§ Mr. A. SHORTasked the Secretary to the Admiralty whether it is a practice to submit workmen to medical examination before engaging them for work in the dockyards and elsewhere; if so, will he state the reason; whether he is aware that men who have worked for many years for Admiralty contractors and have never had to submit to medical examination are now being compelled to submit themselves in order to obtain work under the Admiralty; whether he is aware that if this practice were resorted to by private employers many men now in work would be thrown out and the volume of unemployment increased; and whether this practice will be reconsidered?
§ Dr. MACNAMARAIn accordance with the Dockyard Regulations, workmen proposed for entry in the Royal Dockyards or other Admiralty establishments are required to be passed by the medical officer of the establishment. The medical examination has been much simplified during the War, and now consists merely of a more or less superficial examination for the purpose of recording in a regular manner any serious physical defects of the entrants; and to ensure, as far as possible, that the men proposed to be entered are physically fit for their proposed employment. It is considered necessary to retain this method of procedure.