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Speech by the Commissioner for Labour in the Legislative Council on 10 July 1985

Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Amendment) Bill 1985

Sir,

I move the second reading of the Factories and Industrial

Undertakings (Amendment) Bill 1985.

The purpose of the Bill is to replace the existing

system of registration of workplaces by a notification system

which is much simpler and will reduce the amount of paper work

for both proprietors of workplaces and the Factory Inspectorate

of the Labour Department.

The purpose of the registration system, first

introduced in 1955, is to ensure that the workplace is inspected

and that adequate safety, health and welfare standards are

maintained.

Developments since then have considerably reduced

the usefulness of the registration system. During the last two

decades. 21 sets of safety regulations have been enacted under

the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance, and it is now no longer necessary to rely on enforcement of the registration requirements to maintain safety, health and welfare

standards in workplaces.

The registration system requires the Factory

Inspectorate of the Labour Department to carry out a number of time-consuming procedures which divert resources from more

important work such as accident investigation, factory

inspection and safety and health promotion. It also places

an unnecessary burden on the proprietors of workplaces,

particularly those of new factories.

The Bill therefore proposes that this registration system be replaced by a notification system. Under this