34
EMPLOYMENT
166,653, plus 53 organizations of merchants or employers with a declared membership of 5,461 and 14 mixed organizations with a total declared membership of 7,769.
SAFETY, HEALTH AND WELFARE
The Industrial Health Division of the Labour Department acts as an advisory service to Government and industry on matters relating to the health of workers. The work of the division is pri- marily concerned with preventing occupational disease and protect- ing workers against health hazards in their working environment. Hazards to the health of workers are reported by the statutory notification of occupational diseases, by the factory inspectorate, or by officers of the division. Control is achieved by environmental and biological monitoring and the division has a laboratory with technicians trained in industrial hygiene.
The measurement of concentrations in the air of, amongst many, chromium, lead manganese, mercury, solvents, silica dust and sulphur dioxide, and the investigation of standards of thermal comfort, ventilation, noise, and lighting are a major part of the routine duties of the division. Medical examinations, including X-rays and pathological investigations, or workers exposed to risk of lead, radiation, or fluoride toxicity are also undertaken
Factories have always been encouraged to have adequate first aid facilities available for their workers and on August 23 statutory requirements for the number and contents of first aid boxes were made in the Factories and Industrial Undertakings (First Aid in Registrable Workplaces) Regulations 1968. These regulations also require that factories employing more than 100 employees must have at least one trained first aider. To meet the demand occasioned by this legislation 19 first aid classes for industrial workers were arranged in conjunction with the St John Ambulance Associa- tion during the year. Employers' associations were also active in helping to arrange training for their members.
To encourage industry to provide occupational health services within the factories a booklet entitled 'Doctors in Industry' was published by the department and in December an evening course in occupational health, aimed at management and doctors, was arranged in conjunction with the Extra-mural Department of the University of Hong Kong.