sioner of Labour required minimum standards for the physical well-being of workers in registered factories and workshops with regard to such matters as ventilation, lighting, safety guards and other methods of prevention of fire, cleanliness, and provision of protective clothing etc. In addition, Government pursued its policy of steadily improving standards of welfare in everything which bore on the health, safety, general well-being, and efficiency of the employees in all industrial undertakings. This was done by advice and example, and by encouragement amongst organizations of employers and employees of the methods of negotiation for the improvement of wages and general working conditions. Every opportunity was taken to interest organizations of workers in measures of social progress, and to impress upon trade unions the importance of encouraging thrift among their members, mainly by building up welfare funds and forming co-operatives.
68. A steadily increasing number of industrial establish- ments provided welfare facilities for their employees. These included well-equipped clinics with a qualified person in charge, canteens, classes, lectures, reading-rooms, barber-shops, laundries and stores, either subsidized by the company or at controlled prices. Recreational facilities such as football or basketball grounds and equipment, picnics, film shows and theatrical per- formances, were also frequently provided. Some firms employed welfare officers. Amongst the more advanced employers in this respect were the Taikoo Dockyard and the Hong Kong Tramway Company.
69. For details concerning industrial welfare the reports of the Labour Department should be consulted.
70. In order to further the welfare of visiting merchant seamen of all races, and after considering the constitution of the Merchant Navy Welfare Board in the United Kingdom, Government in 1948 appointed a new Port Welfare Committee. That same year, Government made available for visiting mer- chant seamen a recreation ground near Chatham Road, and in 1949 made a grant of $50,000 towards the construction of a small Merchant Navy club on this ground.
30