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Although Hong Kong's occupational safety and health performance has improved substantially over the past 10 years, work injuries have recently increased.
In the first half of this year, the Labour Department recorded 22,195 cases of occupational injuries, up 8.4% on the figure of 20,467 cases in the same period last year. During this period, the accident rate per 1,000 employees also increased by 5.9% from 16.5 to 17.5.
The Permanent Secretary for Economic Development and Labour, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, talked about the latest work injury statistics at the Safety Charter Signing Ceremony of Tsuen Wan Safe and Healthy Community today (November 11). He is concerned with the resurgent trend in work injuries.
"According to our preliminary analysis, the recovery of Hong Kong's economy had led to an increase in employment and economic activities this year. Consequently, the number of work injuries has increased.
"I hope that employers and employees in all sectors will raise their awareness and adopt appropriate measures to reduce work accidents," Mr Cheung said.
Of the occupational injuries recorded by the Labour Department, the number of industrial accidents increased by 3.5% to 8,110 in the first half of this year from 7,838 in the same period last year. During this period, the accident rate per 1,000 workers increased from 28.4 to 29.5, up 4.1%, he said.
It is noteworthy that the number of construction accidents has been dropping steadily. The figure dropped by 1.6% to 1,556 in the first half of this year from 1,582 in the same period last year.
Nevertheless, the number of industrial accidents arising from renovation and maintenance works made up an increasing share of all reported construction accidents. The percentage of such renovation and maintenance accidents rose from 38.4%, or 607 cases, in the first half of last year to 48.1%, or 749 cases, in the same period this year. This marked an increase of 23.4%. The situation is a matter of concern.
"Certainly we will not take the resurgent trend lightly. The Labour Department will step up enforcement and enhance publicity and education in order to reduce the number of accidents to a minimum," Mr Cheung stressed.
Today, a total of 64 organisations in Tsuen Wan signed the Occupational Safety Charter, and made an undertaking to improve work safety and health together.
"Though the Safety Charter is not a legal document, it brings out the very important message that safety and health at work is a 'shared responsibility' of employers, employees and the Government," Mr Cheung said.
"Through signing the charter, the management and the staff can make reference to their working environment to work out appropriate safety policies and measures. Their safety awareness on all aspects of work will also be raised through training, publicity and promotion," he said.
Mr Cheung pointed out that Hong Kong's work safety and health performance had improved substantially since the launch of the Occupational Safety Charter in 1996. The number of occupational injuries and accident rate per 1,000 employees fell from 59,465 and 23.6 in 1996 to 44,267 and 17.8 in 2005 respectively, a drop of 25.6% and 24.4%.
Mr Cheung said that with the collaborative efforts of all stakeholders, Hong Kong's occupational safety and health performance could be improved.
Ends/Saturday, November 11, 2006
Issued at HKT 14:34
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