I note that in this Bill the local authority or the local health authority has no power whatever to inspect the amenities or the lack of amenities inside a factory for the protection of the workers' health. All the local authority has power to do is to see that the sanitary arrangements of the factory are in order. I feel that there should be some provision whereby the local health authority would have power to inspect the inside of the factory in order that defaults might be remedied.
SECTION 57.
Question proposed: " That Section 57 stand part of the Bill."
Mr. Lemass
I doubt if it would be practicable to have both the Department of Industry and Commerce inspectors and the local health authority inspectors examining factories under the same Act.
I feel that the local authority has no control over a factory when it is not allowed to inspect the factory internally.
Arrangements have already been made whereby an inspector, in the course of his visit to a factory, if he finds himself confronted with an issue on which it is necessary to get medical opinion, can consult the Department of Health and a doctor attached to the Department will then visit the factory concerned and express a view on the possible complaint raised.
I know that to be so but I think that a provision should also be inserted under which the local health authority would be in order in inspecting the factory.
Are you suggesting a case where the thing arises within the factory?
It is such a case I am pointing out.
In such a case, as I have stated, the inspector who visits the factory can call for medical opinion and have the matter dealt with through the Department.
I think that the lack of such provision as I have mentioned establishes a grievance for the local authority concerned. All local authorities feel that they are responsible for the health of the workers employed in factories in the areas under their jurisdiction. They feel that if a worker's health is affected arising out of his employment, the local authority is responsible for his hospitalisation and treatment—these things fall on the ratepayers afterwards.
I am afraid that the provision of such power would go to the roots of the whole Bill because the Bill is providing for the general protection of workers within the factory through the provision of a group of inspectors of the Department.
And that is the very reason I brought the matter up here. I feel that the local health authority should in some way be able to prevent ill-health of workers arising from their employment in a factory. The Bill does not seem to deal at all with what I would call occupational diseases
Mr. Lemass
If it is a matter of the factory giving off noxious or harmful fumes the remedy is there under other Acts and has been used in several cases, particularly in the case of a cement factory recently. All matters relating to the health of those employed are matters for the Department of Industry and Commerce.
I am talking about matters which will affect both the workers within the factory and the residents of the immediate neighbourhood.
The health of the workers within the factory under the existing code of factory legislation and under this Bill is a matter for the Department's inspectors. If a factory is giving out noxious odours or injurious effluents, the remedial measures are in the hands of the local authority, where these odours and effluents are likely to affect the health of the local residents.
But you will agree that the health of the workers is the direct responsibility of the local authority and that being so I feel that the prevention of any ill-health should be in the hands of the local authority. After all if a worker's health is impaired as a result of his employment, the local authorities have to pay his expenses in hospital as well as other things. These things are not paid by the Department of Industry and Commerce or by the Department of Social Welfare but by the local authority concerned. So I think that, prevention being better than cure, the local authority should have some responsibility for preventing ill health of workers.
Within the factory the power to safeguard the workers' health and prevent him being killed, maimed or otherwise injured by factory processes lies with the Department of Industry and Commerce, and the power of prevention is exercised by the Department's inspectors.
I am very much inclined to support the views of the Lord Mayor of Cork. There are only 12 or 13 factory inspectors for the whole country and if a thing happens in a factory and a complaint arises it would be sometime before an inspector arrived to investigate the cause of such complaint and in the meantime the health of the workers might have become affected. It seems to me that it would be rather tough on a worker suffering from the effects of some default within a factory to have to wait some time for an inspector from the Department to arrive to investigate the matter. It does seem that it would be better if a local inspector were available and had immediate access to the factory.
I wonder if the Minister would be agreeable to consult with the Department of Health to see if it would be advisable for the local authority to have some power of inspection within a factory.
What are the views of the Committee as a whole on this matter ? The whole pattern of the Bill is aimed at a provision whereby the inspectors are the men who take steps to protect the health of the workers on the inside and of course the remedial steps on the outside rests with the local authority. I should like to point out that all factory legislation has been based on that superstructure. Is the suggestion now that the mechanical processes within the factory should be the responsibility entirely of the local authority in the area. If a health problem arises as distinct from a factory protective problem, the Departmental inspector can always call in medical opinion.
The inspector may not have the qualifications in the first instance to say what is a health problem and what is a factory protective problem. I feel that if the Department of Industry and Commerce consulted with the Health Department some provision might be hammered out which would give certain powers in these matters to the local health authority.
Mr. Lemass
It is no secret that the introduction of the Bill was held up for some time due to negotiations with the Department of Health because it was felt at one time that all health matters relating to factory employment should be the responsibility of the Department of Health. The ultimate decision was that all these matters should rest finally with the Department of Industry and Commerce in consultation with the Minister for Health.
If you place the responsibility for the initiation of remedial action on local authorities, you will have dual control and you will find that where there is such dual control you will never get effective or prompt administration.
I would agree with that myself but what I want is that the local authority would have some facilities of inspecting the factories as well as the inspectors. Under the Bill, the local health authority would seem to have no power of inspection except perhaps through the goodwill and consent of the factory owner and the local medical officer of health would seem to have no power except through such goodwill and consent.
We shall certainly look into your suggestion and shall find out what the powers of the local authority are in this connection at the moment.
Question put and agreed to.