Factories and Industrial Undertakings
(Safety Officers and Safety Supervisors)(Amendment)
Regulation 2001

The Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Safety Officers and Safety Supervisors) (Amendment) Regulation 2001 has come into full operation on 2 January 2004.

The main provisions of the Amendment Regulation are:

1. to extend the coverage of the Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Safety Officers and Safety Supervisors) Regulations to the container handling industry;
   
2. to raise the minimum qualification and working experience required for registration as a safety officer;
   
3. to introduce a mechanism for renewing and re-validating the registration of safety officers upon expiry of a four-year validity period. Safety officers will be required to complete not less than 100 hours of Continuing Professional Development Programme in occupational safety and health in the preceding four years for the purpose of renewal or re-validation of their registration; and
   
4. to impose on safety officers duties in safety management of workplaces.

In addition to construction sites and shipyards, the Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Safety Officers and Safety Supervisors) Regulations has been extended to cover container handling workplaces with effect from 2 January 2004. Proprietors of container handling workplaces who employ 100 or more persons in these workplaces are required to employ a registered safety officer. They are also required to employ a safety supervisor in each container handling workplace where the number of employees is 20 or more.

Safety practitioners serving full time in the container handling industry without a scheduled qualification specified in the Amendment Regulation can also apply to become a registered safety officer. They should apply within the 12 months immediately following 2 January 2004. The Labour Department will consider each applicant whether he is fit and proper to be registered as a safety officer by his education, training, professional experience and skill in industrial safety.