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Following is a question by the Hon LAU Kong-wah and an oral reply by the a reply by the Secretary for Constitutional Affairs, Mr Stephen Lam Sui-lung, (in the absence of Secretary for Economic Development and Labour), today (May 30):
Question:
Regarding issues relating to injuries sustained by or death of local employees at work, or their suffering from occupational diseases, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) in each of the past three years, of the number of cases in which employees had sustained injuries or died as a result of accidents arising out of and in the course of employment, or suffered from the occupational diseases specified in the Employees' Compensation Ordinance, and the employees themselves or their families had filed claims for compensation against the employers concerned, as well as the amounts of compensation involved, broken down by trade, and the percentage of the number of cases with compensation successfully claimed from the employers in the total number of the above cases, as well as the reasons for the unsuccessful claims in the other cases;
(b) of the assistance rendered by the Government to the above unsuccessful claimants; and
(c) whether it has reviewed the effectiveness of the work in promoting occupational safety, and whether it will consider stepping up publicity so as to enhance the knowledge of office executives on occupational safety and health?
Reply
Madam President,
(a) In 2006, the number of work injuries and occupational diseases reported to the Labour Department (LD) under the Employees¡¦ Compensation Ordinance (ECO) was 50,235. Of these, 42,767 cases have been settled as at 30 April 2007, involving a total compensation amount of $403,509,399. The respective numbers of reported cases for 2004 and 2005 were 46,587 and 47,478. Of these, 45,549 cases in 2004 and 45,082 cases in 2005 have been settled as at 30 April 2007, and the amounts of compensation involved were $844,760,617 and $664,343,598 respectively. A breakdown of these cases by industry is at Annexes 1 to 3.
As at 30 April 2007, the percentages of successful claims among cases reported in 2004, 2005 and 2006 are 97.8%, 95.0% and 85.1% respectively. Some cases require more time for settlement, thus the percentage of successful claims will increase with time.
In some cases, employees need to take a longer period of sick leave after the work injury. As a result, the medical clearance and assessment procedures have to be completed at a later stage and the LD is unable to issue a Certificate of Compensation Assessment. In some other cases which involve disputes over the liability for compensation, the adjudication by the Court takes time to complete. These cases have yet to be settled for the time being.
For those cases where the claimants are unsuccessful in obtaining compensation, the main reasons are that the Court has determined that there was no employer-employee relationship, or that the employees did not sustain their injury or die as a result of an accident arising out of and in the course of the employment.
(b) For the outstanding cases, if the employers cast doubt on the claims and refuse to admit liability for compensation, the LD will conduct investigation and explain the relevant provisions of the ECO to the employers and the employees, and assist both parties to resolve their conflicts. Any unresolved dispute has to be adjudicated by the District Court. The LD will assist the employees and refer them to the Legal Aid Department to apply for legal assistance, or to lodge their claims with the Court direct if they so wish.
If the employees have financial or other difficulties, the LD will refer them to the Social Welfare Department and other relevant organizations for assistance.
(c) The Administration is firmly committed to improving safety and health at work. We also keep under constant review our strategy for ensuring that risks to people¡¦s safety and health at work are properly managed by legislation, education and promotion. It is encouraging to note that our three-pronged approach to promoting occupational safety and health is bearing fruit.
We have seen marked improvement in our occupational safety and health performance over the past decade. The number of occupational injuries went down by 25.2% from 62,776 in 1997 to 46,937 in 2006. The injury rate per thousand employees also decreased by 26.2% from 24.9 in 1997 to 18.4 in 2006.
As regards the industrial sector, the number of industrial accidents went down by 60.1% from 43,305 in 1997 to 17,286 in 2006. The accident rate per thousand workers also decreased by 47.2% from 59.6 in 1997 to 31.5 in 2006.
The construction industry recorded a significant drop in its accident toll. The number of industrial accidents went down by 81.7% from 18,559 in 1997 to 3,400 in 2006. The accident rate per thousand workers also decreased by 71.7% from 227.4 in 1997 to 64.3 in 2006.
The Administration attaches great importance to the safety and health at work of office workers. We will continue our efforts to enhance the safety awareness of employees through promotional and publicity activities. We will bring home the safety and health message to these employees through publications, Announcements in the Public Interest on TV, radio and mobile advertising media, feature articles in newspapers, roving exhibitions and seminars.
We have also deployed occupational health personnel to deliver health talks at organisations concerned. Moreover, we have produced a video disc and a booklet entitled ¡§More Exercise Smart Work¡¨ for free distribution to office employees, so as to encourage them to do more exercise to relieve muscle fatigue and prevent musculoskeletal disorders.
Ends/Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Issued at HKT 14:53
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