Cotton Mill - Health of The Workers

Health of The Workers

A cotton mill was not a healthy place to work. The air in the mill had to be hot and humid to prevent the thread from breaking. 65 F to 80 F and 85% humidity was normal. The air in the mill was thick with cotton dust and this could lead to byssinosis - a lung disease.

Although protective masks were introduced after the war, few workers wore them as they made them uncomfortable in the stifling conditions. The same applied to ear protectors. The air led to skin infections, eye infections, bronchitus and tuberculosis. The noise levels in a weaving shop, where the shuttles in 500 plus looms were being thumped 200 times a minute lead to levels of deafness in all who worked there. The lubrication was carcinogenic and led to cancers of the mouth and cancer of the scrotum; known as mule-spinners cancer.

A mill worker could expect to work a thirteen hour day, six days a week with two weeks off for the wakes week holidays in summer. Unsurprisingly, a series of Factory Acts were passed to attempt to ameliorate these conditions.

In the early days when the cotton towns were expanding rapidly, living conditions for the workers were poor. Badly planned housing was seriously overcrowded. Open sewers and shared privies led to diseases such as cholera. In 1831, Manchester was hit by a cholera epidemic which claimed hundreds of lives.