Company doctor and dentist

Rowntrees were also keen to ensure that their workers were in good health, believing that their company would be most successful if staffed by workers who were physically fit . In 1904 a doctor was employed to offer free advice to all employees. This innovation was followed by a dentist department with a resident dentist. There was a strict screening process on eyesight, dental hygiene and personal cleanliness relative to factory jobs from the point at which workers were hired. A psychologist was also employed and social workers appointed to oversee the general well-being of the workers. This latter innovation began when large numbers of girls started working at the factory from the age of 14 and Joseph felt that they needed a female figure of authority to look up to. In a pioneering move he appointed a woman experienced in the social activities of the Adult School movement to be a welfare worker.

Image: From originals held at the Borthwick Institute for Archives.