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(a) restriction to adult women aged 18 years or more
who voluntarily agree in writing to be employed at night;
(b) restriction of night shifts to a maximum period
of employment of eight hours;
(c) rotation of shifts so that no woman is required
to work at night for more than one month followed by not less than an equal period of employment during the day;
(a)
a minimum of 100 women workers on each night shift;
(e) first-line supervision, where necessary, of
women workers by women supervisors at a ratio of one supervisor for not more than ten workers;
(f) restrictions on the employment of pregnant women especially during the later stages of pregnancy;
(g) suitable facilities for canteens, rest rooms, and
sitting whenever possible.
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Special conditions laid down were that each factory must ensure that material conditions, including lighting, ventilation, and cleanliness, were up to satisfactory standards. Managements were informed that inspections would be carried out by the inspectorate during the night shifts to ensure that all conditions prescribed were fully observed.
5.
The Commissioner of Labour proposes, initially, to consider applications from larger firms normally employing, on all shifts, 500 or more workers, both male and female. As at the end of December 1969, 117 firms would be eligible to apply and these cover nearly all branches of the textile industry, the plastics industry, the electronics industry, and a miscellaneous selection of other industries. Some of these firms employ very few women and others are not interested in night shifts. Up to the present, only five firms have made written applications for exemptions. At present, women supervisors are permitted on night shifts in 33 factories.
6.
The Commissioner of Labour considers that his inspectors are fully competent to enforce this selective scheme which presents no special or unusual problems different in principle from those already dealt with in respect of women supervisors. Apart from occasional minor or technical breaches of the conditions of exemption, the existing scheme for women supervisors has worked smoothly and satisfactorily for over twenty years. Consequently, no special assistance in this particular field is required from overseas experts.
7.
Nonetheless, the problems of enforcement of legislation, which has been considerably extended over the past three years, are considerable. Statistics collected in December 1969 revealed 14,754 registered and recorded factories and industrial undertakings employing 561,563 persons. It is desirable to deploy the limited resources of
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