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The Labour Department has urged contractors, employers and employees of construction sites, factories and industrial undertakings to be more vigilant and check their workplaces as well as taking adequate safety precautions before resuming work after the Chinese New Year holidays.
A spokesman for the department said today (February 21) that management and workers should pay more attention to work safety as workplace conditions might have been changed and their safety alertness might have diminished after long holidays.
"Advance checking, preparation and implementation of necessary safety measures are particularly important for potentially hazardous work processes, machinery and equipment," he said.
"All scaffolding, working platforms, lifting appliances, gas welding and flame cutting operations, chemical processes, confined spaces, sewage work and excavations should be inspected by competent people to ensure that they are in safe condition before resuming operation or putting them into use again.
"Workers should also be fully advised and instructed to follow safety precautions when working at height and in other hazardous work situations," he said.
To prevent work accidents, the spokesman urged contractors and employers to step up monitoring of their workplaces to make sure that they were safe places of work after holidays.
He said that the general duty provisions of the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance required employers to provide a safe working environment, a safe plant and a safe system of work for employees. Failing to comply with this requirement, upon conviction, is liable to a maximum fine of $500,000 and imprisonment for six months. On the other hand, employees should co-operate by following the safety instructions and by using the safety equipment provided by their employers.
Employers and workers who have any workplace safety problems are welcome to contact the department's occupational safety officers through the safety and health advisory telephone service at 2559 2297.
Ends/Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Issued at HKT 17:36
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