Fig. 40.—‘Proto’ Patent Self-breathing Apparatus (Siebe, Gorman & Co.)
Fig. 41.—Arrangement of Cloak-room, Washing and Bath Accommodation, and Meal-room in a White Lead Factory
Where poisonous substances giving off dust or fumes are used, regular washing and rinsing the mouth (especially before meals and on leaving) is of great importance. Naturally the washing conveniences (basins, soap, brushes, towels) must be sufficient and suitable, and the workers instructed as to the importance of cleanliness by the foreman. They should be urged to bath in rotation, and time for it should be allowed during working hours.
The taking of meals and use of tobacco in the workrooms must be prohibited. Meal rooms should be so arranged as to be contiguous to the cloakroom and washing accommodation, the worker gaining access to the meal room through the cloakroom and bathroom. The arrangement described is illustrated in [fig. 41]. The meal room serves also the purpose of a sitting-room during intervals of work, and it goes without saying that cloakroom and lavatory accommodation are as necessary in small as in large premises.
Simple lavatory basins of smooth impervious surface fitted with a waste pipe and plug, or tipping basins, are recommended in preference to troughs which can be used by several persons at once. Troughs, however, without a plug, and with jets of warm water, are free from objection.
The douche bath has many advantages for workmen over the slipper bath. The initial cost is comparatively small, so that it can be placed at the disposal of the workers at very small outlay. Maintenance and cleanliness of douche baths are more easily secured than of other kinds, where changing the water and keeping the bath in good order involve time and expense. A dressing-room should form part of the douche or slipper bath equipment. Walls and floors must be impervious and, preferably, lined with smooth tiles or cement. It is better that the shower bath should be under the control of the worker by a chain rather than be set in motion by means of mechanism when trodden upon. The arrangement of baths is illustrated in [fig. 43]. In many large works large bath buildings have been erected. [Fig. 44] is a plan of the splendid bath arrangements at the colour works of Messrs. Lucius, Meister & Brüning of Höchst a.-M.