The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) held the Outstanding Toilet Attendant Award Presentation Ceremony today (November 10) to recognise six frontline staff members who have demonstrated exceptional performance in their daily cleaning and management duties. The Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene, Mr Albert Yuen, attended the ceremony to commend and present the awards to the winning staff members.
      
     Mr Yuen said, "As an international financial centre, Hong Kong offers a highly efficient urban lifestyle. The quality of a city is determined not only by major infrastructure projects, but more importantly by whether its public services are meticulous and considerate. Public toilets are among the most routine yet essential services. For the public, clean and comfortable public toilets are directly related to their quality of life, while for visitors, they serve as a window into the city's management standards. Providing excellent public toilet services does more than enhance the city's image; above all, it ensures that the practical needs of every user are met."
      
     The three male and three female outstanding toilet attendants commended this year serve at the Aberdeen Main Road Public Toilet in Southern District, the Hoi Hing Road Public Toilet in Tsuen Wan District, the New Hung Hom Ferry Pier Public Toilet in Kowloon City District, the Warren Street Public Toilet in Wan Chai District, the Lei Yue Mun Ma Wan Public Toilet cum Bathhouse in Kwun Tong District, and the Ma Liu Shui Waterfront Public Toilet in Sha Tin District respectively.
      
     In recent years, the FEHD has adopted a multipronged approach to continuously advance public toilet refurbishment and facility improvement initiatives, accelerating the upgrading of its public toilet facilities through the Enhanced Public Toilet Refurbishment Programme. The department has made effective use of technology to assist in daily management and elevate service quality. This includes gradually expanding the Smart Public Toilet System to 50 public toilets to monitor odour levels in real time utilising Internet of Things sensors; extending the Smart Accident Detection System, which detects falls and abnormal prolonged inactivity, to about 40 public toilets; installing the Nanobubble Ozone Generation System in heavily used public toilets to boost disinfection and deodorisation; and using Adenosine Triphosphate luminometers to objectively assess the hygiene levels of facility surfaces, thereby comprehensively improving the public toilet environment and enhancing safety.
      
     Mr Yuen encouraged the award-winning toilet attendants, noting that upgrading facilities and adopting technology are merely supplementary measures, and that the provision of quality services is always people-oriented. Given the frequent usage of public toilets, maintaining their cleanliness requires not only diligence, but also careful observation, timely problem-solving, and perseverance on the part of the attendants in providing high-standard services. Beyond being demanding, their work exhibits a professionalism that deserves our respect.
      
     Regarding the management of public toilets, the FEHD is continuing to separate public toilet management services from street cleansing contracts by independently procuring these services under dedicated contracts in more districts to enhance competitiveness and management efficiency. The new contracts also explicitly require toilet attendants to receive relevant professional training and hold recognised qualifications. To date, over 1 800 trainees have completed the training. In addition, the department's Minor Works Order Record System helps improve the efficiency of public toilet maintenance.
      
     The FEHD's efforts to improve the quality of public toilet services have also won recognition. At the Ombudsman's Awards Presentation Ceremony 2026, the FEHD's cross-sectional team received the Team Award of The Ombudsman's Awards for its project titled "Enhancing Public Toilet Services with the Use of New Technologies and Optimised Inspection System". This honour not only recognises the department's achievements, but also encourages the team to strive for excellence and to continue to provide the public and visitors with better public toilet services.
      
     A spokesman for the FEHD said, "The FEHD will continue to advance public toilet refurbishment works and smart management with a people-oriented and technology-driven approach in order to provide the public with higher quality facilities and a better environment of public toilets. Keeping public toilets clean in the long term also depends on the co-operation of various sectors of the community. We call on members of the public and visitors to take good care of public toilet facilities, keep them clean, show more understanding and co-operation towards our frontline staff, and work together to safeguard public hygiene in our city."

Ends/Tuesday, November 10, 2026
Issued at HKT 18:10

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