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The Commissioner for Labour, Mrs Cherry Tse, today (November 21) called on employers, employees and concerned parties in the catering industry to work closely with the Government in implementing preventive measures against work accidents to enhance the occupational safety performance of the industry.
Speaking at the 12th Catering Industry Safety Award Scheme award presentation ceremony and fun day today, Mrs Tse said that the Government has all along been encouraging employers and employees of the catering industry to combine in implementing effective safety measures to create a safe and healthy working environment and to enhance the occupational safety performance of the industry. With concerted efforts from various stakeholders in the industry, the work safety and health performance of the catering industry has improved significantly in recent years.
"When we started organising the Catering Industry Safety Award Scheme in 1999, one out of 15 employees sustained work injury in the catering industry in that year. In 2009, the situation greatly improved, with only one out of 28 employees in the industry suffering injury at work," Mrs Tse said.
However, Mrs Tse reminded employers, employees and stakeholders in the catering industry not to be complacent, but to continue adopting preventive measures to minimise the occurrence of work accidents. She noted that the catering industry with a workforce of over 200,000 employees, had a relatively high rate of work accidents as compared with other industries in Hong Kong. She was also concerned that the number of work injuries in the catering industry had topped all trades in recent years.
Mrs Tse added that work accidents would hurt employees physically and affect their livelihood, and employers would suffer losses also since employees' absence from work would affect the quality of service, productivity and competitiveness of the catering establishments.
In 2009, the Labour Department processed over 8,000 cases of employees' compensation in the catering industry. A total of 200,000 working days were lost, while each injured worker lost approximately 25 working days.
Also attending the award presentation ceremony and fun day were the Chairman of the Occupational Safety and Health Council, Mr Lee Kai-ming, and the Executive Director of the Occupational Deafness Compensation Board, Mr Lai Ka-tong.
The Catering Industry Safety Award Scheme, launched in 1999, is co-organised by the Labour Department, the Occupational Safety and Health Council, the Occupational Deafness Compensation Board and stakeholders in the trade.
The scheme aims to enhance the occupational safety and health awareness of employers, employees and stakeholders in the industry. It also aims to inculcate a robust occupational safety and health culture in the industry and among the public, and to award catering establishments, supervisors and workers for good performance in work safety and health.
Entering its 12th year, the award scheme this year has drawn a record-high participation from a total of 252 catering establishments and 208 management staff.
Ends/Sunday, November 21, 2010
Issued at HKT 15:38
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