Publications

Note :

(1) Slight increase in paper consumption was recorded due to the increase in overall activities as a result of enhancing our services on all fronts.

(2) The figures only represent the electricity consumption of LD's offices in leased premises for which the Department is responsible for paying the electricity bills. Electricity consumption of LD's offices in multi-user buildings managed by the Government Property Agency (GPA) and other Departments, for which we are not able to work out our share in consumption, is not covered in this report.

(3) With our efforts in energy savings, the Department achieved a reduction of 5.6% in electricity consumption in 2010 as compared with that in 2009.

(4) SO₂, NO_X and RSP denote major air pollutants i.e. sulphur dioxide (SO₂), nitrogen oxides (NO_X) and respirable suspended particulates (RSP) respectively.

(5) In 2010, there were 27 vehicles in LD, among which 26 used unleaded petrol and one used ultra low sulphur diesel. Of the 26 using unleaded petrol, 8 were gasoline-electric hybrid cars. The total mileage travelled was about 410 535 km; and fuel consumptions were 40 890 litres of petrol and 2 017 litres of diesel respectively.

(6) The indirect emission from electricity consumption is calculated based on the formula in the "Guide to Clean Air Charter Report Writing" published by EPD in January 2008. As mentioned in Note (2), the figures only represent the electricity consumption of LD's offices in leased premises for which the Department is responsible for paying the electricity bills.

(7) Increase in emissions from vehicle fleet was due to the higher mileage travelled as a result of additional activities of our Department.

In 2010, the local market conditions witnessed widespread and noticeable improvements amid the strong pick-up in economic activities and job creation. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate came down gradually from 4.5% in the first quarter of 2010 to 4% in the fourth quarter, the lowest level since September-November 2008. In the year, with a proactive and pragmatic approach and given united efforts, the Labour Department continued to enhance the services on all fronts, and achieved notable results in various programme areas, including a high number of job placements (149 609) and vacancies (755 017) secured from the private and public sectors; a high settlement rate of 72.9% for conciliation of disputes and claims; an increase of 12.7% over 2009 in the number of convictions for summonses on wage offences; and over 140 000 workplace inspections conducted to safeguard employees*statutory rights and benefits.

The Department set up a Recruitment Centre for the Retail Industry, its second industry-based recruitment centre in June 2010 to provide tailor-made job-matching service and on-the-spot interview arrangements for retail establishments and job-seekers; and launched a two-year Pilot Employment Navigator Programme in December 2010 to provide in-depth and personalised employment consultation for the unemployed. Apart from that, we also launched in July 2010 an employment project, ction S5* to render assistance to vulnerable young people aged 15 to 24 with acute employment difficulties. The Department also provided secretariat support to the Provisional Minimum Wage Commission.

In spite of the persistently heavy workload in 2010, we managed to have only a slight increase in our paper consumption, (i.e. 31 405 reams in 2010 as compared with 30 685 reams in 2009). Moreover, the Department's performance in energy saving in 2010 was encouraging. As reflected in the electricity consumption recorded by the electricity meters under the Department's account, our electricity consumption had dropped by 5.6% from 2009 to 2010. With the launching of new initiatives in 2011, we anticipate difficulties in achieving savings in paper and electricity consumption. Nevertheless, we will make our best efforts in economizing the use of paper and electricity.

To support the Clean Air Charter, the Department has adopted the following measures to minimize the emission of air pollutants by its vehicular fleet: -

1. running the vehicles on unleaded fuel or ultra low sulphur diesel;
   
   
2. ensuring that the emission of pollutants from the vehicle is contained within the regulatory standards stipulated under various legislation, such as the Air Pollution Control Ordinance (Cap. 311) and the Road Traffic Ordinance (Cap. 374) etc., by arranging regular servicing and preventive maintenance for the vehicles by the EMSD; and
   
   
3. making it a compulsory requirement for our motor drivers to switch off engines of vehicles while waiting in order to avoid idling emissions and achieve fuel saving.

In spite of the increase in departmental activities requiring the use of vehicles during the review period, we were able to keep the increase of overall petrol consumption to 3% in 2010 as compared with 2009. The corresponding increase in the total amount of air pollutants emitted by our vehicles was about 0.5 kg.

Future Targets

Looking ahead, the department will continue its effort in green management and contribute to improve the air quality of Hong Kong. We will continue to implement the prevailing green measures in consumption minimisation, waste recovery and energy conservation, as well as appropriate measures to attain the objectives of reducing air pollution. To meet the government's target to achieve a 5% saving on electricity consumption in government buildings from 2009-10 to 2013-14, we will, despite the increasing level of activities, try our best to further reduce electricity consumption in the coming years. In addition, we will continue our on-going effort to promote environmental awareness among staff members and encourage them to explore new ideas for operating in an environmentally friendly manner.

