Publications

Labour Department
Environmental Report for 2012

Introduction

This report covers the environmental performance of the Labour Department for the year 2012.

The Labour Department and its Services

The Labour Department (LD) is the principal agency in the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region responsible for the execution and co-ordination of major labour administration and occupational safety and health functions. Its aim is to enhance the well-being of the workforce progressively and promote the safety and health of those at work. It has four key areas of work: Labour Relations, Employment Services, Safety and Health at Work and Employee Rights and Benefits.

As at 31 December 2012, the Department had an establishment of 2 199 posts, accommodated in 38 office locations throughout the territory. The actual expenditure of the Department in 2012-13 was $1,437 million, covering $1,193 million recurrent expenditure and $244 million non-recurrent expenditure.

Our Environmental Policy and Measures

LD is committed to environmental protection by acting in compliance with the relevant legislation and codes of practices, meeting the commitments of the Clean Air Charter signed by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in November 2006, as well as providing a green environment for staff and members of the public visiting its offices. The following policies have been adopted in pursuit of such commitment: -

1. Implementation of Green Housekeeping Measures
   The Department has implemented a series of green housekeeping measures under the Green Management Scheme, targeting at minimisation of resource consumption, waste recovery and energy conservation, and closely monitors their effectiveness. A detailed account of the measures taken is at the annex.
   
   
2. Training and Publicity among Staff
   Through promotional and educational programmes, the Department aims at ensuring that all staff members are aware of their environmental responsibilities. Departmental guidelines are reviewed and re-circulated regularly to publicise green management. The Department also coordinates and encourages its staff to participate in environmental activities including various environmental fund-raising events and green management seminars organised by other bureaux/ departments or outside organisations, with a view to promoting their environmental awareness. Besides, staff members are also encouraged to make suggestions on green initiatives.
   
   
3. Review of Office Practices
   The Department takes a proactive approach to reviewing office practices which are not environment-friendly and introduces new improvement measures whenever feasible.
   
   
4. Minimising Environmental Pollutants
   The Department observes the guidelines on infection control issued by the Department of Health in disposal of the clinical wastes of its Occupational Health Clinics, and takes every measure to minimise the production of environmental pollutants and/or nuisance. Chemical wastes from the Occupational Hygiene Laboratory are collected by specialised waste collector. Asbestos wastes produced by the Laboratory are disposed of by appointed asbestos waste collector as required. The Department also helps reduce air emissions by implementing plans and measures that are relevant to our operations for meeting the commitments of the Clean Air Charter.

Performance

Paper Consumption

Electricity Consumption^{[See Notes (1) and (2)]}

Emissions from Vehicle Fleet and Electricity Consumption^{[See Notes (3), (4) and (5)]}

	SO2		NOX		RSP
	2011	2012	2011	2012	2011	2012
Vehicle fleet	-	-	614 kg	624 kg	35.6 kg	36.5 kg
Electricity	2 413 kg	3 330 kg	1 465 kg	2 022 kg	76 kg	105 kg

Note :

(1) The figures only represent the electricity consumption of LD’s offices in 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.

(2) The number of premises for which the Department is responsible for paying the electricity bills increased from 11 in 2010 to 14 in 2011. Although the number remained at 14 in 2012, the increase in electricity consumption in 2012 was mainly due to the full year effect of the additional premises occupied in 2011 as well as the increase in overall activities as a result of enhancing our services on all fronts. In fact, after discounting the activity changes and compare only those premises which had been occupied full year for 12 months in 2011 and 2012 respectively, the electricity consumption by these premises was decreased by 1.12% from 2011 to 2012.

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

(4) In 2012, there were 27 vehicles in LD, including one using liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and eight using gasoline-electric hybrid energy. The total mileage travelled was about 431 041 km; and fuel consumptions were 42 326 litres of petrol and 3 630 litres of LPG. The increase in emissions from vehicle fleet was due to the higher mileage travelled as a result of additional activities of our Department.

(5) 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. The increase in emissions from electricity consumption was due to the increase in overall activities as a result of enhancing our services on all fronts.

In 2012, Hong Kong's labour market enjoyed broad-based improvements. The total employment surged by 2.4% following a respectable increase of 2.9% in 2011. The yearly average unemployment rate fell further to a 15-year low of 3.3% in 2012. The Labour Department continued to closely monitor the employment market situation and enhance our employment services on all fronts, especially in netting suitable vacancies from the market and rendering assistance to job seekers.

During the year, the Department undertook a number of new and enhanced activities: large-scale public educational activities on the Employment Ordinance (Cap. 57) and good people management practices were organised; the third phase of “Action S5” was launched; a mid-term review of the Work Incentive Transport Subsidy Scheme was completed; publicity activities and proactive workplace inspections in relation to the Statutory Minimum Wage were carried out; and enforcement and publicity efforts in relation to the prevention of heat stroke at work were stepped up.

Under the persistently heavy workload and increase in scope of the Department’s services, we managed to maintain our paper consumption at the 2011 level (i.e. 35 140 reams). On the other hand, the increase in electricity consumption in 2012 was mainly due to the full year effect of the additional premises occupied in 2011 as well as the increase in overall activities as a result of enhancing our services on all fronts. With the launching of new initiatives in 2013, we anticipate difficulties in achieving savings in paper and electricity consumption.

The increase in Department’s activities has also led to an increase in the use vehicle fleet and resulting increase of 11 kg in emissions of air pollutants from the fleet. To support the Clean Air Charter, the Department has adopted the following measures to minimise the emission of air pollutants by its vehicular fleet: -

1. running the vehicles on unleaded fuel or LPG;
   
   
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. reminding our motor drivers to comply with the statutory requirement to switch off engines of vehicles while waiting in order to avoid idling emissions and achieve fuel saving.

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 2012, 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 2012, the number of GOA users increased from 1 527 to 1 561.
• 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 2012. 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 minimise 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.

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 2012, 26 294 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 2012 was recycled paper.
• Collecting obsolete personal computers -
  Personal computers were collected for recycling through the Government Logistics Department’s contractors.
• 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 2012, 2 786 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 25.5^oC 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 25.5^oC 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.