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The Labour Department was firmly committed to improving safety and health at work and would leave no stone unturned to achieve this objective, the Permanent Secretary for Economic Development and Labour (Labour), Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung said.
Speaking at the 7th International Congress on Work Injuries Prevention, Rehabilitation and Compensation today (June 27), Mr Cheung pointed out that with the collaborative efforts of the Government and all other stakeholders, the occupational safety and health performance in Hong Kong had improved markedly in recent years.
In 2005, the number of occupational injuries stood at 44,267, representing a drop of 30.3% from 63,526 in 1998. The number of industrial accidents was 16,917, down 60.7% from 43,034 in 1998. In particular, the number of industrial accidents in the construction industry dropped significantly by 81.9% from 19,588 to 3,548, while the accident rate per thousand workers also fell by a hefty 75.9% from 247.9 to 59.9.
As for occupational diseases, there had been a cumulative fall of 73% from 948 cases in 1998 to 256 cases in 2005.
Mr Cheung stressed that safety at work was a shared responsibility. Following a comprehensive review of industrial safety in 1995, Mr Cheung said that the department had moved gradually from an enforcement approach to a safety management approach in tackling workplace safety and health.
"Our strategy is to foster self-regulation and inculcate a safety culture through legislation and enforcement; training and education; as well as promotion and publicity," he said.
With the enactment of the Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Safety Management) Regulation in 1999, proprietors of certain high-risk industries, including construction sites, are required to implement safety management and conduct safety audits regularly.
The Construction Site (Safety) Regulations were also amended in 2003 to extend the duties of site safety previously imposed on principal contractors only to other contractors and sub-contractors who had direct control over safety matters.
"On law enforcement, we focus our inspections on high-risk or accident-prone industries. In particular, we target enterprises with poor safety records.
"Prosecution will be taken out against those found in breach of occupational safety and health legislation. Improvement notices or suspension notices are also issued when necessary to secure a speedy rectification of irregularities, or to remove imminent risks to lives and limbs. In 2005, a total of 1,568 suspension notices and improvement notices were issued," Mr Cheung said.
The department also mounts special operations targeting at high-risk processes including working-at-height, scaffolding work, operation of lifting appliances, cargo handling and work in confined spaces.
"Recently, we have also stepped up the inspection of offices to tackle the ergonomic hazards associated with the prolonged use of display screen equipment."
"Vigorous enforcement action will continue to be taken against the violation of occupational safety and health legislation," he continued.
In view of the outbreak of SARS in Hong Kong in 2003 and the threat of avian influenza, the department also conducted focused inspections to high-risk workplaces including hospitals, clinics and elderly homes to ensure that adequate infection control measures, such as proper ventilation and use of personal protective equipment, are in place. In 2005, the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance was amended to include SARS and avian influenza A as notifiable occupational diseases.
On safety training, Mr Cheung said that mandatory induction safety training was required for workers in the construction and container handling industries. So far, more than 771,000 people have obtained the certificate for working on construction sites and more than 21,400 workers in the container handling industry had received training.
Workers engaged in operating high-risk plant and machinery and in hazardous work processes are also required to undergo recognised training. These include people operating cranes, working on suspended working platforms and working in confined spaces, engaged in the operation of loadshifting machinery, gas welding and flame cutting work.
Turning to education and promotion, Mr Cheung said the strategy was to enlist the participation of key players and stakeholders in safety promotion campaigns and publicity drives. Work items included launching the Occupational Safety Charter, co-organising the construction and catering safety award schemes; organising seminars, talks, exhibitions and producing radio and television Announcements in the Public Interest.
In addition, he pointed out that occupational health education was also an important strategy for controlling occupational health hazards and preventing occupational diseases.
"The department has been operating an occupational health clinic to provide clinical consultations and medical treatment as well as occupational health education and counselling services for workers suffering from work-related diseases. A total of 9,395 such clinical consultations were offered in 2005."
"With heightened public awareness of occupational health, the demand for our clinical service has continued to grow over the years. We have just opened a new occupational health clinic in Fanling yesterday to provide 4,800 more consultations a year," Mr Cheung said.
On employees' compensation, Mr Cheung said that the economic loss arising from work-related injuries and diseases amounted roughly to 4% of the global gross domestic product, according to the estimate by the International Labour Organisation.
"In 2005, 46,620 employee compensation cases were settled in Hong Kong. More than $1.02 billion was payable as compensation to injured employees or dependants of deceased employees. The number of workdays lost amounted to well over 1.7 million. On average, each work accident resulted in a compensation payout of $21,918 and productivity loss of about 37 workdays," he said.
In recognition of the importance of rehabilitation and early return to work, the Labour Department launched a pilot Voluntary Rehabilitation Programme for injured workers in the construction industry in 2003.
Under the programme, participating insurers would closely manage the rehabilitation process and provide timely rehabilitation service to workers in appropriate cases at no charge.
"In view of the initial success, we extended the pilot programme to the manufacturing, transport and catering industries in 2004. More than 86% of those who completed the rehabilitation programme considered it helpful in achieving faster and better recovery."
"By regaining their earning capacity as soon and as much as possible, employees' economic and non-economic loss due to injury could be considerably reduced," he said.
"We have also noted that the programme has strengthened employees' sense of belonging in the company, fostered better employer-employee relationship and helped cut down the number of litigations.
"It raises the prospect that, in the long run, the overall costs of claims could be lowered and, as a result, the insurance premium borne by employers would be reduced.
"With such positive outcome, the programme is increasingly accepted by employees, insurers, rehabilitation professionals and the community," Mr Cheung said.
Mr Cheung said that the Government should not and would not be complacent. Working in partnership with other stakeholders, the Government would continue to put in the best efforts to further enhance the standards of occupational safety and health in Hong Kong.
Ends/Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Issued at HKT 10:12
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