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A Construction Safety Forum jointly organised by the Labour Department (LD) and the Occupational Safety and Health Council was held today (March 12) to enhance the occupational safety and health awareness of the construction industry.
Addressing the opening ceremony of the forum, the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, said all stakeholders in the construction industry, including contractors, occupational safety professionals and workers, had a role to play in ensuring a safe environment for workers. He encouraged all participants in the forum to contribute ideas with a view to enhancing construction safety and minimising the chance of accidents. He also expected such ideas would be crystallised into concrete action plans and measures to further improve occupational safety and health performance.
Participants gave the forum their valuable recommendations on ways to enhance site management and supervision, safety awareness and the responsibilities of workers and site foremen as well as the safety management system.
The Commissioner for Labour, Mr Cheuk Wing Hing, in giving the closing speech, remarked that the construction industry is in its critical moment and all participants of the forum had been serious and responsible in discussing the ways to reduce construction accidents and fatal incidents. This showed that stakeholders in the construction industry had accorded high importance to industrial safety, he said.
Mr Cheuk said, "The result of today's forum will become a new impetus in safeguarding construction industry safety. The Labour Department will consolidate the valuable suggestions collected in today's forum and compile a report. We will also formulate action programmes and concrete measures according to suggestions made by workshop panel chairmen."
Guest speakers at the opening ceremony included the Deputy Director of Housing, Ms Ada Fung; the Principal Assistant Secretary for Development, Mr Jimmy Chan; and the Assistant Commissioner for Labour (Occupational Safety), Mr Tso Sing-hin. Ms Fung introduced how the Housing Authority's holistic approach to the works management system had helped to foster a safety culture. Mr Chan spoke on the challenges and strategies of safety management in public works and Mr Tso analysed cases of serious construction accidents in the past three years.
The Construction Safety Forum also included three workshops, namely "Site Management and Supervision", "Safety Awareness and Responsibilities of Workers and Site Foremen" and "Safety Management System". Panel chairmen for the workshops included the President of the Hong Kong Construction Association, Mr Thomas Ho; the President of the Hong Kong General Building Contractors Association, Mr Anthony Chan; the President of the Hong Kong Construction Sub-contractors Association, Mr Lawrence Ng; the Chairman of the Hong Kong Construction Industry Employees General Union, Mr Chow Luen-kiu; the Chief Executive of the Association for the Rights of Industrial Accident Victims, Mr Chan Kam-hong; the Executive Director of the Occupational Safety and Health Council, Mr Tang Wah-shing; the Chairman of the Committee on Construction Site Safety of the Construction Industry Council, Mr Cheung Hau-wai; the President of the Hong Kong Federation of Occupational Safety and Health Associations, Mr Kwong Chiu-ling; and the Chairman of the Safety Specialist Committee of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers, Ir Chi Whu-jian.
About 600 construction industry stakeholders joined the forum, in which experience exchanges and in-depth discussions were held. Participants reached consensus on eight proposals under the three topics for discussion (please see Annex for details). The LD will consolidate suggestions received in the forum and publish a report containing action programmes and concrete measures on the agreed proposals.
Ends/Monday, March 12, 2012
Issued at HKT 19:44
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