EMPLOYMENT
Employment Agencies
The Employment Agencies Administration of the Labour Department is responsible for administering Part XII of the Employment Ordinance and the Employment Agency Regulations in controlling the licensing and operation of employment agencies in Hong Kong. The service issued 825 licences in 1991.
Employment Outside Hong Kong
The External Employment Service is responsible for enforcing the Contracts for Employment Outside Hong Kong Ordinance. Under the ordinance, all such contracts must be attested by the Commissioner for Labour before a manual worker leaves Hong Kong. During the year, the service attested 143 new contracts.
Industrial Safety
The Factory Inspectorate of the Labour Department is responsible for enforcing the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance and its subsidiary regulations. These regulations provide for the safety and health of workers in factories, building and engineering construction sites and other industrial undertakings. Advice and assistance are given to managements on various safety and health aspects, including the adoption of safe working practices and the layout of new factories to achieve a better working environment. The inspectorate also investigates industrial accidents and dangerous occurrences.
The Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Amendment) Ordinance 1990, which came into force on December 1, 1991, extends the ordinance's coverage to the catering industry so as to protect the health and safety of employees in restaurants and other catering establishments.
During the year, the Safety Programme Promotion Unit helped industry develop a system of self-regulation for the promotion of in-plant safety and health. The unit assisted managements and workers to assess the hazards at work and to develop and improve their in-plant safety and health programmes. Guidance materials were published regularly to explain the principles and technical aspects of self-regulation. The unit also assisted in organising seminars, safety training courses and other activities. A two-day Symposium on Safety and Health Management including training workshops for trainers was organised jointly with the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific of the International Labour Organisation in March.
The Factory Inspectorate placed emphasis on regulatory activities in construction sites and high-risk areas of factories. Special enforcement campaigns were launched in the year to promote machinery safety, chemical safety, fire prevention and, in particular, con- struction safety which included the operation of cranes and other lifting appliances and lifting gear. During these campaigns, 24 682 factories and 1 181 construction sites were inspected, and 1 393 summonses taken out.
Between June and July, a special exercise was also mounted to advise employers and workers on the safe use of solvents in the printing industry.
Throughout the year, the Factory Inspectorate's Industrial Safety Training Centre conducted courses and organised talks for workers, supervisors and managers from various industries. Special talks for students were arranged with the Education Department and the Vocational Training Council as part of the summer job safety promotion activities. The centre also gave talks on safety management to medical and engineering students of the
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