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Following is a speech by the Secretary for Education and Manpower, Mr Joseph W P Wong, in moving the motion on Factories and Industrial Undertakings(Safety Management) Regulation in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):

Madam President,

I move the motion standing in my name on the agenda.

With the newly vested power under the Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Amendment) Ordinance 1999 passed by the Legislative Council on July 16 this year, the Commissioner for Labour drafted the Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Safety Management) Regulation to provide for the introduction of a safety management system in selected industrial undertakings. A Subcommittee of the Legislative Council has finished examining the draft Regulation and its amendment proposals have been incorporated into the Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Safety Management) Regulation officially made on November 8, 1999 by the Commissioner for Labour. I am very grateful to the chairman, the Honourable Lee Kai-ming, and members of the Subcommittee, for completing the examination of this Regulation expeditiously.

This Regulation is to implement a recommendation in a Consultation Paper published by the Administration in 1995 on the Review of Industrial Safety in Hong Kong to change the strategy on industrial safety from focusing on enforcement to promoting safety management. Self-regulation in respect of reducing the risks at work by the proprietors and their workforce is the key to attaining long-term improvements in safety standards.

To facilitate proprietors and contractors to implement a safety management system applicable to Hong Kong, we have developed 14 process elements in the new Regulation. We propose in the Regulation to initially require contractors or proprietors in relation to construction sites, shipyards, factories and other designated industrial undertakings (i.e. those involved in the generation and transmission of electricity, town gas or liquefied petroleum gas and in the handling of containers( with 100 or more workers, as well as construction projects with contract value of $ 100 million or more, to adopt the first ten of the 14 process elements of the safety management system, and to carry out safety audits of their safety management system. Construction sites and industrial undertakings employing 50 to 99 workers will be required to adopt the first eight of the 14 process elements of the safety management system, and to carry out safety reviews, which are less stringent than safety audits. The estimated number of the above two categories of undertakings which will be required to implement the safety management system are 800 and 700 respectively. Industrial undertakings employing less than 50 workers will be exempted for the time being.

A phased implementation of these process elements will allow the industries being affected to get accustomed to the new system and to prepare for the additional elements. This will also allow sufficient safety practitioners and medical professionals to be trained to take up the additional functions. This approach has the support of the Labour Advisory Board. We intend to review the implementation of the proposed safety management system one year after the Regulation has come into force to decide on the appropriate time to bring the remaining four to six elements into operation and extend the requirement to industrial undertakings employing less than 50 workers.

We propose to provide a grace period of 12 months before the Regulation, upon enactment, comes into effect. This will allow time for the Administration to launch education and promotion campaigns on the safety management system, for the affected proprietors and contractors to understand the new legislation and for them, as well as the training bodies for the construction industry, to make the necessary preparation. The Administration will provide the guidance and advice on compliance with the new requirements.

The introduction of a safety management system in designated industrial undertakings through legislation is an important milestone in the improvement of industrial safety standards in Hong Kong. To facilitate the long-term and effective improvement in our occupational safety and health record, and to bring down the number of accidents and casualties, I urge Members to pass the proposed Regulation.

Madam President, I beg to move.

End/Wednesday, November 24, 1999

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