HEALTH AND WELFARE. 
253 
in the Workmen's Compensation Act. This Act is of use from the pre- 
ventive side, as it not infrequently brings to light conditions whose 
causation and prevention require investigation. Whilst recognising that 
compulsory notification of industrial disease is the best method, we 
consider that the time for its introduction in India has not yet arrived, 
and we recommend that the medical inspectors of factories and mines, 
whose appointment has been suggested elsewhere, should be instructed 
to devote special attention to the subject. 
Industrial Health Research. 
The industries of India are now of such importance to her econo- 
mic welfare, and world competition has become so keen, that it is neces- 
sary for industry to be conducted upon the most efficient basis possible. 
To achieve this end conditions detrimental to the health and well-being 
of the worker must be eliminated. Yet it is not always easy, even for 
experts, to separate cause and effect when dealing with conditions in the 
factory itself. In Britain, towards the end of the war, when the many 
implications of industrial fatigue were beginning to be realised, a Research 
Board was constituted to investigate the causes and effects of such fatigue 
in relation to long hours of work, the nature of the operations performed, 
the surroundings in which they were carried out and the physical condi- 
tions imposed thereby. As this work developed, it was inevitable that 
wider problems should be the subject of investigation, and recently this 
body has been re-named the Industrial Health Research Board. In a 
number of directions the investigations have enabled the formula- 
tion of definite conclusions of value to industry generally as well as to 
particular classes of manufacture. Examples of these are researches 
indicating the importance of scientifically designed and well-adjusted 
lighting in factories and the establishment of definite seasonal variations 
in the output of men engaged on heavy muscular work. The study 
of causes of sickness and absenteeism which underlie the wide variations 
observed in different industries has also added greatly to the knowledge 
which previously existed on this subject. These are only a few of the 
investigations which have already enabled certain branches of industry to 
adopt changes in practice which have led to increased efficiency. 
Agency for Industrial Research in India. 
Exceptin a few instances, it would be impossible to apply deduc- 
bions made from researches in the industries of Western countries even 
to the same problems in similar industries in the East; moreover, 
problems unknown in Britain call for solution in the industrial field in 
india. We are anxious not. to multiply agencies. The best way of 
arranging for the necessary research in India would be to entrust it to the 
Indian Research Fund Association which is already in existence. This 
work appears to have a claim for special assistance from Government, 
and it might be possible for employers’ associations to finance investiga~ 
bions of this character in the industries in which they are particularly 
Interested. A staff of trained investicators—not all medical —and one or