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Introduction

In 1995, the Government published a Consultation Paper on the Review of the Industrial Safety in Hong Kong which among other things, recommended the Government to change its strategy on industrial safety from focusing on enforcement to promoting safety management.  The Review reaffirmed that "the primary responsibility of safety at work rests with those who create the risks and those who work with such risks, i.e. the proprietors and the workers".  The ultimate goal, which is also the key to attaining long-term improvements in safety standards, is self-regulation by the proprietors and their workforce.  In this respect, the Government should provide a legislative framework within which self-regulation is to be achieved through a company system of safety management.
The Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Safety Management) Regulation* (the Regulation) is to implement the above recommendation in the Consultation Paper.  It requires proprietors and contractors covered by the Regulation to implement a safety management system applicable to Hong Kong, which consists of 14 elements.  Besides the adoption of the safety management system, the proprietors and contractors are also required to carry out safety audits or safety reviews of their safety management systems. 
This guide outlines the major provisions of the Regulation.  It enables proprietors and contractors to have a better understanding of their responsibilities under the Regulation.  While this guide explains provisions of the Regulation in simple terms, the Regulation itself remains to be the sole authority of the legal requirements.