the industrial working class
by christian mcelhaney
work hours
They would work from 4 or 5 am, get home around 8 or 9 pm, as high as 16 to 17 hours or more a day. the workers had to put in 70 hour weeks on a regular basis.
worst conditions
The average mill or factory smelt horrible and would have temperatures of 80 degrees, and the workers would be worked so hard they won’t have time to wipe the sweat from their forehead.The injuries from machinery would cause whole finger to be cut off, mild burns, severe arms and legs injuries, amputation of limbs and death.
conditions in coal mines
flooding was a real problem in mine explosive gas (called fire damp) would be found the deeper the miners got. One spark from a digging miner’s pick axe or candle could be disastrous poison gas was also found underground pit collapses were common; the sheer weight of the ground above a worked coal seam was colossal and mines were only held up by wooden beams called props.
workforce in 1830
two thirds of the british workforce by 1830 were women and children. In the early 1830's, many children were instructed to work underground in mines, digging up coal that could be used in household fires or to keep trains running, whilst the women would work in factories.
children in workforce
Young children were worked to near exhaustion, to where they would fall asleep over machines. If they were caught sleeping or showing up to work late, they were beaten and tortured by their masters. Being worked for long hours and beaten, caused children to run away from factories, but they were normally caught and brought back to their masters, only to be tortured again.
men
The Industrial Revolution changed gender roles which stereotyped men as 'bread winners'.