A package of measures, including introducing new legislation and stepping up enforcement actions, to improve fire safety was announced today (Thursday).

Elaborating on details of the package at a press conference, Deputy Secretary for Security, Mr Alex Fong, said the measures were developed by an inter-departmental working group, having regard to lessons learnt in the Garley Building and the Top One Karaoke fires and recommendations made by the Hon Justice Woo in his final report on the Inquiry into the Garley Building fire.

"We will adopt a five-pronged approach to improve fire safety, namely, strengthening our legislative and administrative framework to upgrade fire safety standards; stepping up enforcement actions; strengthening the response capabilities of the emergency services; promoting a fire safety culture among building management; and promoting a fire safety culture amongst the community," Mr Fong said.

On legislative and administrative framework, Mr Fong said the objective was to upgrade and strengthen the hardware, such as fire service installations(FSI), means of escape and access (MoE and MoA) in buildings, as well as the software, such as better procedures and code of practice, to ensure fire safety precautions were taken.

For fire safety in lift and welding works, the SAR Government would introduce among other things legislation in 1998/99 to require, under a mandatory safety training scheme, all construction workers to undergo fire safety training as part of the recognised safety training course.

While noting that there was general support for legislative proposals to require the upgrading of FSI, MoE and MoA in old commercial buildings, Mr Fong said the Government also noted concerns expressed by building owners over technical and financial difficulties.

"In implementing the new legislative requirements, which may be introduced in early 1998, we will work with building management and owners.

"The Government will take a pragmatic and flexible approach in implementation to help building owners overcome some of the problems they might encounter," Mr Fong said.

"We are also considering the possibility of providing financial support to buildings through a loan scheme," he said.

On Karaoke establishments, Mr Fong said the two provisional municipal councils had agreed to be the future licensing authorities of a new statutory licensing scheme to regulate the health, fire safety, building safety and public safety aspects for these premises.

"The relevant trades will be consulted on the proposals shortly, with the aim to introducing the legislation in the 1998/99 legislative session," he said.

On enforcement actions, Mr Fong said additional resources had been secured for the coming financial year to support fire safety work.

"In order to use the additional resources more efficiently and maximise the impact of actions taken, we are reviewing how enforcement actions amongst departments can be better coordinated, e.g. better synchronisation on the timing of inspections, sharing of information and making cross referrals on fire risks detected during inspections," he said.

"We also hope to take a more proactive approach in the inspection of the targeted 400 pre-1973 commercial buildings," he added.

On strengthening response capabilities, Mr Fong said improvements to the communication and co-ordination procedures within and between the emergency services would be introduced so that they could share useful information gathered during an operation.

A new arrangement, he said, had already been promulgated under which District Officers would coordinate the setting up of an inter-departmental help desk at the scene to handle public enquiries and Government assistance offered to victims and their families.

"We are also considering measures to strengthen staff training and improve our equipment," he said.

On promoting a fire safety culture among building management, Mr Fong said the Fire Services Department (FSD) had set up a Community Relations Unit to strengthen the interface between the Government and the community in the fight against fire.

"We hope to achieve improvements through Building Management Coordination Teams under the Home Affairs Department (HAD), which can be used as the link between various Government departments and Owners' Corporations (OCs) as well as HAD's new Resource Centre, to be established in mid 1998, to provide information and advice on ways to improve the fire safety standards of buildings," he said.

As to recommendations on stepping up training for caretakers, he said the Security Guarding Industry Authority had agreed to improve the existing training manual and was considering the idea of whether to require security personnel to pass a test on building management before the issue of permits.

On promoting fire safety culture amongst the community, Mr Fong said a major publicity campaign on fire safety, with a budget of about $2 million, would be launched next year.

"We plan to carry out a phone survey before, during and after the campaign to assess the public attitudes," he said.

While the Fire Safety Ambassadors Scheme, run by the FSD and targeted at boy scouts and girl guides, had been enthusiastically received, Mr Fong said the department had started extending its training to members of the Estate Management Advisory Committees of the Housing Department, who would in turn recruit public housing estate tenants to become Fire Safety Ambassadors.

"The HAD is actively considering proposals to strengthen community involvement at the district level, including the setting up of committees with the participation of non-officials to advise on fire safety and prevention matters," he said.

Mr Fong called on building management and the community to work together with the Government in developing a fire safety culture.

"For our programmes to succeed, the five elements in our strategy needs to be synchronised and the Government and the community have to work together in partnership," he said.