Factory Inspection In Great Britain

BRIGHTMAN, R.

doi:10.1038/150390a0

Books Received
Published: 01 October 1942

Factory Inspection In Great Britain

R. BRIGHTMAN

Nature volume 150, pages 390–391 (1942)Cite this article

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Abstract

WHEREAS the work of the factory inspectorate in Great Britain has been very little affected by the transfer of the Factory Department in June 1940 from the control of the Home Office to that of the Ministry of Labour and National Service, the transfer indicates the great importance of factory inspection at the present time, and this first full-length study of the system to be published in this country is opportune. Dr. Djang's book traces the history of the inspectorate, describes its organization and explains the functions and methods of the inspectors. Moreover, the book is admirably annotated and is of real value, not only for an understanding of the work of factory inspection from the point of view of the general citizen, but also as a guide to many of the regulations under the Factory and Workshops Act and to the functions of the inspectorate for those who, in war-time, have been brought into closer contact with them. The bibliography is comprehensive and well arranged, though it might well have included more explicit reference to the excellent review of the work of the inspectorate during 1833-1932, which appeared in the annual report of the Chief Inspector for the year 1932. In the main, Dr. Djang's book is descriptive rather than critical, but the picture he gives leaves no one in doubt that the success of the factory inspectorate in Great Britain has been due largely to the inspectors themselves and to the extent to which they have succeeded in securing the co-operation of both employers and employees. There could scarcely be a better illustration of the value of the principle that in legislation the channels of assent should be dug deep.

Factory Inspection in Great Britain

By Dr. T. K. Djang. (London School of Economics and Political Science: Studies in Political Science and Sociology, No. 2.) Pp. 256. (London: George Allen and Unwin, Ltd., 1942.) 12s. 6d. net.