The Gasworks’ doctor
Old Retorts (Stop 5)
A saviour for some, a “nightmare” for others.
The company employed a doctor, who examined the workers and confirmed whether they were suitable for working. However, there were many arguments between the employees and the doctor, as the doctor’s opinion was not always to the workers’ best interests. Today, there is a patient log to the factory’s archive with the relevant documents of the medical committee from 1946 to 1951, where one can read about incidents due to respiratory problems as well as many labours. The increased number of the documented labours is not justified by the number of female workers in the Gasworks but due to the fact that the doctor treated the employees’ families as well as part of a social policy. After 1950, when the employees were not more than 400, the doctor was not supposed to be at the Gasworks on a daily basis. Some people though remember that after the 1960s the doctor’s presence was also necessary.
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