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Report of the Commissioner for Labour 2000

Chapter 7 : Safety And Health At Work

7.1 Regulating workplace safety and health is another major responsibility of the department. Legislative requirements in this respect are enforced by the Occupational Safety and Health Branch of the department.

Occupational Safety Service
7.2 The Occupational Safety Service of the branch promotes the safety and health of those working in factories, building and engineering construction sites, catering and cargo handling establishments, and other workplaces. As at 31 December 2000, the department recorded a total of 136 526 workplaces, including 9 417 construction sites.

Inspections
7.3 Occupational Safety Officers play an important role in carrying out inspections to workplaces and in advising the management of workplaces on means to enhance their safety standards and techniques to improve their safety management system. Occupational Safety Officers also conduct safety audits in selected sectors of various economic activities. These activities ensure that a safe and healthy working environment is provided and maintained. For the year 2000, 144 651 inspections, including 13 196 accident investigations, were conducted. (Figure 28)

7.4 Apart from routine inspections, Occupational Safety Officers organised several special enforcement blitzes in 2000, including campaigns on construction safety, oxy-acetylene welding/cutting safety, suspended working platform safety, lift maintenance work safety, safe use of personal protective equipment, working at height and container handling safety; and enforcement campaigns to tackle fire, chemical, plant and machinery safety hazards. During these campaigns, Occupational Safety Officers inspected 10 865 factories, 1 983 catering establishments, 257 container handling yards, 2 404 non-industrial undertakings and 8 299 construction sites. As a result of these inspections, 841 prosecutions were initiated.

7.5 In 2000, we continued to target establishments with poor safety performance for close surveillance. Improvements have been shown in such establishments, particularly in the construction sector.

7.6 The Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Safety Management) Regulation was passed by the Legislative Council in November 1999 and is expected to be brought into effect in late 2001. In the year, officers of the branch have been actively promoting the regulation by visiting establishments likely to be affected by the regulation. Management of these establishments has been advised of the requirements of the new regulation as well as the compliance standards. Guides and leaflets have been distributed to assist the industry to understand the regulation.

Safety Training
7.7 The Occupational Safety and Health Training Centre provides training-related services to help industry reduce occupational injuries. Such services are divided into three broad categories, namely training courses, accreditation of external training providers and registration of safety officers and safety auditors.

7.8 In 2000, the centre conducted 427 training courses on safety legislation for 5 848 participants and 280 tailor-made briefing sessions to 13 157 employees in private and public sectors. The objectives of such training are to inform the industry about the newly-enacted safety legislation, outline the department's enforcement standards and obtain the industry's feedback on new legislation. During the year, we have conducted more tailor-made briefing sessions at in-house seminars to meet the demand of the industry.

7.9 The centre is responsible for accrediting external training providers under a number of safety-related regulations administered by the department. In 2000, 17 organisations were accredited to conduct the mandatory basic safety training courses for the construction and the container-handling industries. As at the end of 2000, more than 320 000 persons completed the training and were issued with the relevant certificate (commonly known as the 'Green Card'). During the year, 22 training providers were also accredited to conduct the confined space training schemes for certified workers and competent persons to perform work in connection with confined spaces. In the same year, seven organisations were accredited to conduct loadshifting machinery training courses.

7.10 The centre is also responsible for the registration of safety officers and safety auditors. In 2000, 169 applicants were registered as safety officers. As at the end of 2000, there were 2 019 persons on the register of safety officers. In the year, 101 applicants were registered as safety auditors and five organisations were registered as safety auditor training scheme operators.

Safety Promotion
7.11 The branch organised a series of promotional activities in 2000, some in conjunction with other organisations such as the Occupational Safety and Health Council, to disseminate occupational safety and health messages. These were reinforced by placing advertisements on public transport and distributing pamphlets through publication stands installed at major business outlets. The branch also co-organised seminars with trade associations and unions. During the year, the branch published a Guide to the Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Safety Management) Regulation to assist duty holders to fulfill their legal obligations under the new safety management regulation and two approved Codes of Practices, namely Code of Practice - Safety and Health at Work in Confined Spaces and Code of Practice Safety and Health at Work for Gas Welding and Flame Cutting.

7.12 The department plans to convert some of the major occupational safety and health publications into CD-ROM format in 2001 to enable easier information storage, retrieval and data transfer. To strengthen the advisory service, a section on more frequently asked questions was put on the homepage of the department. The section was linked to other websites to provide more information on related legislation, training courses and accident statistics.

Major Promotion Campaigns

Catering Industry Safety Award Scheme
7.13 The award scheme aimed to promote safety and health awareness among employers and employees, as well as their families in the catering industry. Catering establishments, safety personnel and workers with good safety and health performance were identified and awarded through an open competition. There was also an award presentation ceremony cum gala day. In addition, several newspaper safety quizzes were organised and promotional items were distributed to spread the catering safety messages. The competition was well-supported by the industry. Altogether, 32 catering establishments, 28 supervisors and 21 workers received the safety awards.

Customer Service Teams Project
7.14 This was a joint project co-organised with the Social Welfare Department with a view to enhancing the safety and health awareness of employers and employees in small and medium sized enterprises. Under the project, volunteers visited these enterprises and introduced the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance and safety management concepts to help them comply with the legal provisions. Over 13 000 small and medium sized enterprises were visited during the period and the project was well-supported by them.

