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Following is a question by the Hon Tang Ka-piu and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Wong Kam-sing, in the Legislative Council today (November 11):
Question:
Asbestos is a proven carcinogen. To protect public health, the Government has brought into force the Air Pollution Control (Amendment) Ordinance 2014 (the Amendment Ordinance) since April 4 last year, to completely ban the import, transhipment, supply and use of all forms of asbestos and asbestos-containing materials (collectively referred to as "asbestos") (the regulated acts). Regarding the regulation of the use of asbestos, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the authorities have conducted any inspection in respect of the regulated acts since the Amendment Ordinance came into force; if they have, of the number of cases in which regulations were allegedly contravened (with a tabulated breakdown by the regulated act); whether the authorities instituted prosecutions in respect of such cases; if they did, of the number of cases and the penalties imposed on the convicted persons by the court (with a tabulated breakdown by the regulated act);
(2) whether the authorities have received, since the Amendment Ordinance came into force, any application for exemption to carry out the regulated acts; if they have, of the names of the organisations making the applications, the reasons for applications and the quantity of asbestos involved (with a tabulated breakdown by the regulated act); among such applications, of the number of applications approved by the authorities and the reasons thereof as well as the quantity of asbestos involved (with a tabulated breakdown by the regulated act);
(3) whether the authorities know what Chinese herbal medicines and proprietary Chinese medicines available on the market at present, other than tremolitum and actinolitum, contain or may contain asbestos; given that the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) has provided to the relevant industries guidelines on the disposal of Chinese herbal medicines and proprietary Chinese medicines containing asbestos, whether the EPD knows the disposal situation of the relevant medicines;
(4) given that the authorities have conducted initial asbestos assessments for buildings participating in the Operation Building Bright, and owners' corporations (OCs) and owners of individual units are required to employ registered asbestos consultants and registered asbestos contractors to handle asbestos abatement works when structures with confirmed asbestos-containing materials have been found in the areas where repair items are located, of the number of target buildings for which the authorities have carried out initial asbestos assessments since 2011; of the number of such buildings found to have structures with confirmed asbestos-containing materials in the areas where repair items were located; whether the authorities have followed up if the OCs and owners of units of those buildings carried out asbestos abatement works as required by the law; if they have not followed up, the reasons for that;
(5) whether there is currently any government building confirmed to have structures with asbestos-containing materials; if so, of the details; whether the authorities have plans to conduct asbestos surveys on government buildings constructed between 1960s and 1980s; if they have such plans, of the details and the specific timetable; if not, the reasons for that; and
(6) given that some workers' groups have pointed out that while all works involving asbestos are presently regulated by the Air Pollution Control Ordinance (Cap 311) which is enforced by the EPD, tasks such as works supervision and labour safety are undertaken by the Labour Department (LD), and this may give rise to confusion over law enforcement (e.g. while a certain industrial undertaking does not carry out work involving the use of asbestos, the equipment or tools used by the workers may contain asbestos, and hence the workers concerned are not sure which department is responsible for monitoring the use of such equipment or tools), whether the EPD and LD have made any coordination effort in respect of the division of law enforcement work and have explained to the workers' groups the arrangements for the division of work between the two departments; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether the authorities conducted investigations in the past three years to find out if the equipment and tools commonly used in the construction industry contain asbestos; if they did, of the outcome?
Reply:
President,
In Hong Kong, the carrying out of asbestos-related works and the import, transhipment, sale and use of asbestos containing materials are regulated by the Air Pollution Control Ordinance (the Ordinance). The Ordinance has banned the import and sale of the more hazardous amosite and crocidolite since 1996. To further protect public health, we introduced the Air Pollution Control (Amendment) Ordinance 2014 (the Amendment Ordinance) to impose, as from April 4, 2014, a total ban on the import, transhipment, supply and use of all forms of asbestos and asbestos containing materials (asbestos) except goods in transit, proprietary Chinese medicines registered under the Chinese Medicine Ordinance or individual applications exempted under the Amendment Ordinance.
The specific responses corresponding to the six parts of the question are as follows:
(1) Since the Amendment Ordinance came into effect, the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) has conducted 89 inspections to check if asbestos goods are supplied or used in the market. Together with the Customs and Excise Department, the EPD has completed 17 joint operations on random inspection of the imported goods at boundary control points. Figures on cases of suspected contravention found by the EPD as at October 2015 are set out in Annex I.
