Occupational Safety
The Factory Inspectorate of the Labour Department has
expanded its service from promoting and protecting the safety
and health of employees only in the industrial sector to those in
the non-industrial sector as well upon enactment of the
Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance in May 1997. To
reduce accidents and guard against ill-health to employees,
efforts are focused on legislative control, safety training,
education and promotion.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance and the
Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance administered
by the inspectorate, there are 28 sets of subsidiary regulations
covering various aspects of hazardous work activities in
factories, building and engineering construction sites, catering
establishments, service and other workplaces.
To undertake its task more efficiently, the Factory
Inspectorate was restructured in 1997 with additional
manpower resources and new responsibilities. Apart from
strengthening its safety and health promotion and enforcement
programme, the inspectorate also focuses on accident
prevention and information, safety management legislation and
policy formulation and implementation.
To foster a safety culture at work, the inspectorate continues
to actively promote the Occupational Safety Charter setting
out the rights of employees to enjoy a safe working
environment and the employers' obligation to reduce the risk
of accidents. By year's end, 67 employer associations,
employee unions, safety practitioner bodies, contractors,
enterprises and utility companies had subscribed voluntarily to
the charter.
A publicity campaign was launched to promote occupational
safety and health through the mass media. Symposia and
seminars were held on safety and health management,
construction site safety, and safety and health education and
training. Site safety award schemes were launched for the
construction industry and Housing Authority projects jointly
with Radio Television Hong Kong and the Housing Authority,
respectively.
The Operations Division emphasises regulatory activities in the
hazardous areas of factories, catering establishments and
construction sites. Special enforcement campaigns were
launched to monitor high-risk working conditions in
workplaces. During these campaigns, 18 717 factories, 3 693
catering establishments and 7 716 construction sites were
inspected. The special teams set up to inspect construction
sites at the new airport projects helped company and
site-based safety committee meetings formulate safety
policies, review safety standard and procedures, and monitor
safety performance on site.
The Occupational Safety and Health Training Centre conducts
legislation-related safety training courses for employees,
supervisors and managers. It gives safety talks to university
and post-secondary students and other organisations. The
centre continued to assist the Hong Kong Polytechnic
University and the City University of Hong Kong in organising
evening courses leading to the award of certificates in
industrial safety. It also helped the Construction Industry
Training Authority run certificate courses for construction
safety officers.
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