[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Richmond].

  • Richmond upon Thames (London, England). Council.
Date:
[1957]
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: [Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Richmond]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    25 Thirty'eight visits of inspection were made to the premises out' lined above and the following defective conditions were remedied: — Want of cleanliness to Factory walls, etc. 10 Inadequate ventilation of Factories — Ineffective drainage of Factory floors — Insufficient Sanitary accommodation — Unsuitable or defective conditions in Sanitary accom modation 2 Other matters requiring attention 9 21 ATMOSPHERIC POLLUTION. Richmond, being a residential town, has few large works or factories, but the number of complaints concerning smoke emission continues at a comparatively high level, and their investigation remains an important duty of the Inspectors. Twenty-five complaints were received during the year and twenty eight observations for excessive smoke were made. Generally, inter views, with managers and advice to stokers resulted in improved conditions and no grounds were found to justify statutory action. Many of the complaints related to factory chimneys which are set among residential properties, and powers under the Public Health Act byelaws limit action by the local authority to those instances only where black smoke is being emitted. Despite this inadequate statutory standard there has been a happy record of co-operation with factory managements in reducing smoke emission to a minimum. The Clean Air Act was passed by Parliament during the year but had not come into operation by the 31st December. The Act will strengthen the control which local authorities can exercise in reducing atmospheric pollution, and it is likely that emphasis will need to be given to this field of environmental hygiene as soon as the Act becomes effective. PREVENTION OF DAMAGE BY PESTS ACT, 1949. The rodent control section of the staff have done much useful work during the year in eradicating rats and mice from premises and foul sewers.