Esther M. Zimmer Lederberg
The Industrial Revolution in Great Britain
Wiper Loom
Working with machinery in the cloth industry was
very dangerous. The initial cloth manufacturing
machines had unprotected "belts" (it was cheaper
not to cover the belts, gears, etc.) and the
fingers, hands, arms, feet and legs of workers
(and sometimes the entire worker's body) were
often caught in these machines, thus maiming or
killing the workers. Time is money, so the
machines were not stopped when they required
maintenance. Workers cleaned the runnung
machines and were caught in the belts. As the
workers were often children that during long,
uninterrupted work shifts, were lesss attentive,
thus providing even more reasons why they were
injured. As the workers were malnourished, they
were often faint: such working conditions
contribute to fatigue and accidents. Cloth
fibers caused lung diseases. An cursory
examination of this "Wiper Loom" is sufficient:
the unprotected belts are easy to observe. An
examination of how the workers are depicted in
etchings or photographs from the Victorian age
will show that unprotected belts such as in
these "Wiper Looms" were typical of the work
environment. This was an age without workers
health benefits, or even meagry (unenforced)
governmental regulations concerning workplace
accidents. This was the age of Laissez-faire.
Unfortunately, times haven't changed much, nor
even the excuses.
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