PRINTING TRADE

Dominion, Volume 18, Issue 256, 24 July 1924, Page 13

PRINTING TRADE

IMPROVEMENT OF CONDITIONS SOUGHT DEPUTATION TO MINISTER A request for Government action to secure more healthful working conditions in the printing trade was made to tho Minister of Labour (tho Hon. G. J. Anderson) yesterday by a deputation from tho New Zealand Federated Typographical Association. Tho Minister, after hearing what tho speakers had to eay, intimated that he would have an inquiry made in conjunction with tho Health Department. Mr. C. H. Chapman, secretary cf the federation, stated that it was hoped, with the Minister’s help, to call a conference of employers and workers in the i’ ll '] 3 ' try, and tho federation asked that tho Minister would consider- the framing ot legislation! on tho lines of whatever improvements the conference might agree upon. In New South Wales recently a drastic sot of regulations had been drawn up by tho Government, fixing conditions which must obtain in all printing works which increased their working hours from 44 to 48 weekly. One regulation provided that the shop raust bo so constructed and ventilated that there was less than one-tenth of a milligram of lead in each 10 cubic metres ot air, except in the vicinity of melting pots, where the maximum might ho halt a milligram. No attempt to fix Ihe purity of the air had yet been made in New Zealand. The general idea in printing offices was to get as many linotypes into a given space as possible, and it was rare to find means of ventilation for removing fumes or making the work healthy fo r the operators. Ihe trade was a most prosperous one, and he knew of ono printing concern in Wellington which had made a profit ot JJ70.000 to .£BO,OOO last year. Tho workers, therefore, felt that any moderate expenditure needed to make tho improvements referred to should bo insisted upon. Even in some buildings which had been erected lately, provision for the health of the workers was lacking. It was particularly necessary that dust should bo kept out of typo cases, and that vacuum apparatus should be provided for cleaning them. Eye-strum was a common trouble among printers. He knew of one office in which 75 per cent, of tho workers had suffered from it. Experiments wcro being made abroad to find out the best system of artificial lighting, but so far ns ho knew nothing of the kind had been done in Now ZeaInd, 1 . Mr. R n. Stickney, president of tho Wellington Typographical Union, remarked that the evolution of tho printing industry had brought all tho dangers of typefounding into tho ordinary printing office. So far as he knew, no fans for removing fumes, from above melting pots were in uso in Wellington. Nothing could take the place of a vacuum cleaner for removing dust from typecases. Mr. G. Savege said that employers generally ridiculed tho idea that dust constituted any danger to the worker, but this view was Hot borne out by research in other countries. A medical representative of the employers in New South Wales had admitted that there was a real danger of lead absorption or "intoxication," leading to kidney trouble and tuberculosis. Tho federation did not ask that all tho improvements bo made at once, because somo of them would be costly, but it hold that they should bo made within two or three years. Mr. A. Fcldwick remarked that the Government Printer had refused to provide ventilating fans. Ho personally know of several' printers in Wellington who were "loaded,” and had to leave their work at intervals under medical advice. *

Mr. Stickney: T know of five cases in the Government Printing Office. The Minister, in replying, said that out of the men in the printing office where he had' worked in his young days, eno had died of lead-poisoning, but all the others so for as ho row, were alive to-day. Ho would not like to see the old-time conditions again, and he was glad that the doputat'on had brought the matter up. So far as his experience wont, most offices had cowls over the melting pots to carry away tho fumes. In tho Ijttle office with which he was connected everything possible had been done, short of introducing a mechanical ventilation system, which was awkward except in a largo plant. It was recognised that all men who worked with Rad were liable to lead poisoning He had once obtained the opinion of a leading Christchurch doctor about it, and had been told that the danger would be much lessened if the worker would be careful to remove all lead particles from his skin when his work was over. The best wav was to take the daily bath after work instead of before it. He intended to have the matter investigated, and to consult the Health Department about it.