Report of the Royal Commission on Labour in India

Bibliographic data

Monograph

Identifikator:: 1850495947

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-233603

Document type:: Monograph

Title:: Report of the Royal Commission on Labour in India

Place of publication:: London

Publisher:: His Majesty's Stationery Off.

Year of publication:: 1931

Scope:: xviii, 580 S.; graph. Darst., Kt.

Digitisation:: 2022

Collection:: Economics Books

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Chapter

Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: Chapter V. - Working conditions in factories

Collection:: Economics Books

0 CHAPTER V. has risen very rapidly in recent years. Fortunately there is convincing evidence that this rise represents mainly an improvement in the reporting of accidents. All competent witnesses are agreed upon this point and there is substance in the claim of the Chief Inspector of Factories for Bengal that the increase in the totals year after year is a measure of the increased efficiency of the department in registeringfactories both new and long established, and is a result of increased inspection staff and rigour in enforcing the provisions of the Act *. The fact that there has been a great improvement in the reporting of accidents has been established by investi- gation ; it receives independent confirmation from an examination of the statistics of accidents. For the incidence of fatal accidents which, by common consent, are well reported, has shown little variation. On the other hand, the ratio of non-fatal to fatal accidents has risen steadily. There has been no cause at work to increase this ratio except the improvement in reporting, and the fact that the ratio of non-fatal to fatal accidents between 1892 and 1922 was much lower than that experienced in other countries indicated that the reporting of the former was defective. It seems probable that even now a considerable number of minor accidents are unreported, but the standard of reporting has so greatly improved that no rise in the figures comparable to that of the last decade may be expected in the future. It should be added that, while a large measure of credit is due to the inspecting staff for the improvement in reporting, other factors have had an influence, particularly the introduc- bion of the Workmen’s Compensation Act, which has given the workers & more direct interest in seeing that accidents do not pass unnoticed. Actual Increase in Accidents. Although most of the rise in the incidence of accidents is due to better reporting, itis doubtful if it can all be put down to this cause. It is dangerous to dogmatise where statistics are faulty, but the evidence tends to show that there has been an increase in the risk run by the aver- age operative. A considerable part of the increase in the number of operatives has been due to the increase in the number of small factories, in which the incidence of accidents is usually low. Probably increased efficiency has also had some effect, for a rise in the output per operative (or, what is the same thing, a fall in the number of operatives per unit of output) will in itself increase the incidence of accidents per operative, apart from the increased risk which © speeding up ” entails. There is reason to believe that the advance in recent years in the complexity of machinery and processes has been more rapid than the advance in the mentality of the operative. Without seeking to approve the readi- ness of a few employers to attribute the great majority of accidents to causes for which they are not responsible, we would emphasise the fact that too often the operatives have an imperfect realisation of the risks they run. This is, in part, due to the fact that the majority are brought up without any familiarity with machinery, while the steady expansion of industry necessarily involves the employment of a large proportion of inexperienced workers. In consequence of these and other influences, workers display at times a seeming apathy to danger.

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