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Voluntary Rehabilitation Programme launched for construction industry

The Labour Department will launch a new Voluntary Rehabilitation Programme (VRP) tomorrow (March 1) for work injuries in the construction industry.

The VRP is to provide timely rehabilitation services to injured workers for better and speedier recovery.

A spokesman for the department said that insurers participating in the VRP would identify suitable cases and provide free and tailor-made rehabilitation services to the injured employees.

"Injured employees can decide on whether to accept such services provided by the insurers.

"To safeguard the rights and benefits of the participating employees and enhance the effectiveness of the VRP, we have formulated a framework with five major principles, which have been accepted by the insurers," the spokesman said.

The principles are:

  • Voluntary approach in which insurers can devise their own plan and identify suitable injured employees to offer rehabilitation services;
  • Shared responsibility among the insurer, injured employee and employer;
  • Professional administration by rehabilitation service providers based on professional judgments;
  • Management support by insurer to injured employees and their employers;
  • Transparency to allow the injured employee to have access to information on the progress of his/her the rehabilitation.

The spokesman stressed that the statutory entitlements of injured employees taking part in the Programme would not be affected.

"Their statutory compensation shall continue to be determined in accordance with the Employees' Compensation Ordinance. The Occupational Medical Unit and the Employees' Compensation Assessment Board of the department will still be responsible for assessing the suitability of compensation assessment and the loss of earning capacity respectively," he said.

The department has discussed the VRP with different parties and received their support. These parties include the Provisional Construction Industry Co-ordination Board; representatives from the insurance industry, major trade associations and labour unions of the construction industry, the Hospital Authority and professionals in the rehabilitation fields.

So far eight insurers have agreed to participate in the VRP.