122
77. A consolidating ordinance entitled the Factories and Workshops Ordinance 1932 was passed as Ordinance No. 27 of 1932. In it child was defined as a person under the age of sixteen years. The employment of children in dangerous trades (boiler chipping, the manufacture of fireworks, glass working, lead processes, and vermilion manufacture) and the employment of any female young person or woman in such trades without the written permission of the Protector, was prohibited. The employment of any child under the age of twelve years in any industrial under- taking was prohibited as was also the employment therein of any woman or young person between the hours of 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. A list of factories and workshops regulations was appended to the Ordinance as Schedule B.
As from 1933 the Factories Inspectorate was increased to two by the second- ment of a second officer from the Sanitary Department.
78. By Ordinance No. 30 of 1936, the Factories and Workshops Amendment. Ordinance, 1936, the Protector of Labour was empowered to exempt any industrial undertaking from any regulation under the Factories and Workshops Ordinance or to order the adoption of additional and special precautions. The existing law is consolidated in the Factories and Workshops Ordinance No. 18 of 1937. The Protector of Labour who was previously the Secretary for Chinese
Chinese Affairs is declared to mean the Chairman of the Urban Council or any person appointed by the Governor to be Protector of Labour, and the Urban Council is empowered to make bylaws in respect of industrial undertakings. No such bylaw has been made since the passing of the Ordinance. Dangerous trades are by bylaw extended to include processes involving the use of arsenic, manganese,* mercury, phos- phorus or any compound of any of these or of lead. Child is defined as a person under the age of fourteen years, and young person as any person of or over the age of fourteen years and under the age of eighteen years.
79. The following are some of bylaws in the schedule to the Ordinance :
*
Except with the written consent of the Protector, no person shall employ any woman, young person under the age of 16 years or any female young person in any dangerous trade.
No. 3.
No person shall employ any child in any dangerous trade.
No. 4.
No. 5. No. 6.
No.
No person shall employ any child in any industrial undertaking. No young person shall be suffered to carry any weight which is unreasonably heavy having regard to the age and physical develop- ment of such young person, and no young person under the age of 16 years shall be suffered to carry any load exceeding 40 catties in weight.
No female, whatever her age, shall be employed on underground work in any mine.
No. 8. (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) no woman or young person shall be employed in any industrial undertaking between the hours of 8 p.m. and 7 a.m.
(2) The Protector may in exceptional cases authorize the employ- ment of any woman or young person of 16 years or over for not more than 60 days in any year between the hours of 8 p.m. and 9 p.m.
No. 9. No young person under 16 years of age shall be employed in any
industrial undertaking-
* I have seen
(a) between the hours of 7 p.m. and 7 a.m.
(b) for more than 9 hours in any period of 24 hours;
(c) for more than 5 hours continuously;
women preparing manganese for the manufacture of batteries for electric torches.