Accident and Safety

The object of this bill is to transfer the office of Protector of Labour from the Secretary for Chinese Affairs to the Chairman of the Urban Council and to vest the control of factories, workshops and the employment of women, young persons and children in certain industries in the Urban Council. This bill is based upon the provisions of the Factories and Workshops Ordinance, 1932 (Ordinance No.27 of 1932), which, with the Factories and Workshops Amendment Ordinance, 1936, (No.36 of 1936), it repeals. The regulations under Ordinance No.27 of 1932 and those set out in the Schedule to that Ordinance, in the Government Notifications No. 660 of 1933 and No. 784 of 1936, were re-adopted in the form of by-laws. To give effect to the International labour Convention adopted at Washington on 28th November, 1919, the minimum age for employment in industrial undertakings is fixed at 14 years, and the period for women and young persons not to be employed during the night to 11 hours. The report was originally under Report of the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs for the year 1924 of the Administrative Reports for the year 1924. This section was introduced since the first employment law in Hong Kong, the Industrial Employment of Children Ordinance, was passed in 1922. The Protector of Labour was appointed under the Ordinance to exercise the authority of enforcing the ordinance and the by-laws. Between 1922 and 1937, the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs was appointed as the Protector and Inspectors of Juvenile Labour were appointed under the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs to conduct factory inspection. This report provided information about the conditions of children employed in the factories and in dangerous industries, the hardship facing factories under the General Strike that year and the problems of factory accidents. The report was originally under Report of the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs for the year 1925 of the Administrative Reports for the year 1925. It reported on the employment situation of children in the factories and those working outdoors, breaches of the Industrial Employment of Children Ordinance (1922), factory conditions of some dangerous trades, factory accidents and the special situation of some industries. The report was originally under Report of the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs for the year 1927 of the Administrative Reports for the year 1927. It reported on the employment situation of children in the factories and those carrying building materials outdoors, the working of the Industrial Employment of Children Ordinance (1922), factory conditions of some dangerous trades, factory accidents and notes of some industries. The document is the annual report by the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs in 1928. The Industrial Employment of Children Ordinance was enforced in 1922 and the Factory (Accidents) Ordinance were passed in 1927. The object of the Factory (Accidents) ordinance was to prevent factory accidents by establishing safety standards. The ordinance gave power to the Inspectors of Factories to enter, inspect and examine, at all reasonable times by day and night, any factory to ascertain whether the regulations were complied with. In the report, the Inspector of Factories, who worked under the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs, reviewed the situation of child labour after the ordinance was in force for six years and provided much information of chemical poisoning and factory accidents in the factories since the factory ordinance was implemented.

The report was originally under Report of the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs for the year 1933 of the Administrative Reports for the year 1933. It reported on the employment situation of children, girls and women in the factories, the implementation of the new Factories and Workshops Ordinance No.27 of 1932, factory accidents and the development of some industries. The report was originally under Report of the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs for the year 1934 of the Administrative Reports for the year 1934. It reported on the development of some industries, the employment of children in the factories, the implementation of the Factories and Workshops Ordinance No.27 of 1932, factory accidents and the breaches of the factory regulations. The report was originally under Report of the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs for the year 1935 of the Administrative Reports for the year 1935. It reported on the situation of some industries, the implementation of the Factories and Workshops Ordinance No.27 of 1932, factory accidents and the breaches of the factory regulations. The report was originally under Report of the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs for the year 1936 of the Administrative Reports for the year 1936. It reported on the situation of some industries, the implementation of the Factories and Workshops Ordinance No.27 of 1932, factory accidents and the breaches of the factory regulations. The report was submitted on 24th October 1921 to the Governor in Council. It consisted of two parts. Part I reported on the overall situation of child labour in factories and Part II described a few observations of children employed in casual labour. Factory representatives had attended meetings with the Commission and supplied information about the use of child labour in their factories. The commission members also made site visits to the factories where they drew down their observation. The factories participated in the investigation were manufactures of knitting, tobacco, perfumery, biscuit, glasses, paste and shipyards and engineering. The commission made recommendations on minimum working ages, working hours and the maximum weight children should carry. The report also described the working conditions of children employed in 10 selected factories. In Appendix 2, a commission member, Mr H.R. Wells, gave a separate report on his proposal for free education for children and the response from the Director of Education. In Appendix 3, the two Chinese members, Mr Li Ping and Mr Chow Shou Son, gave their separate reports stating the reasons why child labour could improve the livelihood of poor families.

The document is originally in the Report of the Chairman, Urban Council, for the year 1939. A new Factories and Workshops Ordinance, No.18 of 1937, replacing the old Ordinance, No.27 of 1932, came into operation on the 1st January, 1938. The Chairman of Urban Council, replaced the Secretary for Chinese Affairs as Protector of Labour, and the Factory Inspectorate was transferred from the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs to the Urban Council. This document is the report made under this new arrangement. This document is Chapter 6 of the Report by the Labour Officer Mr H.R. Butters on Labour and Labour Conditions in Hong Kong. Two tables are attached in the document is attached with two tables, one showing, as at the time of report, the number of registered factories by industry and the other showing the number of workers by industry and by sex. This chapter also reported on the employment patterns of male and female labourers, the employment conditions of skilled and unskilled labour, the practices and problems of subcontracting in the building and heavy industries, the apprentice system in some trades, the use of child labour, workers’ accommodation, the situation of factories in tenement buildings, accidents and safety precautions of factories, the working hours of certain industries and the prohibited hours for women and young persons. The report was drawn by the commission appointed by the governor to study the housing problems in Victoria and Kowloon with special attention to overcrowding and its effect on tuberculosis and to suggest steps to remedy the conditions. It reported on the living standard and housing conditions of the poorer classes in Hong Kong. One phenomenon was that the majority of Chinese operated industries were of "home industry" character and couldn't afford to build independent factory building. It found that the ground floor of most tenement houses for householders were occupied by shops and workshops. The commission made proposals as to induce the factories to move away from populated districts and to build up-to-standard houses for the poor classes. At the appendices, there were floor plans of typical tenement houses in congested district. This is an Ordinance to provide against accidents in factories. Regulations made by the Governor in Council, under Section 4 of the Factory (Accidents) Ordinance, 1927, Ordinance No. 3 of 1927, on the 15th August, 1928. The regulations provided that the doors of the factory must not be locked and should be open outwards for escape from emergency.