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The Government is committed to promoting a safe and healthy work environment in all trades to ensure occupational safety and health and enhancing public awareness on work safety and health to raise work safety standard and prevent industrial accidents through publicity activities jointly organised with community groups.
Speaking at the award presentation ceremony of the Sixth Hong Kong Occupational Safety and Health Award this afternoon (September 11), the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, said that Hong Kong's occupational safety has improved substantially over the past 10 years, thanks to the collective effort of all stakeholders.
"As compared with 1997, the number of occupational injuries in 2006 dropped by 25% to 46,937 and the accident rate per 1,000 employees fell by 26% to 18.4. The number of industrial accidents and the accident rate per 1,000 workers also dropped to 17 286 and 31.5 respectively, representing a decrease of 60% and 47%," he said.
The performance of the construction industry was most impressive of all. The number of industrial accidents and the accident rate per 1,000 workers in the sector in 2006 plunged by 82% and 72% to 3,400 and 64.3 respectively as compared with 1997.
Nevertheless, Mr Cheung noted that with the recovery of the local economy, there seemed to be an upward tendency in occupational accidents.
"As compared with 2005, the number of occupational injuries in 2006 recorded an increase of 2,670 cases or 6%, while the injury rate per 1,000 employees rose by 3.3%," he said. "The number of industrial accidents was up by 369 cases or 2.2%, while the accident rate per 1,000 workers increased by 2.7%.
"In the first quarter of this year, the number of occupational injuries rose to 10,264, representing an increase of 216 cases or 2.1% over the corresponding period last year.
"For the construction industry, as compared with 2005, the number of industrial accidents in 2006 fell by 148 cases or 4.2%, but the accident rate per thousand workers rose by 7.4%.
"In the first quarter of this year, the number of industrial accidents in the industry stood at 645, representing a drop of 12 cases or 1.8% on the corresponding period last year. However, the accident rate per 1,000 workers rose by 7.0% to 51.2."
He pointed out that the rising trend in accident figures was worth noting and that all stakeholders should stay alert and work together to reduce the number of accidents to a minimum.
Mr Cheung applauded the outstanding performance of the winning organisations and hoped that they would embrace the "never give up" Olympic spirit in the coming Olympic year in 2008 and continue with their efforts to raise the occupational safety and health standard in Hong Kong by fostering the occupational safety culture.
Later in the evening, Mr Cheung attended the Occupational Safety and Health Seminar organised by the labour sector. In his speech, he commended the Labour Advisory Board for the constructive and valuable advice on major labour issues it provided over the years and its contribution in building a harmonious community and developing the occupational safety and health culture in Hong Kong.
Ends/Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Issued at HKT 19:02
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