§ MR. JOWETT (Bradford, W.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been called to the death, on the 8th instant, of a man named Michael Quigley, of Bradford, from anthrax, contracted whilst handling dirty cheap foreign wool for Messrs. Campbell and Harrison, woolcombers, of Shipley; if he is aware that the wool in its dusty state was thrown down to Quigley from the room above through a trap door; and what steps he is taking to protect working people whose anxiety to earn a livelihood forces them to work under such dangerous conditions.
§ MR. GLADSTONEI have received a report on this case, from which it appears that the wool, after opening, was sent down a shoot for blending purposes in the room below, but that the whole of it had been opened over a fan in order to remove dust and dirt, and that in order still further to reduce the risk from dust, the shoot is provided with swing doors half way down which break the fall of the material. I am informed that the regulations are fully observed at the factory and that the firm are voluntarily observing additional precautions, including the provision of respirators, the opening of all material over the opening boards and the washing of all material in a disinfectant liquid. I am causing further inquiry to be made as to whether any additional measures can be taken to reduce the danger at the blending heap.
§ MR. KILBRIDE (Kildare, S.)Whence was this wool imported?
§ MR. GLADSTONEI will find out.