Educational and publicity efforts to improve work safety

 The Labour Department attaches great importance to occupational safety and health in Hong Kong.  It works continuously towards improving the working environment to minimise industrial accidents through eduational and promotional activities as well as law enforcement actions.

 Speaking at the opening ceremony of an exhibition to mark the 50th anniversary of the Auxiliary Medical Service (AMS) today (Sunday), the Commissioner for Labour, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, said joint efforts of the government, employers, employees and all parties concerned on occupational safety and health had proved to be successful.

 Mr Cheung noted that the number of occupational injuries and accident rate in the first three quarters of 1999 had declined by 10 per cent and 11 per cent respectively, compared with the same period in 1998.   The number of industrial accidents had also reduced by 19 per cent and the accident rate 17 per cent. Meanwhile, the number of industrial accidents and accident rate in the construction industry had recorded a marked decrease of 30 per cent and 19 per cent respectively.  The accident rate per 1 000 workers fell from 252.4 to 203.9.

 "It is encouraging to see continuous improvement in our safety performance. This demonstrates that the policies we have adopted in promotion, education and law enforcement are beginning to pay off. However, we must not be complacent and have to continue our efforts in minimising the number of accidents," said Mr Cheung.

 "Large-scale promotional and educational activities are organised by the Labour Department every year to enhance public awareness of occupational safety and health.  To improve the safety condition of the catering trade, we jointly organised the "Safety Award Scheme on Good Housekeeping for the Catering Industry" with the Occupational Safety and Health Council (OSHC) and other organisations from July to October last year.  The scheme received good response from the trade and gained satisfactory results."

    The Labour Department, together with relevant government departments and organisations, is now launching the "Safety Award Scheme on Good Housekeeping for the Construction Industry".  The campaign aims to arouse the safety awareness of the construction industry through open competitions and gives recognition to construction sites with good housekeeping practices. The management, sub-contractors as well as workers who have been actively promoting site safety will be commended.

 In December last year, the Labour Department, OSHC and other relevant organisations jointly organised the territory-wide "Personal Protective Equipment Promotional Programme".  With the production of Announcements of Public Interest on television and distribution of publications and personal protective equipment kit, the programme aims to educate concerned parties on the proper use of personal protective equipment and enrich the knowledge of employers and workers of all industries on such equipment so as to protect themselves from accidents.

 On the other hand, Mr Cheung also thanked the AMS for their great support for the Youth Pre-employment Training Programme.  More than 850 young people participating in the Programme have received leadership and team building training provided by the AMS.

  The Youth Pre-employment Training Programme, co-ordinated by the Labour Department, aims to prepare the youth between the age of 15 and 19 for work and strengthen their employability and competitiveness so that they can enter the labour market when the economy recovers.