Labour Department suspends recognition of safety training courses operated by two training course providers
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The LD found that the NWSC had violated the approval conditions for operating the course, including disclosing all examination questions and relevant answer choices to trainees before the examination by a trainer, and allowing a trainee who did not fulfil the required attendance to attend the examination. After conducting thorough investigations and gathering evidence, and taking into account the explanations and representations provided by the NWSC and the trainer involved, the LD decided to suspend its recognition for six months in view of the serious nature of the violation. The trainer involved was also removed from delivering the respective course at the NWSC. All trainees involved will not be issued green cards.
The LD also found that the HKFOWCL had violated the approval conditions for operating the course, including failing to ensure that invigilators were present in examination rooms during the course examinations. Furthermore, the trainer involved did not invigilate the examination in a proper manner, resulting in the failure to detect trainees discussing answers with each other during the examination. After conducting thorough investigations and gathering evidence, and taking into account the explanations and representations provided by the HKFOWCL and the trainer involved, the LD decided to suspend its recognition for six months in view of the serious nature of the violation. The trainer involved will also be suspended from delivering the respective course for a period of six months at the HKFOWCL. The green cards of all trainees involved in cheating were recalled and cancelled.
A spokesman for the LD said, "The LD is highly concerned about the quality of mandatory safety training courses. In response to the recommendations in the report released by the Office of The Ombudsman on its direct investigation into the 'Government's Regulation of Occupational Safety and Health in the Construction Industry', the LD has increased manpower since April this year to monitor compliance with approval conditions by recognised training course providers to maintain the standard of the training courses and ensure that workers receive appropriate occupational safety and health (OSH) training. If a training course provider does not comply with the approval conditions set by the LD, its recognition to operate the relevant courses will be withdrawn or suspended. The LD will continue to closely monitor the quality of all training course providers and their trainers and strive to enhance the standard of OSH in Hong Kong."
After imposing the above sanctions, there are 132 training course providers offering the recognised Green Card Course. Relevant course information has been uploaded to the LD's website (www.labour.gov.hk/eng/osh/content5.htm) for public reference. Individuals interested in enrolling in the relevant course may contact these training course providers. For enquiries, please call the LD's OSH Training Centre hotline at 2940 7064, or the department's OSH advisory service hotline at 2559 2297.
Ends/Wednesday, October 8, 2025
Issued at HKT 12:00
Issued at HKT 12:00
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