TNAG-0873-FCO40-1083-Employment-of-children-in-Hong-Kong-1979 — Page 120

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publication on child labour in Hong Kong

that of Prof. Porter -

the Acting Commissioner for Labour, J. N. Henderson, stated in a letter to the press that his Department was looking forward

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to ... the 1976 By-Census, which hopefully will give us a

clearer and more up-to-date picture of the situation". (25) It is to be hoped that the missing information will be supplied from some other source, that it will in due course be published

and that its publication will facilitate the fulfilment of the Government's stated intention to eliminate child labour in Hong Kong.

Conditions in Hong Kong Factories

With the very important exception of outworkers, it seems fair

to say that, on the evidence available, most of Hong Kong's

illegal child labour occurs in factories. Relatively small-

numbers of children below 14 years are found in farming and fishing and this reflects the persistence of the family produc-

tion unit in these traditional activities. It is a commonplace

to say that Hong Kong is a grossly overcrowded place and its

population density is one of the highest in the world.

Pressure for space (coupled with a Government determination to

keep the price of land high) makes industrial as well as domestic

rents high and there is constant pressure on factory owners to maximise what space they rent. Many writers have observed how fire exits and ventilation ducts are commonly obscured by

produce causing safety and health hazards. (9) Factory fires

increased from 385 to 506 between 1974 and 1976 and fatalities

in these fires increased from 3 to 10. (10) Prosecutions for

not securely fencing dangerous machinery increased from 111

in 74/5 to 530 for 1976. (11) The numbers of workers injured

in industrial accidents increased from 15,684 in 1974 to 22,825 in 1976,

just under half of which occurred in the textile and garment

industries. (12) In 1976, 6 children under the age of 13 years were admitted to hospital as a result of industrial accidents. A government report published in September 1977 showed that overall

industrial accidents had risen 400% in the decade 1966 to 1976

while the workforce had only increased by 20% in the same period. An independent survey of injured workers in September 1974 showed

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