H—ll

The following particulars are given of the fatal accidents that occurred during the 1945 year : While an employee was standing on a plank whitewashing a ceiling in a brewery his jacket caught in some projecting studs on a revolving pulley. A worker in a cement-works who had entered a mix bin to pick down the cement mix from the sides of the bin was suffocated by a fall of material. A timber-worker was ripping a length of timber on a circular saw when a piece of the timber flew off the saw and struck him on the forehead, causing injuries to which he later succumbed. While making adjustments to a heating burner operated in connection with a hot-mix bitumen plant a worker sustained burns to his face, neck, and arms. He died a week later. A worker was employed in coating by hand a piece of canvas with rubber dough when a flash occurred and the rubber on his hands ignited. He died from heart failure caused by shock. A worker who was moving bags of ammonia sulphate stacked in a dye-house climbed on to the top of the stack, and a loose pullover he was wearing caught in a revolving shaft. A youth employed in an engineering-shop was electrocuted as a result of his grasping an electric-light bulb suspended on a long lead above a planing-machine. His thumb came into contact with the screw-base of the bulb, which was apparently defective in some way and had not been fully screwed into the socket. A fireman-shunter employed in a cement-works went between an engine and a truck either to couple the engine to the truck or to remove the coupling-bar and was crushed between the engine and truck. A worker in a freezing-works used a goods lift, the inner gate of which had been removed for repairs, to transport some timber from the ground floor to the second floor. The timber, which was being held up by the worker, slipped and, falling across his shoulder, projected over the side of the lift. As the lift ascended, the projecting ends caught the steel bar across the lift-well just below the first floor and the timber was forced down across the worker's chest. A worker in the coopering department at a freezing-works was ripping staves on a circular saw when a piece of the wood was thrown back from the saw and struck him on the face. He died in hospital two and a half weeks later from tetanus and pneumonia. A worker on the first floor of a factory was using a block and tackle to lower an empty crate to the ground floor, 16ft. below, when he overbalanced and fell. A kiln boiler attendant received fatal burns when the fire which he had just finished stoking blew back on him. Inspections During the year 7,338 visits of inspection were made, 928 breaches of the Act being found. Prosecutions were instituted in 18 cases and warnings given in 591. No action was considered necessary in the remaining cases. In addition, complaints were received respecting 415 alleged breaches of the Act, which, on investigation, resulted in 8 prosecutions and 277 warnings. In 64 cases it was found that no breach had been committed. Convictions were secured in all of the 26 prosecutions. The fines totalled £57 2s. There were 671 requisitions served to comply with various requirements of the Act, such as for safeguards for workers employed on machinery, &c, sanitation, fire-escapes, dust-extraction, renovations and structural alterations, heating-appliances, lighting, ventilation, spray-booths for duco work, lime-washing, first-aid appliances, dining-room accommodation, and the provision of drinking-water. Boys and Girls in Factories In December, 1944, the provisions of the Factories Act, 1921-22, relating to the employment in factories of boys and girls under sixteen years of age were brought into line with the requirements of the Education (School Age) Regulations 1943 (Serial number 1943/202). The law now provides that a boy or girl under fifteen years of age shall not be employed except in special cases authorized in writing by the Inspector of

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