Following is a question by the Hon Lam Chun-sing and a written reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun, in the Legislative Council today (October 22):
 
Question:
 
     Regarding the prevention of employee overexertion at work, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) as there are views pointing out that at present, the Government has not drawn up any definition for "overexertion at work", and when an employee is suspected to have died suddenly due to overexertion at work, such cases are often classified as "fatalities at work not caused by accidents or occupational diseases", of the number of such cases recorded by the Labour Department (LD) in each of the past 10 ‍years and this year to date, with a breakdown by the deceased's (a) sex, (b) age, (c) industry, (d) occupation, (e) average maximum working hours per month during any period of continuous employment (i.e. two or more consecutive months) in the six months prior to death (set out by (i) less than 256 hours, (ii) 256 to 279 hours, (iii) 280 to 299 hours, (iv) 300 to 319 hours, (v) 320 to 339 hours and (vi) 340 hours or more), (f) total working hours in the month prior to death (set out by (i) 276 hours or less, (ii) 277 to 299 hours, (iii) ‍300 ‍to 319 hours, (iv) 320 to 339 hours and (v) 340 hours or more), and (g) cause of death (e.g. heart disease and brain disease), together with their respective percentages;
 
(2) in respect of the cases mentioned in (1), of the number of those in which the authorities have provided assistance to or conducted follow-up actions for claims lodged by the families of deceased employees against the relevant employers; the up-to-date number of cases in which the handling has been completed, with a breakdown by claim status (including deceased employees' families who have (i) withdrawn their claims for compensation, (ii) reached settlement agreements with the employers, and (iii) filed their claims in court against the employers), together with their respective percentages; the average amount of compensation involved in these claims and the respective numbers of successful and unsuccessful claims; the average amount of compensation awarded in successful cases;

(3) given that in its reply to a question raised by a Member of this Council on November 30, 2016, the Government indicated that under the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance (Cap. 509), employers must, so far as reasonably practicable, ensure the safety and health at work of their employees, which includes ensuring that their employees are given appropriate rest breaks, of the criteria on which the authorities base their determination as to whether an employee has been given appropriate rest breaks; whether any of the employers involved in the cases mentioned in (1) have been found to have contravened the relevant requirements under Cap. 509; if so, of the details, including the number of cases in which prosecutions were instituted and the number of convicted cases, and the average penalties imposed in convicted cases;
 
(4) given that some studies have shown a high incidence of fatalities during work relating to cerebro-cardiovascular diseases among security guards and construction workers, the Labour Department and the Occupational Safety and Health Council launched a three-year Heart Caring Campaign in June 2022 to provide on-site health risk assessments and related services to employees in the construction and property management industries, so as to enable frontline workers in these industries to identify risks associated with cerebro-cardiovascular diseases at an early stage, of the numbers of participating organisations and beneficiary workers under the Campaign, with a breakdown by industry (i.e. construction and property management industries);
 
(5) given that in 2018, the Government decided to draw up sector-specific working hours guidelines for 11 sectors through the industry-based tripartite committees of the LD, setting out suggested working hours arrangements and overtime compensation arrangements for employers' reference and adoption, of the latest progress in the development of these guidelines; and
 
(6) whether it will consider, with reference to the practices of neighbouring regions, drawing up a definition for overexertion at work and requiring employers to fulfil relevant statutory compensation obligations where an employee is injured or dies under circumstances falling within such definition, so as to provide greater protection for workers or their family members; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:
 
President,
 
     The reply to the Hon Lam Chun-sing's question is as follows:
 
(1) Over the past 10 years, the number of cases of fatalities at work received by the Labour Department (LD) each year that were not caused by work accidents or occupational diseases ranged from 98 to 182. According to the LD's statistics on occupational fatalities, cases died of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases (CCVDs) during work accounted for the vast majority of fatalities at work which are not caused by accidents. A breakdown of these cases by sex, age, industry, occupation or work nature, and cause of death, together with their respective percentages is provided in Annex I. The LD does not keep statistics of such cases by the total working hours of the cases in the month prior to their death, or the average maximum monthly working hours for two or more consecutive months prior to their death.
 
(2) As at September 2025, the LD had concluded the processing of 1 397 cases of the 1 439 cases mentioned in Part (1) and was following up on the remaining 42 cases. The average claim amount of each concluded case was around $890,000. Among the concluded cases, five received compensation from employers after LD's processing, and 1 374 cases were not pursued by family members (FMs) or FMs had reached direct settlements with the employers, etc. FMs of the remaining 18 cases had lodged their claims at court. Among these 18 cases, the LD noted that 17 cases had been concluded, all with settlements reached at court.

(3) According to the general duty provisions under section 6 of the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance (OSHO), every employer must, so far as reasonably practicable, ensure the safety and health at work of all his/her employees. This includes providing or maintaining systems of work that are safe and without risks to health, and rest breaks are essential for restoring employees' mental and physical strength. When conducting inspections at various workplaces in accordance with the OSHO, LD officers will assess whether the employer has provided or maintained a system of work which is safe and without risks to health by considering the environment of the individual workplace, the nature of the work, and the employees' personal factors, etc, rather than just considering rest arrangement alone. If deficiencies are found during the inspections, corresponding enforcement actions will be taken according to the law, depending on the seriousness of the case and the evidence collected. The LD does not keep prosecution figures related to rest arrangements.
 
     In addition, the LD has issued the Guide on Rest Breaks to encourage stakeholders of different industries, through a risk-based and consultative approach and having regard to their own circumstances, to work out reasonable and practicable rest break arrangements that are mutually agreed by employees and employers.

(4) Since 2022, the LD and the Occupational Safety and Health Council have jointly launched the Heart Caring Campaign to encourage employees in the property management and construction industries to develop healthy lifestyle to prevent CCVDs. As at September 30, 2025, 1 991 organisations (including 522 organisations in the construction industry and 1 469 organisations in the property management industry) have participated in the Campaign and signed the Heart Caring Charter, covering more than 340 000 employees, including nearly 100 000 employees in the construction industry and more than 240 000 employees in the property management industry.

(5) The LD has endeavoured to discuss with employer associations, labour organisations, etc, the formulation of sector-specific working hours guidelines through industry-based tripartite committees. While the participants candidly shared working hours arrangements and related measures in various sectors, the employers and employees have yet to reach a consensus on the direction and content of the proposed guidelines, including whether and how to establish weekly or daily working hours standards as well as the rates of compensation for overtime work. The LD will make reference to the discussions of tripartite committees to enhance the publicity and promotion of good working hours management practices, encourage employers and employees to formulate appropriate working hours arrangements thereby fostering employees' work-life balance. The tripartite committees will continue deliberating on issues relevant working hours.

(6) "Overexertion at work" is not a medical diagnosis. According to the information available to the LD, the International Labour Organization has not drawn up any definition or guidelines on workplace deaths caused by "overexertion at work", and there is also lack of internationally recognised criteria. Most countries or places do not have related definitions made in the context of employees' compensation. 
 
     The existing Employees' Compensation Ordinance (ECO) of Hong Kong has stipulated that even if the disease suffered by an employee is not a specified occupational disease, the employee or his/her FMs may still claim compensation from the employer in respect of the disease in accordance with the ECO if the disease is substantiated to be a personal injury or death by accident arising out of and in the course of employment.

Ends/Wednesday, October 22, 2025
Issued at HKT 11:24

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