Overtime The extent to which overtime has been worked by women and boys employed in factory industries is disclosed by the following table :

Prior approval of the Inspector is required for the working of overtime by women and boys, and any such extension of hours is limited normally to 3 hours in any day, 2 consecutive days in any week, and 90 hours in any year (120 hours in exceptional cases arising from unforeseen circumstances). Up to 31st December, 1945, Inspectors, pursuant to a resolution of the Industrial Emergency Council, permitted overtime in excess of the statutory limits. In accordance with the practice adopted during previous years, frequent inspections were made to determine that the health of the workers involved was not adversely affected. The reduction in overtime worked by women and boys in factories was due to some extent to a reduction in the number of women in factories and a consequent reduction in the number available for overtime work. To a lesser extent the position was affected by a discontinuance of certain contracts consequent upon the cessation of hostilities. FACTORIES ACT Number of Factories and Factory Workers For the registration year 1945-46 the number of factories registered was 17,289 (previous year, 16,537 ; increase, 752). In these factories there were employed 15,899 working occupiers, 88,190 male employees, and 37,663 female employees, a total of 141,752 workers (previous year : 15,114 working occupiers, 84,444 male employees, and 39,042 female employees, a total of 138,600 workers). There is no marked variation in the numbers of workers employed in any particular trade, although in the aggregate the number of male employees increased by 3,746 and the number of female employees decreased by 1,379. These figures are those ascertained at registration time — e.g., April, 1945 —though factories registered subsequently have been added and those known to be closed excluded. Accidents in Factories Preliminary figures for the 1945 year show a total of 6,143 (5,849 males and 294 females) reported accidents in factories (previous year, 6,582 ; decrease, 439). Details axe—Age : under 16, 63 ; 16-20, 923 ; 21-24, 806 ; 25-34, 1,809; 35-44, 1,337 ; 45-54, 714; 55 and over, 459 ; not stated, 32. Disability: fatal, 12 ; permanent partial, 106; temporary, 6,025. Causes: fixed machinery, 970; vehicles, 60; explosions and fires, 175 ; poisonous and corrosive substances, 157 ; electricity, 10 ; falls of persons, 507 ; stepping on or striking against fixed objects, 331 ; falling or otherwise moving objects, 147 ; falls of earth, 2 ; handling of objects 2,184; hand tools, 1,247 ; miscellaneous, 353. Time lost: 111,786 days (previous year, 122,529 days). Compensation paid: £93,966 2s.

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Number of Excess Hours worked Year. Total Hours. : Number of Persons working Hours in Excess of Legal Maximum. by Persons referred to in Preceding Column. 1939 .. 950,140 1940 .. 1,241,807 . . 1941 .. 1,413,157 1942 .. 1,549,635 3,936 (i.e., 3,902 women and 34 boys) 235,212 1943 .. 1,776,462 5,025 (i.e., 4,983 women and 42 boys) 455,934 1944 .. 1,786,359 4,250 (i.e., 4,288 women and 22 boys) 392,493 1945 .. 1,529,704 2,694 (i.e., 2,672 women and 22 boys) 207,421