Cases of suspected contravention in Annex I are still under investigation. Should there be sufficient evidence, the EPD will take necessary legal action.
(2) Figures on applications for exemption received by the EPD as at October 2015 and the quantity of asbestos involved are set out in Annex II.
Applications for exemption in Annex II were all made by laboratories for the purpose of conducting essential regular comparative analyses in order to comply with the accreditation requirements under the Hong Kong Laboratory Accreditation Scheme. The total quantity of asbestos samples imported is very small. Moreover, the laboratories concerned have adopted the required safety measures to ensure the proper packaging and storage of the asbestos samples throughout the transportation process to safeguard public health.
(3) According to authoritative Chinese medicine references, there are only two Chinese herbal medicines, namely tremolitum and actinolitum, that contain asbestos.
The EPD has been liaising and working closely with the Department of Health and the Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong to explain to the Chinese medicine sector the statutory control over asbestos-containing Chinese medicines under the Amendment Ordinance. The sector is also reminded to dispose of the expired asbestos-containing Chinese medicines in accordance with requirements of the Waste Disposal Ordinance. According to the records of the EPD, about 60 kilogrammes of asbestos-containing Chinese medicines have been delivered to the landfills for disposal since the commencement of the Amendment Ordinance.
(4) The Operation Building Bright (the Operation) was launched in 2009 by the Government to provide owners of old buildings with subsidies and one-stop technical assistance to carry out repair works to improve building safety. The Operation was closed for application in December 2010.
As the participants of the Operation are old buildings, there is a higher chance that the repair works might involve structures with asbestos containing materials. From January 2011 to October 2015, the EPD carried out initial asbestos surveys for about 1400 target buildings under the Operation. About 900 of them were found to involve structures of asbestos containing materials, and they mainly involved low-risk corrugated asbestos cement sheets used in canopies. The EPD had issued written notification to the flat owners and owners' corporations of these buildings to remind the owners and those concerned to comply with the statutory requirements in demolishing structures of asbestos containing materials and to take necessary actions accordingly. Notification of commencement of works has to be submitted to the EPD before the demolition of the structures of asbestos containing materials at these buildings. The EPD and Labour Department (LD) also conduct site inspections to ensure that the asbestos abatement works complies with the requirements of the relevant legislations. According to the records of the EPD, about 50 per cent of the target buildings with asbestos containing materials had already completed their works. The EPD will continue to follow up with the asbestos abatement works on the remaining buildings to safeguard public health and prevent environmental pollution.
(5) There is a higher chance that asbestos containing materials are found in buildings constructed between 1960s and 1980s, including government buildings. As asbestos containing materials are concealed inside buildings or service installations, they will not affect the general public and the environment as long as they are in good condition and not disturbed. Unnecessary demolition works will in fact increases the risk of spreading asbestos fibres. If there is a need for repairs or demolition works to be conducted in government buildings, the departments concerned must arrange for qualified engineering professionals to conduct asbestos investigations for the buildings as required under the Ordinance. In case asbestos containing materials are found, asbestos investigation reports must be submitted to the EPD prior to the commencement of asbestos abatement works. As the established asbestos management practices have proven effective, there is no need to separately conduct asbestos investigations for all government buildings. According to the EPD's records, there were around 300 repairs or demolition works involving asbestos abatement works in government buildings over the past five years.
(6) As for the regulation of the use of asbestos, there is a clear division of roles as well as close co-ordination between the LD and EPD. The LD is responsible for enforcing the Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Asbestos) Regulation under the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance to ban work with the use of asbestos in industrial undertakings, and regulate the removal or disposal of asbestos, including asbestos in equipment or tools. The EPD is responsible for regulating the use of asbestos in places other than industrial undertakings.
Regarding law enforcement, the EPD and LD have established a regular mechanism to share information about asbestos abatement works. To ensure that cases are dealt with in the best practicable manner, designated officers have also been assigned to make direct liaison as necessary to co-ordinate the handling of individual cases and specific regulatory requirements.
To educate the industry on the proper responses to suspected asbestos articles under different circumstances, as well as the common equipment or tools that may contain asbestos, the EPD, LD and Pneumoconiosis Compensation Fund Board (the PCFB) have jointly organised various educational workshops and courses for the sector. The "Guidebook for Understanding of Asbestos Containing Materials" has also been published and distributed to construction workers and contractors via various unions and associations of the construction trade. The Guidebook can be downloaded from the website of the PCFB.
Ends/Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Issued at HKT 16:38
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