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Following is a question by the Hon Li Fung Ying and a written reply by the Secretary for the Civil Service, Mr Joseph W P Wong, on the Government's effective safety management system to ensure staff safety at work in the Legislative Council today (December 14):
Question:
It was reported that five members of the Hawker Control Team under the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department were assaulted and injured in an operation to clear unlicensed hawkers in the middle of last month. Regarding the personal safety of public officers, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the respective numbers of public officers who were assaulted and injured while performing duties in each of the past three years, with a breakdown by their departments, modes of employment and ranks; and the results of the follow-up actions taken regarding these cases;
(b) whether there are measures to protect the personal safety of public officers performing duties; if so, of the details of such measures; and whether it has regularly reviewed the effectiveness of these measures; if it has not, of the reasons for that; and
(c) whether it will introduce new measures to enhance the protection of the personal safety of public officers performing duties?
Reply:
Madam President,
The Government as a good employer attaches great importance to the safety and health of staff.
Heads of Government bureaux and departments are responsible for putting in place an effective safety management system to ensure safety of staff at work. They have developed safety guidelines for compliance by staff. Depending on the specific operational circumstances, staff are provided with suitable training and protective equipment to reduce job hazards and prevent occurrence of accidents. There are established procedures for reporting and investigating incidents involving violence. Regular exchanges take place between the management and staff sides on any concerns about personal safety of staff at work through various communication channels, including the departmental consultative committees, departmental occupational safety and health committees, and various other staff consultative bodies. Collaborative efforts are made by both the management and staff sides to identify any real and potential threats or risks concerning personal safety of staff at work, and to make recommendations for improvement where warranted. Promotional activities are also organised to raise staff awareness in this respect.
At the service-wide level, the Civil Service Bureau, in conjunction with the Working Group on Occupational Safety and Health in the Civil Service (which comprises representatives of the Labour Department, the Occupational Safety and Health Council, staff sides of the four Central Staff Consultative Councils and the management of selected departments), have been promoting occupational safety and health in the workplace through various publicity and educational programmes. These include exhibitions, seminars, experience-sharing workshops, joint visits with the Labour Department to bureaux and departments, and production of guidelines and reference materials. Assistance in the form of financial support and consultancy service is given to bureaux and departments in developing and enhancing their safety management system and in organising publicity and educational activities.
The Civil Service Bureau has also issued a circular setting out some useful points to assist bureaux and departments in compiling departmental guidelines for staff to deal with situations affecting their personal safety at work. Seminars such as "How to handle potentially violent clients" are held regularly to equip staff with the skills for handling real and potential threats or risks of violence at work, and to provide departmental management with guidelines in formulating precautionary measures and procedures to avoid violent incidents in the workplace.
My reply to the individual parts of the question is as follows:
(a) According to the reports filed by bureaux and departments, there are 15 government departments with 2,110 cases of assaults and injuries sustained by government employees while performing duties during the period from 2003 to 2005 (up to September 30, 2005). Of these cases, 1,791 or 85 per cent are related to law enforcement action taken by Government. On average, about two-third of these cases resulted in minor injuries requiring sick leave for three days or less. A breakdown of these cases by department, mode of employment and the rank of the officer (with a brief description of the nature of duties involved) is attached at the Annex.
As a general rule, every incident of assault is thoroughly investigated and, where appropriate, recommendations are made for preventive measures to be implemented. Immediate support, assistance and counselling service will be provided to staff and their families as required. The departments concerned will also report the injury cases to the Labour Department in accordance with the Employees' Compensation Ordinance, and the assault cases to the Police for investigation and prosecution action as appropriate.
(b)&(c) The Government is fully committed to ensuring safety of staff at work. Safety management systems are in place to avoid and minimise job-related hazards. Preventive measures against potential risks at work are incorporated as part of standard workplace procedures and design. In the light of specific job nature and operational requirements, Departments have also put in place different preventive measures which may be broadly classified into the following categories:
(1) provision of departmental safety/operational guidelines/manuals, such as guidelines on "Personal safety of staff performing outdoor duties", "Handling customers with aggressive or violent behaviour", etc.;
(2) provision of safety training, such as workshops and training courses on subjects including "How to handle confrontation", "Preventing and handling workplace violence", "Self defense" and "Breakaway techniques", "Resistance control", "Communication/ Negotiation skills", "Conflict management", etc.;
(3) implementation of safety measures for staff performing outdoor duties, such as monitoring system for staff to register (at the office or with their seniors) details of their whereabouts while on outdoor duties, paired or accompanied visits, provision of mobile phone, walkie-talkie and beat radio to enhance communication, regular patrols by supervisors to check the well being of staff, etc.;
(4) taking into account the safety of staff in the design of office layout for offices with frequent contact with the public, such as installation of double door system, tempered glass panel counter, CCTV system, intercoms for frontline staff to communicate with supervisors, wireless alarm in interview rooms, separating the public and staff areas, etc.;
(5) provision of personal protection equipment, such as packsets, batons, shields, OC Foam, personal panic alarm, striking pads, protective sleeves and restrainers, safety shoes and helmets, communication gears, portable transceivers, etc.; and
(6) joint operations with security guards or the Police, and conducting reconnaissance exercises, briefings and risk evaluation before the operations.
Regular reviews are conducted by bureaux and departments to ensure the effectiveness of the preventive measures. Enhanced safety measures are introduced as and when necessary. Listed below are examples of the enhanced safety measures that have recently been introduced or are about to be rolled out by individual bureaux and departments:
(1) enhancement of security systems and improving the configuration of offices at high risk areas. For example, CCTV, access control system and metal detection system would be installed at a residential complex for children and juveniles managed by the Social Welfare Department for protection of staff and residents, and renovation works are being carried out in the Social Security Field Units to further improve the office layout and to ensure the safety of frontline staff;
(2) conducting consultancy studies to review improvement measures on safety issues for specific grades and ranks of staff where their day-to-day duties are vulnerable to confrontational situations, such as hawker control teams of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department;
(3) provision of additional personal protective equipment to enhance staff safety; and
(4) provision of refresher and new safety training courses for staff in the light of prevailing operational circumstances.
Ends/Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Issued at HKT 13:00
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