Feedbacks and Comments

If you have any comments or suggestions on this report, please send them to the Green Manager of the Department at:

Mail:	17/F, Harbour Building, 38 Pier Road
	Central, Hong Kong
E-mail:	enquiry@labour.gov.hk
Fax:	2544 3271

Annex

Green Housekeeping Measures Taken

Minimising Paper Consumption

• Using both sides of paper -
  Internal circulars have been issued to staff members encouraging them to write and print on both sides of each piece of paper.
• Minimising copies of circulars -
  In 2010, all circulars of the Department were disseminated to staff members through e-mail. By doing so, a saving of approximately 1,200 reams of paper was achieved per year.
• Communicating by e-mails -
  The Department has completed the enhancement of communication among staff by extending its e-mail network to all the branch offices. Since 2006, all staff members have been provided with individual e-mail accounts to facilitate electronic communication within the Government network. In 2010, the number of GOA users increased from 804 to 1 252.
• Implementing Departmental Portal -
  The Department launched the Departmental Portal since 2004 to provide a platform for e-transactions within the Department, including on-line access to the e-Payroll System of the Treasury and the e-Leave System for handling leave application, thereby reducing in paper consumption as paper-based payroll slips and leave application forms were no longer required for most staff.
• Adopting electronic version as the mode of publication -
  The Department has continued to adopt electronic version as the mode of publication for the Department's major publications in 2010. Relevant parties concerned, including members of the public, could easily access these electronic publications through the Department's websites. Examples of these include the Annual Departmental Report (with more than 100 A4 pages, printed on both sides in full colour) and the departmental staff newsletter, Staff Times (with about four to eight A4 pages, printed on both sides in full colour). The adoption of electronic version for these two publications enabled us to achieve reduction in paper consumption of around 13 000 hardcopies per year.
• Exchanging softcopies / diskettes within and outside Department -
  The Department has successfully sustained effort in encouraging staff members to minimize the printing of hardcopies by communicating through e-mail or transfer of softcopies.
• Minimising photocopies -
  Documents like Government gazette notices and internal proforma have been uploaded to the Government Office Automation Network for common viewing and access through the network to reduce printed copies.
• Using plain paper fax machines -
  The Department has fully adopted the use of plain paper fax machines.
• Using double-side photocopiers -
  All photocopying machines in the Department have been equipped with the double-side photocopying function.
• Avoiding the use of fax leader pages -
  Staff members are encouraged to use fax notes instead of cover sheets for outgoing faxes.
• Retaining original documents for circulation -
  For those documents like departmental orders that require routine re-circulation, the original sets of documents would be preserved for re-use.
• Sending greeting cards in festive seasons by electronic means.

Minimising the Use of Stationery

• Using refillable ball pens -
  All staff members are provided with refillable ball pens for their daily work.
• Minimising the use of envelopes -
  Staff members are encouraged to minimise the use of envelopes.
• Minimising the use of loose minute jacket -
  Staff members are encouraged to re-use loose minute jackets whenever practicable.
• Minimising the use of products which are not environmentally friendly.
• Re-using decorative materials -
  Serviceable decorative materials have been kept for re-use since 1998.
• Using CD-RWs for record storage instead of CD-Rs -
  Except for records which needed to be kept for long-term would be saved in CD-Rs (Compact Discs *Recordable), CD-RWs (Compact Discs *Rewritable) which allow re-use are used as the storage media for most electronic records.

Waste Recovery

• Using the blank side of used paper for drafting or printing of internal documents -
  Boxes are provided in all offices to collect paper, which has been used on one side only, for drafting purpose. Internal documents like departmental orders, advisory memoranda, circulars and file copies are printed on the blank side of used paper.
• Collecting waste paper for recycling -
  In 2010, 20 064 kg of waste paper was collected by the Department for recycling, excluding those in multi-user government buildings which were collected through contractors employed by the GPA.
• Using recycled paper -
  100% of the paper consumed by the Department in 2010 was recycled paper.
• Collecting obsolete personal computers -
  Over 1,000 sets of personal computers were collected for recycling through the Government Logistics Department's contractors in the past years.
• Redeploying serviceable furniture and equipment for further usage.
• Collecting used toner cartridges-
  Toner cartridges for laser printers were collected and returned to suppliers for recycling. In 2010, 2 721 used laser cartridges were collected.
• Requiring the cleansing contractors to use degradable plastic bags/plastic bags with recycled content for garbage collection.

Energy Conservation

• Switching off electrical appliances when not in use.
• Adopting the use of high efficiency lighting equipment. Among others, our offices in Revenue Tower, Cornwall House and Southorn Centre were successfully registered in the Hong Kong Energy Efficiency Registration Scheme for Buildings as a recognition to their compliance with the Code of Practice for Energy Efficiency of Lighting Installations. Furthermore, the tungsten/halogen light bulbs used for the spot light at the lobby area and conference rooms in LD's office premises in Harbour Building were replaced by the more energy saving LED light bulbs.
• Adjusting the illumination of lighting equipment to the minimum required level.
• Installing occupancy sensors to automatically switch on and off lightning in our offices in Harbour Building.
• Adjusting the air-conditioning system with a view to keeping the room temperature to 25.5oC in summer months in line with the advice of the then Environment, Transport and Works Bureau for all offices except those which need to set the temperature at a lower level for operational reasons.
• Encouraging staff to dress casual and smart in summer months.
• Installing thermometers in all offices to closely monitor the room temperature to ensure that it will be kept at 25.5oC in summer months.
• Ensuring proper maintenance of our departmental vehicles and using unleaded fuel.
• Reminding our drivers to switch off the vehicle engine whilst awaiting to avoid idling emissions and achieve fuel saving.
• Encouraging staff to use staircase, instead of lifts/escalators, for inter-floor traffic.
• Affixing 'Save Energy' stickers to power switches to remind staff to turn off air conditioning units/lighting not in use or keep them at suitable settings.
• Requesting all officers to set their personal computers at hibernation/standby mode which saved about 75% of electricity consumption when compared to computers stayed at normal mode, where appropriate.
• Procuring LCD monitors instead of CRT monitors when replacement of monitors is required.
• Appointing Energy Wardens in all locations to monitor the effective implementation of energy saving measures.
• Conducting energy audits to help identify room for improvement in energy conservation.