HONG KONG 2004 - Employment

On law enforcement, the Labour Department focuses its inspections on high-risk or accident-prone industries and closely monitors organisations with poor safety records. Improvement notices or suspension notices are issued when necessary to secure a speedy rectification of irregularities, or to remove imminent risks to lives and limbs. In 2004, 139 suspension notices and 1 416 improvement notices were issued. The department also handled 2 105 prosecutions against employers, contractors and proprietors breaching the occupational safety and health legislation. The conviction rate was 85.8 per cent and fines totalled more than $19 million.

The Labour Department mounts special enforcement campaigns targeting at high-risk processes, including working-at-height, scaffolding safety, work in confined spaces, fire and chemical safety, operating lifting appliances, and cargo and container handling. In 2004, the department conducted 14 special enforcement campaigns and 793 prosecutions were initiated. Altogether, 613 improvement notices and 77 suspension notices were issued.

Accidents involving small renovation and maintenance projects have become increasingly a matter of concern. As these projects are very often completed within a short time and involve only a few people, it is difficult to locate the worksites and take enforcement action. To pin down the targets, the Labour Department set up an intelligence reporting system with the Hong Kong Association of Property Management Companies Limited. This has enabled association members to report renovation and maintenance projects at properties under their management to the department's occupational safety officers for prompt action.

The Labour Department carried out a series of inspections of high-risk workplaces such as hospitals, clinics and elderly homes to ensure that the ventilation of these workplaces met the required standard and that staff were provided with adequate personal protective equipment and training on its use to prevent the spread of SARS and other infectious diseases. In 2004, the department conducted 1 702 inspections and issued 29 improvement notices and 603 warnings.