Lift and Escalator Safety Advisory Committee endorses new presentation format of contractors' performance ratings
**********************************************************

     The Lift and Escalator Safety Advisory Committee (LESAC) held its third meeting today (January 17) and endorsed a proposal on a revised presentation format of contractors' performance ratings for registered lift and escalator contractors. The new format will provide a simpler and clearer presentation of information to assist the persons responsible for lifts and escalators in choosing registered contractors for providing maintenance services.

     The Chairperson of the LESAC, Dr Otto Poon, said, "Since the establishment of the LESAC last July, various proposals for the improvement of lift and escalator safety as well as the long-term development of the trade have been discussed. They include the contractor performance rating mechanism, release of the lift maintenance prices for Government buildings, publicity on statutory duties of various stakeholders, feasibility of introducing new technology, good practices in maintenance works and occupational safety and health issues.

     "The new presentation format of contractor performance ratings on safety and services quality will adopt a star rating system. For example, a green Safety Star would be awarded to a contractor without any safety non-compliance during the preceding 12 months' inspections of their lifts and escalators. The performance rating on maintenance services quality would be presented by a blue Quality Star. The higher the number of blue stars, the better the services quality of the contractor," he said.

     Please refer to the annex for comparison between the new presentation format and the existing one.

     The EMSD welcomes the proposals and will adopt the new format for the quarterly announcement of the latest performance ratings of contractors at the end of this month after verification of the performance data.

Ends/Friday, January 17, 2014
Issued at HKT 18:40

NNNN