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whether any person may have been at fault, and also to see whether extra precautions against recurrences of the kind can be taken. In this connection the activities of Inspectors in other countries are being watched, including the "Safety first" movement, such as has been organized in the larger industries in Great Britain and America, and to some extent in Australia. Factory accidents are, however, not all caused by machinery ; on the contrary, approximately 75 per cent, of the. total are not due to machinery at all. Employers generally are always ready to adopt reasonable methods of guarding against accidents, and the Department is giving attention to the perfection, of safety appliances and the provision of efficient safeguards, so that the danger to life and limb may be reduced to a minimum. In addition to the necessity for preventing accidents as far as humanly possible, it is becoming increasingly necessary that more attention should be given to the conditions arising out of our modern factory systems that may adversely affect the health of the workers. This important subject is receiving earnest attention in other countries, such, as Great Britain and Australia. Unfortunately, in New Zealand, as in other countries, there are as yet no adequate records of the amount of absence from work by factory employees through sickness. Returns have, however, been obtained from two Government Departments that employ mechanical workers, and these show as follows : —

These averages may be considered lower than is usual—first, because the sickness experience in the two departments mentioned applies principally to male workers, while it is found that the average time lost by female workers through sickness is greater than in the case of males ; and, second, because the workers referred to are employed under good, factory conditions. It would be reasonable, therefore, to assume that an average of considerably over six days per annum is lost through sickness by each worker employed in the factories in New Zealand. In the Commonwealth of Australia the figures gathered, respectively for similar departments show about the same average of absence. On the whole the national loss in wages and production must be very great. The number of workers employed in factories in the Dominion during the past year was 92,608 ; thus through sickness which may be largely preventable there is incurred a loss of production equivalent to 555,648 days, or equivalent to a full year's absence from work by 2,020 workers every year. Following on the lines adopted in England, Australia, and the United States, where industrial hygiene is made a feature of factory inspection, it is proposed to institute a special inquiry into the causes of the absence of workers, showing the amount through sickness, accidents, and other causes in each industry, the effect of a high or low temperature and of humidity of the air on the health and o.utput of the workers ; and at the same time to show the conditions under which the best results can be obtained. Other useful information should be forthcoming, such as a comparison as to absences from work between female and male operatives, and any variations inherent in an industry due to seasonal, and other causes. Over one hundred, factory occupiers in the various towns throughout the Dominion, and representing the principal trades in factories, have agreed to keep charts over a period of twelve months. The information so gathered will be compared with that in other countries where similar statistics are being collected. The Health Department will assist in collating the data. Many of the Department's Inspectors also have expert knowledge of industrial hygiene, and are in a position to make use of facts regarding the hygienic and sanitary conditions of premises where men and women work. In connection, with this subject it may be mentioned that a conference of representatives of the Health and Labour Departments of the several States of the Commonwealth of Australia was convened by the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth in September last to consider certain important phases in the relationship between industrial conditions and health. The following were some of the resolutions passed by the Conference : — " (1.) In the opinion of the Conference factory medical Inspectors should be appointed. " (2.) It is very desirable in the opinion of the Conference that there should be a collection of morbidity as well as accident statistics. " (3.) The Conference considers that, in view of the importance, as a phase of public-health administration, of systematic medical supervision of the health of individual industrial employees, and of the valuable information and the results that have been obtained from the introduction by private employers of a medical service for their establishments, all employers should be encoura.ged to provide an efficient and regular medical service, which shall keep under review the health of the workers, and shall inquire as to any relation between variations in health and conditions of employment. Moreover, in order to secure the greatest amount of public benefit from, this measure, records of work done should be kept on a standardized method."

Number' of Employees. Total Number of Days' Absence through Sickness. Average Number of Average Absence Days lost by each I for VV orker absent Whole of Workers through Sickness. employed. Department No. 1 Department No. 2 386 316 1,822 1,472 5-04 4-72 7-36 4-66