Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 5.djvu/191

 FACTORY LEG/SLA TION FOR WOMEN IN CANADA I ^^

{b) Thermometers shall be kept at spots indicated by the inspector.

(<:) Meals must not be eaten in workrooms.

(</) Employers must provide a place where workmen can warm their food and in bad weather eat their meals sheltered from cold, rain, or snow.

(^) Good water and facilities for securing individual clean- liness must be provided.

(/) Suitable and separate closets for the sexes must be fur- nished.

(.f) Women and children must be forbidden to do any operation connected with belting or other modes of trans- mission.

Besides the above there are a great many measures for the protection of the workmen from machinery, fire, and other dangers, but it is not necessary to enumerate them here. A sufficient number have been specified to show that the sanitary regulations of Quebec are very complete, and, if fearlessly enforced, should render the factory laborer practically safe as far as life and limb are concerned. But accidents do occur, and a great many of them, as seen from the inspector's report. In 1897 we find reported 254 accidents, 24 of which were fatal. Out of the whole number injured only 13 are reported as being women, and none of these died. This is probably owing to the kind of work in which they are engaged. One hundred and fif- teen accidents, ten of which were fatal, were due directly to explosions, mainly of boilers, and women are not employed in work which would expose them to such danger.

The latest reports of the inspectors are of a roseate hue, and, if not too highly colored, prove that factory administration in Quebec is of a high order.

As far as women are concerned, the protective legislation compares very favorably with the best that is found in the United States. For here we find only five states regulating the hours of labor of adult women, i. e., women over twenty-one, while thirty-two recognize the importance of fixing a time limit for all under eighteen, or for "children and young girls," in the