[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Southwark, Borough of].

  • Southwark (London, England). London Borough.
Date:
[1969?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: [Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Southwark, Borough of]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    63/114 (page 59)
    OFFICES, SHOPS & RAILWAY PREMISES ACT, 1963 Introduction The Borough covers an area of 7,115 acres between the south side of the River Thames and Crystal Palace. The shape is approximately that of a triangle, the apex being to the south. The estimated mid-year population was 293,120. Substantial redevelopment schemes are under way and in the planning stages. The majority of commercial premises are concentrated in the northern part of the district and included among these is a number of large office blocks. Some premises which had remained empty for a number of years and which were the subject of comment in a previous report were occupied during the year by Government Departments. Registrations and Inspections New registrations were made of 252 premises, a small increase compared with the previous year. The total of registered premises rose to 3,593, an annual increase of 234, mainly of offices and retail shops. General inspections were made of 1,240 premises (34.5%) while the total of all visits made to registered premises was 3,847. An analysis of contraventions found and remedied following visits to the various classes of premises may be found in Table D. The totals of contraventions found and remedied were 1,028 and 735 respectively, compared with 2,110 and 2,227 the year before. Written notices were sent in respect of 122 premises and by the end of the year 77 of these notices had been fully complied with. As in former years, verbal notices sufficed to bring about improve ment with regard to comparatively minor shortcomings. The overall picture indicates that since the inception of the Act a steady improve ment in working conditions has taken place and that regular visits to registered premises should go a long way towards ensuring that this improvement is maintained. Inspections of premises continued to be made by the Public Health Inspectors and Technical Assistants under supervision. The statistical information required to be submitted annually to the Minister is re produced in Tables A, B and C. Operation of the General Provisions of the Act Cleanliness (Section 4) A significant reduction was noted in reported contraventions compared with earlier years despite extensive redevelopment and the air pollution which results from the large volume of motor vehicle traffic to and from Central London which passes through the Borough. It should be noted that deficiencies in catering premises are dealt with under the Food Hygiene (General) Regulations 1960. Overcrowding (Section 5) Only 3 instances were reported. The Department is frequently consulted before occupation of new premises and where changes of user occur. The majority of occupiers and employees are aware of the requirements of the Act in this respect. Temperature (Section 6) Instances where inadequate heating was found showed a marked descrease over pre vious years. Legal proceedings were however, instituted against a large multiple retail 59