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HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT
also made with the following legislation: Boilers and Pressure Receivers Bill; Mining (Amendment) Bill; Trade Union Registra- tion Bill; Workmen's Compensation (Amendment) Bill. The Clean Air Bill, 1959, which affects local industry and with the enforce- ment of which the Labour Department is concerned, is dealt with in Chapter 12.
SAFETY, HEALTH AND WELFARE
Factory Registration and Inspection. During the year, 579 appli- cations for registration were received and 500 registration certifi cates were issued; 6 were refused, the premises being unsuitable for industrial use; and 62 applications for registration were with- drawn. 288 factories found operating in unsuitable buildings were closed down, and 212 registration certificates were surrendered for cancellation because the premises for which they were issued were no longer used as factories. At the end of 1959 there were 2,993 places of employment registered under the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance, and 784 in course of registration. At the end of the year there were 2,030 recorded establishments. These are small premises not registrable under the Ordinance but kept under observation by the inspectorate because from 15 to 19 workers are employed, or for industrial health and safety reasons, or because of the employment of women and young persons. The total number of industrial undertakings registered, in the process of registration, or recorded was 5,023 at the end of the year.
Visits made by the labour inspectorate during the year totalled 35,158. Of these, 18,456 were routine inspections for the enforce- ment of safety, health, and welfare provisions, while 732 were concerned with industrial or occupational accidents and work- men's compensation; 508 were night visits to factories in con- nexion with the employment of women and young persons during prohibited hours; 143 were wage inquiries; 287 were connected with the employment of young persons; and 15,032 were connected with special surveys on hours of work, women supervisors, workers' accommodation and checks on the nature of the trade carried out.
Industrial Health. The activities of the Industrial Health Sec- tion of the Labour Department fall into three main divisions: the investigation and prevention of occupational diseases; the