19 
CHAPTER VII. 
those of the Burma Government in 1926-27 into small rice and saw-mills, 
and those of the Punjab Government in 1927-28 into child labour in the 
carpet factories in the Amritsar district. In a few cases useful enquiries 
of this kind have been made by private investigators desirous of drawing 
the attention of the public to particular social evils, leaders of localised 
trade unions in respect of conditions prevailing in their own industries, 
and social or student organisations generally interested in economic 
Juestions. 
Need for Further Advance. 
We are of opinion that the time has now come to take the next 
step by the extension of protective legislation to the worker employed 
in some of the industrial establishments which have hitherto escaped 
legislative control. The places most in need of such regulation fall 
naturally into two categories—those using power machinery but employing 
less than 20 workers, and those using no power machinery but employing 
a substantial number of workers. In the former category come the 
many small machine shops to be found in the back streets of all modern 
towns with the advent of mechanical transport and the extended use of 
electricity and machine tools, and in the latter a host of different in- 
dustries, from which for illustrative purposes we subsequently select 
six for more detailed treatment. 
Small Factories Using Power. 
Taking first the question of the smaller factories using power 
machinery, 7.e., those employing under 20 persons, the most important 
points requiring attention are the unsuitable and even unsafe nature of 
the buildings in which the machinery is erected and the lack of adequate, 
and indeed often of any, protective guards to shafting, belting and machi- 
nery. The dangerous possibilities of the latter are sometimes accen- 
tuated by the inadequacy or unsuitability of the lighting provided, but 
fortunately night work is not common. It has, moreover, to be borne 
in mind that, up to the present, workers employed in such places have 
been without the protection of the Workmen's Compensation Act, which 
has hitherto applied only to power driven factories employing 20 or more 
persons. Owing to the absence of any obligations to report accidents 
m unregulated factories, the number of serious or minor accidents is 
not ascertainable, but the number of fatal accidents is believed to be small, 
In addition to mechanical defects there is a marked absence of adequate 
sanitary arrangements both as regards latrines and washing conveniences. 
More than one instance came to our notice where the existing conveniences 
were used for general storage purposes. Finally both the age at which a 
child may be employed in such places and the hours of labour of all 
workers are unregulated, though there is reason to believe that no ap- 
preciable abuse of child labour exists, owing to the work being in most 
cases unsuited to them. In the aggregate the proportion of women 
employed is also small. Moreover the hours of work, though frequently 
covering a big spreadover, are normally not excessive as discipline 
is much laxer than in the large factories and the atmosphere 
is more that of the domestic workshop than of the factory proper.