Jobs. Lots of people worked in cotton mill factories and other factories for some money. It would have been very dangerous. Here are some points about working in a factory. Safety at work: Children had to clean fluff out of the machinery while it was still in motion. This could be extremely dangerous. Imagine what would happen if the workers hair or clothes caught in the machinery while leaning over. In 1884 a law passed to force cotton mill owners to put guards over the moving parts of the machines, but it was not until much later that all the factories had to protect their workers in this way. Punishment: Children were often so tired from working long hours that they could not work quickly or concentrate. The men that were I charge of the children kept them at work by shouting at them or punishing them. A punishment in one factory in the Midlands was to drive a nail through the workers ear into a wooden bench. There were no laws to protect children against such cruelty. Chemical dangers: workers often had to use dangerous chemicals in their work. For example, phosphorus was used to make matches. Its fumes could damage match workers bones. Phosphorus made teeth drop out and jaws rot away. Until the later part of the Victorian times there were no laws to punish employers for unhealthy working conditions. Working conditions: Factories could be very crowded and very noisy. There were no rules about how many people could work in one factory or weather there was too much noise from the factory machinery. The atmosphere could be stuffy in summer of cold in winter with no heating in the winter. Just imagine what the noise would be like for the workers.

Click on me to go to a website about Victorian jobs.

Someone's job could have been painter!!