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The work safety and health performance of the catering industry had improved significantly in recent years and the accident toll continued to drop as a result of the collective efforts of the Government, employers, employees and concerned parties in the sector.
The Permanent Secretary for Economic Development and Labour, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, said this today (January 8) while addressing the Award Presentation Ceremony of the Catering Industry Safety Award Scheme.
"In 1999, the catering sector recorded 12,549 industrial accidents and the accident rate per 1,000 workers was 66.9. In 2004, the number of industrial accidents dropped by 25% to 9,410 while the accident rate per 1,000 workers decreased by 23% to 51.5," Mr Cheung said.
"The safety performance further improved in the first half of 2005. The number of industrial accidents dropped to 4,191, down by 8% on the figure of 4,557 in the same period in 2004. The accident rate per 1,000 workers also decreased by 10.1% from 50 to 45.
"Nevertheless, it is important to note that the accident figures of the catering industry topped all trades. In the first half of 2005, work accidents in the industry constituted 53.5% of reported cases in all industrial sectors, much higher than the figure of 20.2% for the construction industry.
"Although accidents in the catering sector were mostly of a minor nature, we should not take things lightly. We should try our best to reduce the accident toll to a minimum," Mr Cheung stressed.
On employees' compensation, the Labour Department processed 9,751 non-fatal cases involving sick leave exceeding three days and five fatal cases in 2004. Compensation of over $70.51 million had been paid to injured employees and family members of deceased employees. In addition, more than 184,200 working days were lost. The average amount of compensation and working days lost for each case were $7,228 and 19 respectively.
"Work accidents not only hurt employees physically and affect their livelihood, they mean losses to catering establishments as well because of employees' absence from work. On the other hand, unsafe work environment would undermine employees' devotion to work, hence affecting the quality of service, productivity and competitiveness of the establishments," he said.
"The Government has been encouraging the industry to adopt effective safety management to establish a safe and healthy work environment. This will help ensure employees' safety and health and minimise work accidents, thereby enhancing labour relations and business competitiveness," he continued.
The Catering Industry Safety Award Scheme has been co-organised by the Labour Department, the Occupational Safety and Health Council and key stakeholders in the trade since 1999. Entering its seventh year, the event has drawn participation from 160 eligible catering establishments and 130 nominations have been received for awards for supervisors.
A record high number of 47 catering employees received award this year. A Group Safety Performance Award was introduced to encourage senior management of catering groups to pay more concern to the promotion of occupational safety and health in their outlets.
Ends/Sunday, January 8, 2006
Issued at HKT 15:07
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