The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1915-09-19
ID|lIh CONDITIONS OF
gARnEnT WORKERS BAD
Among Males .Rate Of Tuberculosis IL
Ten Times Greater Than in
United States Army.
DEFECTIVE VISION COMMON
working Conditions Bad, and in One
Half of Plants Illumination Is Far
From Ample. Government Inycsti-
gators Report.

The United States Public Health Ser.
vice today issues Public Health Bul.
letin Nc. II, a report upon We health
OF garment workers. This is the first
OF "A series of studies Of the effect OF
industries upon the health OF the in
dirlduai worker, and was undertaken
IN the wcmans garment indust ries 0i
New York city during the summer oi
1914. The Joint Board Of Sanitary
Control of the industries in question
and the Sari0as labor unions concern
ed Joined In requesting rhis study and
co-operated ia its performance.
Three Thousand Workers Examined
Two thousand male workers and one
thousand female workers volunteered
for careful physical limitations by
officers of the Tinted states Public
Health Service. only about per cent
of the total number examined were
FOUND free from defect or disease.
there being recorded % 57 defects Of
all kinds eff which 9.45l were in male.
a.ais in females. or an average Of
4.Ss defects and diseases to each in
aiyi6ual eXa mined While not all If
these We're serions defects, many of
the conditions noted exercised q dele
: ttsS8idN ttfSGf a#A3F4 Inc l3atNiAUAL \ n
interesting feaftfe Of tne report is
that there were discovered no vucn-
tional diseases peculiar n the garment
trades. bat this sedentary industry was
shown IL intensity the bad effects upon
health and efficiency Of certain de-
fects and diseases
Prevalence of Tuberculosis
Among males t'le rate of prevalence
81 tuberculosis vas found 10 be ten
times that in the United sfatrS Army,
and three times the army rate among
females. The disease was most prev
alert among the lowest paid class of
workers
Defective Vision Common
Apart from Tuberculosis. the most
common defects and diseases noted
among the garment workers were de-
fecffve vision. 50 per cent. faulty pos
ture. so per cent Of males: chronic
nose and throat affections. ee.2 per
cent: defective teeth, &c per cent:
pyerrhea alveolarts 90 per cent: wea !,
and flat feet 2s per cent; chronic
constipation. at per cent: defective
hearing. i 0 per cent: and nervous af~
fections, IT'S per cent only II IL
per cent of those with subnormal eye
sight wore glasses. and but 235 per
cent OF these had glasses which fully
corrected the defect.
Faulty Pastures
The report which the United States
Public Health Service IL just issuing
shows that faulty pastures were very
common among the garment workers.
The effect of previous military train
ing received by foreign horn garment
workers In European armies, or tho
AJs4s, fav- .l.s~N nj
workers. were marked in prevent;ng
the formation Of poor postnral habits.
The conclusion reached by the In
vcstigators is that a large part OF the
defects and diseases of garment work
ers arise from ignorance or neglect
al personal hygiene. A proper re-
gard OF these principles on the part
Of the workers would go far in nult-
tying the had effects of the sedentafy
Indoor occupation upon the health
In this connection the recommended
ton Is made that the education OF the
workers in personal hygiene, especial
ay the correction of visual defects. the
formation of correct postural habits
and attention to oral hygiene, will do
mucss 10 correct this condition The
report points out the necessity for bet
ter instruction of school children In
personal hygiene and the necessity
for their posturaI training is insisted
upon.
Illumination of Garment Work shopS
In thirtyfour workshops careful
measurements were made nf the light
at the stations Of rae workers and II
was found that the illumination was
inadequate At a little over one half OF
al the stations, eome 1900 In all. at
which the workers were located Conn
mon defects noted were poor arrange
nent of working stations with refer
ance 20 windows. reduction of avail
able natural illumination by the use
OF unnecessary opaque partitions, me-
gfect to clean windows, obstruction
OF windows by piles OF garments the
use of clear. unsnaded lamps. the use
of saucer and disk reflectors for local
illumination. the use Of lamps too
large for the reflections employed.
dirty reflectors and lamps. too high
or too low suspension of lamps lamps
missing. blackened. burned out or
shorf-circuited. the use of a few large
instead OF a greater number of smaller
units for local illumination. and lack
OF uniformity in the distribution of
light upon, stations where workers are
located.
The Public Health Service Ii en-.
ragged In making similar investisa-
tons wits regard 10 other trades, ard
will issue similar reports at suhse.
Quent times.