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The Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, said this evening (April 28) that the number of work injuries continued to fall in recent years and he hoped that the situation would continue to improve towards the goal of "zero accidents".
Speaking at the presentation ceremony of the second Outstanding Employees in Occupational Safety and Health Award Scheme, Mr Cheung noted that the number of work injuries had fallen continuously from 58,092 in 2000 to 39,579 in 2009, representing a drop of 31.9% while the accident rate per thousand employees also recorded a decrease of 35.6% from 23.3 to 15.
The number of industrial accidents saw a notable drop of 59.6% from 33,652 in 2000 to 13,600 in 2009. The accident rate per thousand workers also went down by 52.4% from 51.7 to 24.6.
The improvement made by the construction industry has been most notable. The number of accidents plunged from 11,925 in 2000 to 2,755 in 2009, down a hefty 76.9% while the accident rate per thousand workers also fell sharply from 149.8 to 54.6.
"Manpower is our most valuable asset. Occupational injuries and diseases incur economic losses directly and indirectly. Every single work injury not only does damage to the employee, the employer and society as a whole will also have a price to pay," Mr Cheung said.
In 2009, the Labour Department handled 42,326 cases of reported sick leave for more than three days. These cases involved a loss of 1,920,000 work days with more than $1.03 billion paid as sick leave compensation. The average compensation rate for each case amounts to some $25,000 and a loss of 45 working days for each employee.
"Looking ahead, the recovery of the labour market and commencement of many infrastructural and maintenance projects will bring about opportunities in the labour market. But it will also pose austere challenges to occupational safety and health. We should remain vigilant and continue to strive for improvement," Mr Cheung stressed.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) named April 28 the "World Day for Safety and Health at Work" to raise the international community's concern over occupational safety and health. Legislative councillors from the labour sector, Labour Advisory Board employee representatives, the Occupational Safety and Health Council and the Labour Department launched the Outstanding Employees in Occupational Safety and Health Award Scheme to support the ILO's initiative.
Ends/Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Issued at HKT 21:31
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