Construction Industry Safety Award Scheme
7.15 The award scheme aimed to increase the awareness of both employers, supervisors and workers in the construction industry on safety at work, and, through an open competition, to identify and award contractors, sub-contractors, site personnel and workers with good safety performance.

7.16 Programmes of the award scheme included an open competition on site safety, newspaper safety quizzes, distribution of guidance and promotional materials, and an award presentation ceremony cum fun day.

7.17 The competition was well-received by the industry with 84 entries for the site awards, 35 nominations for the sub-contractor awards and 50 nominations for the safety teams. The award scheme started in November 2000 and concluded in March 2001.

Campaign to Promote the Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Safety Management) Regulation
7.18 A campaign to publicise the Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Safety Management) Regulation was organised. There were roving exhibitions at major shopping centres, distribution of guides and leaflets, training courses, promotional visits, talks and seminars.

Boilers and Pressure Vessels Division
7.19 The Boilers and Pressure Vessels Division of the branch administers the Boilers and Pressure Vessels Ordinance to ensure the safe use and operation of all equipment covered by the ordinance. The division discharges its duties through inspection, accident investigation and the issue of certificates of competency to operators of boilers and pressure vessels. The division also gives the Fire Services Department technical advice on the approval and initial inspections of pressurised cylinders and storage installations for compressed gases.

7.20 The Commissioner for Labour, as the Boilers and Pressure Vessels Authority, appoints qualified engineers from the private sector to be appointed examiners. These appointed examiners, categorised into boiler inspectors and air receiver inspectors, carry out inspections and testings of any pressure equipment subject to registration and are responsible for scrutinising documents on design, construction, quality of fabrication and issuing certificates of fitness. The authority also recognises competent inspection bodies to assess and inspect new pressure equipment during manufacturing. As at the end of 2000, there were a total of 36 appointed examiners and seven recognised inspection bodies. Inspectors (Boilers and Pressure Vessels) of the division make spot checks on pressure equipment to ensure that safety standards are maintained. A total of 6 488 visits and inspections by Inspectors (Boilers and Pressure Vessels) was carried out in 2000. (Figure 29)

Certificates of Competency
7.21 The ordinance stipulates that all boilers and steam receivers must be attended by competent persons. For this purpose, the division conducts examinations, monitors courses for training of competent persons and issues certificates of competency to qualified candidates as competent persons for various types of boilers and steam receivers. During 2000, 581 candidates were examined, of whom 457 were awarded certificates of competency.

Occupational Health Service
7.22 The Occupational Health Service, comprising three Occupational Medicine Divisions and three Occupational Hygiene Divisions, is responsible for protecting the health of employees at work. It provides an advisory service to the government and the public on matters concerning workers' health and workplace hygiene.

7.23 The medical and nursing staff of the Occupational Medicine Divisions investigate occupational diseases, conduct medical examinations/ assessments for radiation workers, aviation personnel and government employees exposed to special occupational hazards. The divisions run two Occupational Health Clinics and operate an Occupational Safety and Health Centre. They also arrange medical assessment for workers injured at work or having contracted prescribed occupational diseases in the context of assessing employees' compensation claims and provide medical support services to the Recompression Treatment Centre at Stonecutters Island.

7.24 The occupational hygienists of the Occupational Hygiene Divisions carry out field surveys to identify and evaluate occupational health hazards in the work environment and advise employers on measures to control such hazards. They investigate gassing accidents, assist in the investigation of occupational diseases, and operate occupational hygiene laboratories as well as an accredited asbestos laboratory. They also set and enforce occupational hygiene standards at workplaces, and enforce the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance and the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance in relation to occupational health and hygiene aspects. During the year, 6 215 field surveys and 3 757 analytical tests were carried out by occupational hygienists.

7.25 Apart from actively conducting health promotion and educational activities such as lectures/ talks/ video shows, the Occupational Health Service publishes various guidance materials on prevention of occupational diseases and control of health risks at work. It also provides staffing support to the multidisciplinary inspection teams of the branch, which have been formed to tackle the inter-related occupational safety and health issues of chain and large organisations in selected trades.

7.26 In 2000, the Occupational Health Service investigated a total of 2 600 cases of suspected occupational disease, out of which 504 were confirmed. (Figure 30) The medical and nursing staff conducted 2 038 medical examinations/ assessments, provided 8 345 medical consultations for patients at the Kwun Tong Occupational Health Clinic and the Sham Shui Po Occupational Health Clinic, and offered advisory/ information services and initial medical screening to 36 776 visitors to the new Occupational Safety and Health Centre. They also attended 150 sessions of the Prostheses and Surgical Appliances Board, arranged 75 515 sick leave clearance interviews for injured workers and gave 2 428 pieces of advice on employees' compensation cases. In addition, 371 sessions of hyperbaric oxygen therapy were conducted for patients with decompression illness, carbon monoxide poisoning or radiation-induced osteonecrosis.

7.27 A total of 19 066 lectures/ talks/ video shows on occupational health was delivered in 2000. Meanwhile, five new titles of publication on occupational health were released and 18 existing titles revised. The new publications included a pamphlet on occupational health protection programme and four booklets respectively on occupational safety and health in schools, manual handling in health care services, prevention of occupational dermatitis as well as the effects of alcohol/ over-the-counter drugs on work.

7.28 A breakdown of the major work of the Occupational Health Service is set out in Figure 31.