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Following is a question by the Hon Wong Kwok-hing and a written reply by the Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Tsang Tak-sing, in the Legislative Council today (November 5) :
Question:
Some lifeguards employed by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) have relayed to me that shortage in the lifeguard manpower of LCSD is a long-standing problem, which not only creates a heavy workload for the serving lifeguards but also poses serious safety hazard to swimmers. Also, they have said that for years they have been urging the authorities to recruit more lifeguards and review their grade structure, but to no avail. They consider that lifeguards should be detached from the artisan grade and be re-graded as a professional grade so as to improve their remuneration packages, thereby attracting more young people to become lifeguards and addressing the long-standing problem of manpower shortage. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the current number of lifeguards in the civil service establishment (civil service lifeguards);
(2) of the respective current lifeguard establishments for different types of public swimming pools, i.e. main pools, secondary pools, training pools, teaching pools, leisure pools and sunbathing pools, managed by LCSD (set out in a table);
(3) of the current establishment and strength of lifeguards in various public beaches (set out in a table);
(4) in each of the past three financial years, of the respective numbers of civil service lifeguards and lifeguards recruited by LCSD on a seasonal basis (seasonal lifeguards), their respective average weekly working hours and average monthly salaries (set out in Table 1), as well as their respective age distributions (set out in Table 2);
(5) in this and each of the next two financial years, (i) of the actual/projected number of civil service lifeguards who retired/will retire, and the respective numbers of civil service lifeguards and seasonal lifeguards to be recruited by the Government (set out in Table 3), and (ii) whether the Government has plans to recruit lifeguards to fill the vacancies arising from the retirement of existing lifeguards; if it does not, of the reasons for that; and
(6) of the number of seasonal lifeguards who were appointed as civil service lifeguards through open recruitment, in each of the past three financial years?
Reply:
President,
The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) manages 43 public swimming pools, 41 gazetted public beaches and five water sports centres in Hong Kong. The safety of swimmers is always the department's prime concern in considering the manpower requirement for lifeguards, in order to ensure that sufficient lifeguard services are available at all its swimming pools and beaches, and reviews are conducted from time to time. Further to the reviews conducted in the past three years, LCSD has made an additional annual provision of about $14 million to increase the lifeguard quota by more than 160 at different times at pools and beaches in order to enhance lifeguard services and meet actual operational needs.
To provide for a more comprehensive review of lifeguard manpower requirements, in 2013 LCSD established a working group including representatives from both the management and the staff sides. In the light of the working group's recommendations, the department allocated about $4 million to increase the lifeguard quota by 42 at different times at pools and beaches. Through the working group the department will continue to review and consider manpower requirements according to the circumstances of individual swimming pools and beaches in line with the principles of securing the safety of swimmers and optimising the use of public resources.
The proposal from staff unions for LCSD to separate lifeguards from the artisan grade would require a review of grade structures. Under current policy, a grade structure review can be conducted according to two criteria, namely: whether there are proven and persistent recruitment and retention difficulties for the grade concerned; and whether there are fundamental changes in job nature and responsibilities. The Government considers that at present there are insufficient grounds to support a grade structure review for the artisan (beach/swimming pool) grade. The department welcomes and will examine new grounds for review put forward by staff unions.
Our reply to the six parts of the question is as follows:
(1) As at August 1, 2014, there were 951 lifeguards on the civil service establishment (civil service lifeguards) in LCSD.
(2) As the swimming complexes managed by LCSD provide different types and numbers of swimming facilities and the design and utilisation of each swimming complex varies, the actual requirement for lifeguards on duty at each swimming complex may differ. The basic lifeguard establishment for major pool facilities managed by LCSD is tabulated at Table A.
Senior lifeguards are on duty at swimming pools in each shift. They are responsible for supervising lifeguards, assigning routine duties and maintaining discipline as well as commanding and performing life-saving operations and first aid duties. In the case of a 50-metre main pool, there are four lifeguards on duty per shift for a standard pool and additional lifeguards are deployed in each shift for individual pools with a depth of more than 1.9 metres, or of a larger size or 50-metre main pools with high patronage. For example, the 50-metre main pool in the Kowloon Park Swimming Pool is manned by six lifeguards per shift all year round in view of its high annual patronage and large size with a depth of more than 1.9 metres, whereas the main pool in the Shing Mun Valley Swimming Pool with an adjustable pool floor is manned by five lifeguards per shift to meet operational needs.
In addition to the above basic manpower provision, the department employs seasonal lifeguards during the peak swimming season to cater for the increased number of swimmers. It also regularly reviews the provision of lifeguard manpower, taking into account actual circumstances such as changes in the facilities or their utilisation.
(3) Given that each public beach varies in terms of geographical environment, size and patronage, LCSD does not have a standard lifeguard staffing establishment applicable to all beaches. It therefore deploys lifeguards taking the above factors into account. Please refer to the Annex for the number of lifeguards to be employed and the actual number of lifeguards employed at public beaches as at August 1, 2014.
(4) According to the terms of appointment of lifeguards, the number of working hours of civil service lifeguards and seasonal lifeguards is 45 hours net per week. However, LCSD may require some lifeguards to work overtime according to operational needs. For example, overtime work is required for extended life-saving services at beaches on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays during the peak swimming season, and for the enhanced cleaning of swimming pools after daily closure. Overtime work is compensated by time off or an overtime allowance as and when appropriate. The total numbers of civil service and seasonal lifeguards employed by LCSD, their average weekly working hours and monthly salary after compensation by time-off or overtime allowance, as well as their age distribution in the past three financial years are compared as at August 1 each year and tabulated at Table B and Table C.
(5) The actual/projected number of civil service lifeguard retirees and the number of civil service and seasonal lifeguards to be recruited for the current year and the next two financial years are tabulated at Table D.
Posts vacated by retiring civil service lifeguards are filled by civil servants. If such vacancies are not filled immediately, they are filled on a temporary basis by seasonal lifeguards to meet operational needs.
(6) LCSD has not encountered difficulty recruiting civil service lifeguards. The number of seasonal lifeguards converting to civil service lifeguards through open recruitment in the past three financial years is tabulated at Table E.
Ends/Wednesday, November 5, 2014
Issued at HKT 15:09
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