of prevention; and whether he can give the number of non-fatal accidents in factories for the ten months ending 31st October 1908.
§ *THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. GLADSTONE, Leeds, W.)Yes, I am aware that the figures referred to in the Question, which are compiled in my Department, show for factories and workshops an increase of eleven, of which six are accounted for by falls, over those for the corresponding month in 1905. The monthly figures, however, are liable to fluctuations from a variety of causes, and it would not be safe to draw any inference from the present increase. The figures for the preceding and succeeding months were in each case lower than those for the corresponding months of 1905. I cannot give the number of fatal accidents attributable to dangerous machinery or structures in regard to which the Factory Act empowers the enforcement of means of prevention, but the number due to machinery moved by power was twenty-six. The number of non fatal accidents in factories and workshops during the first ten months of the year would be between 78,000 and 79,000.