The Girl in Industry

by Dorothy Josephine Collier

In non-textile factories 5-hour spells are very common. All the doctors interviewed spoke very strongly against this practice. It is noteworthy that far more accidents are reported as occurring in the 5-hour spells than in shorter periods, and the general opinion is that the spell is too long for health and efficiency. In many munition factories short breaks for ten or fifteen minutes have been instituted in the 5-hour spells, and trolleys from the canteens are sent round with cheap refreshments. The benefit derived from this system is everywhere acknowledged, and the wonder is that so few experiments with rest pauses have been tried. The 4½-hour spell also comes in for much criticism, and some observers say that the girls are thoroughly fatigued at the end of the time, while the Welfare supervisor at one works goes so far as to say that the last half-hour even of a 4-hour spell drags so heavily with the younger workers that a 3½-hour spell would be a distinct advantage both to health and to output.

The continuous 4½-hour spell allowed by the Factory Acts for the textile industry is seldom adopted in either the cotton or worsted trades, the most usual hours being 6 A.M. to 8 A.M., 8.30 A.M. to 12.30 P.M., and 1.30 P.M. to 5.30 P.M. Very little attention has been paid to the effects of the 4-hour spells as such, and though many observers say that girls are thoroughly fatigued by 3.30 or 4.30 P.M., this seems to be due mainly to the total number of hours already worked rather than to the fatiguing influence of the individual spell. With regard to the early morning start characteristic of these industries, opinion was sharply divided. Some employers and Trade Union representatives declared that no ill-effects resulted, while others were most insistent that the work before breakfast was the cause of much illness and discomfort. Whilst it is impossible to dogmatise in the face of these conflicting statements, especially in view of the fact that neither side can produce scientific evidence in its defence, so that the statements are probably the result of social and domestic considerations, it may be assumed that the early start is harmful in the cold winter months, but that it does not of itself exert any injurious influence in the summer.

Night work for juvenile workers is now almost universally condemned. The effects of such work are more marked than with adult workers, the nervous strain is considerable, and lassitude and weariness invariably accompany the night shift. This results in spite of the fact that girls are reported to sleep well during the day, unlike the older women, whose domestic concerns frequently prevent sleep in the daytime. Some witnesses from Birmingham and Coventry report that night-work was still (November 1916) common for juvenile workers. Where Welfare Workers are in charge, however, they endeavour to restrict it to girls over 16, though even with these the fatigue is considerable, as sleep is frequently broken by the mother waking the girl to partake of the family mid-day meal. Evidence as to the relative merits of long and short periods of night-work are so conflicting that it is impossible to draw any conclusions, and as the question is receiving considerable attention from the Health of Munition Workers' Committee, it was not made the subject of special investigation.

Some explanation of the conflict of evidence recorded under this section of the inquiry may be found in the outlook of the witnesses interviewed. Where increased output and commercial profit were the chief concern, so long as few actual breakdowns occurred the witness would report no unfavourable results from long hours of labour, while those whose main interest lay with the well-being of the worker would notice any falling off in health with long hours and would report accordingly. It is obvious that no definite conclusions as to the immediate or ultimate effect of long hours can be made from evidence of this nature. In the second part of this report suggestions will be made as to the lines on which more scientific inquiry should be conducted in order to determine the exact effects of varying hours of industrial work on the physical organisation of adolescent girls.

Protracted Standing and Opportunity for Rest.—Evidence as to the provision of seats in munition factories is, on the whole, very encouraging. Most workshops have stools or seats for use during the short pauses which occur whilst waiting for materials or for the setting of tools, and where possible younger girls are put on work that can be done sitting down, whilst Welfare supervisors are generally ready to recommend that delicate girls be transferred from work which involves protracted standing to processes which allow occasional or even continued sitting-down, and foremen are nearly always willing to fall in with the Welfare Workers' suggestions. Only in a few cases have there been difficulties in securing seats: where men have been formerly employed the foremen are sometimes prejudiced against allowing girls to sit down, but they are soon convinced of the wisdom of making this concession.

With certain processes prolonged standing is inevitable, but evidence as to resulting injury was not forthcoming in Birmingham or Coventry. None of the doctors interviewed was able to make any statement regarding the effects of a continued standing posture, as no cases of injury that could be attributed to this cause had come to their notice. Some of the Welfare supervisors stated that girls got very tired at first but soon got used to the permanent standing, and that no serious or lasting injuries resulted, though in a few cases girls not used to industrial work would get flat-footed or would suffer from swollen feet. While varicose veins are rare in young girls, every witness brought into contact with older married women was impressed by the apparent inevitability of this trouble in later years, but it is impossible to gather how far work during adolescence is responsible.

Evidence as to the effects of standing on the menstrual function will be discussed later.

From the evidence received it seems probable that only a small proportion, and these perhaps the more delicate, are troubled by prolonged standing, but attention may be drawn to the evidence of one large factory where 50 per cent of all new workers leave before the end of six months, and of these 30 per cent declare that they find the standing so fatiguing that they cannot remain at the work.

In most of the processes of the cotton and worsted industries chances of resting are exceedingly rare. Girls carrying laps[10] from the blowing-room to the cards, can-tenters and drawing-frame minders in the card-room, and winders and weavers, seldom, if ever, get an opportunity to sit down. Girls on the slubber, intermediate, and roving frames, and those in the ring-room of the cotton trade and the spinning-rooms of the worsted industry, are in a better position in that a few minutes' rest is sometimes possible, and some managers and overlookers believe that these girls are less tired and show a better sickness record than the former group. Even where the nature of the work allows occasional periods of rest, seats are scarcely ever provided, so that the girls seldom sit down unless the waste-boxes or the skips are in a suitable position so that they can see down their frames to note if the work is proceeding all right. Many of the witnesses stated complacently that the girls soon got used to the prolonged standing, but doctors noted that prolapsed wombs were not uncommon in young women between 20 and 30, though some felt that the number of cases were not sufficient to warrant any conclusions. Sick Visitors also reported that prolapse was not unusual, and that most girls found the long hours of standing very fatiguing. Cases of prolapse are sometimes reported amongst young married women who have not worked after marriage and who have had every care after child-birth, which seems to point to an adverse influence exerted during adolescence. Sometimes girls complain bitterly of the lack of opportunity for even a few minutes' rest, and the Sick Visitors say that conditions of work which do not allow a girl to snatch even a short respite during a 10-hour day do not give her a chance to get over any constitutional delicacy. As a general rule, however, the girls make no complaints, but older women find the continued standing very tiring, and many witnesses believe that this is due to the cumulative strain of long years, while some declare that the anaemia prevalent among young textile workers is largely due to the weakened condition brought about by long hours of standing.

Reference may be made here to the necessity for attention to the type of seat provided, particularly in entirely sedentary occupations, as in the clothing trade and in many of the processes of such industries as biscuit-making, soap-manufacturing, etc. Witnesses from the clothing trade laid great stress on the fact that sitting all day on a small hard stool was extremely fatiguing for growing girls, as it gave no support to their backs, and the Welfare Worker of a large soap-works, after trying one of the stools in her own office, is having them all replaced by chairs with suitable backs in those departments where the work is mainly sedentary.