*********************************************************
Following is the speech delivered by the Commissioner for Labour, Mr Cheuk Wing Hing, at the Construction Safety Promotional Campaign 2013 Kick Off Ceremony and Safety Forum for Major Infrastructure Projects held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre today (May 13):
Mr Conrad Wong, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
It gives me great pleasure to join you at the Construction Safety Promotional Campaign 2013 Kick Off Ceremony and Safety Forum for Major Infrastructure Projects in Hong Kong. I am glad to know that Mr Mike Williams from the UK and Professor Karl-Heinz Noetel from Germany will speak and share with the forum their insight into work safety of mega works projects.
Construction is of utmost importance to the sustained development of Hong Kong. In the last financial year, the Government spent more than $60 billion in capital works expenditure, and this expenditure will exceed $70 billion a year in several years to come. While the Government is committed to promoting economic development through massive investment in infrastructure, we must not overlook the safety and health of the construction workforce.
With the concerted efforts of the industry, trade associations, labour unions and the Government, we have been seeing continuous improvement in the safety performance of the industry in the past decade. In 2000, when the territory-wide Construction Safety Promotional Campaign was first launched, the accident toll in the industry was over 11 900, and the accident rate per 1 000 workers was 149.8. In 2012, the accident toll dropped significantly to some 3 100, with a corresponding drop in the accident rate to 44.3.
However, the construction industry has experienced pressure on the occupational safety and health front in the recent years, given rise by the commencement of a number of major infrastructure projects and the ageing of buildings, against the backdrop of a booming construction industry. To tackle these new challenges, the Labour Department has strengthened its efforts in three main areas of safety, namely mega works projects safety, work-at-height safety and electrical work safety.
Good safety management is crucial to systemic prevention of construction accidents. In this regard, the Labour Department has set up dedicated teams to promote and monitor the safety management system both at the corporate and site levels. These teams participate in project preparation meetings and site safety committees, monitor the implementation of the safety management system and step up scrutiny of safety audit reports. The Labour Department will also step up its liaison with project clients and, through active involvement in pre-tendering and subsequent project implementation stages, urge contractors and site management staff to incorporate safety considerations in the design and execution of works.
Another work priority is work-at-height safety. Fall from height is consistently the greatest threat to construction safety. In recent years, more than half of the fatal accidents in the construction industry involved workers falling from height. Apart from rigorous enforcement action, we have tried to tackle the problem at root. First, in conjunction with the Occupational Safety and Health Council, we launched a safety accreditation scheme for the renovation and maintenance industry with a focus on the bamboo scaffolding sector - a high-risk construction sector with a large number of fatalities in recent years. Apart from free training and subsidy on fall arresting devices, bamboo scaffolding contractors who fulfil the requirements of the safety audit can enjoy up to a 50 per cent discount in employment compensation insurance premium. Second, in view of the potential risk associated with working just a few metres above ground, we have just launched a new sponsorship scheme to promote the popular use of the mobile working platform as a safe substitute for A-shaped ladders and other temporary support structures.
In the second half of last year, a number of electrocution cases happened and we made electrical work safety a high priority item in our action programme. We organised a series of electrical work safety promotional activities with the Occupational Safety and Health Council and industry stakeholders, and issued safety alerts direct to some 90 000 registered electrical workers and contractors. Coupled with stringent law enforcement, we managed to curb electrocution accidents by the end of 2012. We shall keep up our efforts on this front this year.
None of us in this hall wants to see a large number of casualties in the construction industry in 2013. But taking law enforcement action and providing financial incentives are not enough to prevent misfortune from happening. We need to change the mindset of the employer and the worker, as it shapes attitudes and governs safety behaviours. The Occupational Safety and Health Council has been striving to foster a safety culture in the industry through seminars, award schemes, competitions and exhibitions. The safety forum today is the beginning of a series of safety awareness building activities in the pipeline. I fully support programmes of the kind and wish the forum and the activities that follow under the Construction Safety Promotional Campaign a spectacular success.
Thank you very much.
Ends/Monday, May 13, 2013
Issued at HKT 16:08
NNNN
