§ MR. J. DEVLIN (Belfast, W.)To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been called to a fatal accident which occurred recently in the Workshops for the Blind, Belfast, whereby a boy of eleven years of age sustained injuries from falling into a tank of boiling water, which resulted in his death; whether he is aware that the boy was one of some fifteen or sixteen other boys who are employed to lead the blind workers to their work and home again; whether he will say if the tank referred to is sufficiently protected; and, if not, whether he will see that steps are taken to prevent such an accident in future.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Gladstone.) I have obtained a report by telegram from His Majesty's inspector, from which it appears that the boy in question was not employed within the meaning of the Factory Act, and that the children, of whom he was one, who lead the blind workers to and from their homes daily, are not supposed to enter the premises at all. The boy, instead of passing 1685 between the tanks where there was a passage, climbed over the parapet of the tank and fell in. The tank is adequately fenced by a wall three feet three inches in height and fifteen inches broad. Precautions have been taken to prevent these children from entering the premises in future.