§ 63. Mr. WHITELEYasked the Home Secretary whether, seeing that assistant inspectors of factories were appointed owing to their practical acquaintance with industrial processes, he will state why their inspections are restricted to milliners, dressmakers and similar workshops; whether inspectors on first appointment are put on duty in factories in which dangerous machinery and processes are employed; and, if so, whether, in view of the high percentage of fatal and non-fatal accidents, he will consider utilising the services of assistant inspectors in work more appropriate to their previous experience?
§ Sir W. JOYNSON-HICKSI would refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Edge Hill (Mr. Hayes) on the 14th instant. The assistants selected were not required to possess the technical qualifications necessary for the discharge of the full duties of an inspector, and few of them had, before their appointment, more than a limited experience of industrial processes. Inspectors, on appointment, are always given a thorough course of training before visiting by themselves important factories where dangerous machinery and processes have to be inspected.