Good housekeeping practices reduce work sites accident toll

More than 70 percent of site accidents are related to poor housekeeping, according to the Labour Department's analysis on accident statistics in recent years.  This was disclosed today (March 19) by the Commissioner for Labour, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung.  He believed that the number of accidents could be reduced effectively by adopting good housekeeping practices at work sites.

Addressing the prize presentation ceremony of the Safety Award Scheme on Good Housekeeping for the Construction Industry, Mr Cheung said that a sound management system was the key to good housekeeping practices and that all elements in the system, including planning, implementation, review and improvement work, were all of utmost importance.

"For years the Labour Department has been actively encouraging contractors to adopt a self-regulatory management system so as to improve the occupational safety and health at work sites," he noted.

The Factories & Industrial Undertakings (Safety Management) Regulation was passed by the Legislative Council last November and will take effect by the end of this year.  It will require contractors to implement and maintain a safety management system, and appoint a Registered Safety Officer to carry out safety audit of such systems.

Mr Cheung was confident that the regulation could provide an explicit and comprehensive legal framework that would facilitate the construction industry to establish a safety management system.

He said that the Labour Department would also step up the promotion of safety management concept in the construction sector this year to help contractors better understand the legal requirements and establish a self-regulatory safety management system.

"Despite the high accident figures in the past, there has been a downward trend both in terms of accident numbers and rate in the construction industry," Mr Cheung said.

"The number of industrial accidents and accident rate of the construction industry in the first three quarters of 1999 declined by 30 percent and 19 percent respectively when compared with the same period of 1998.  The accident rate per 1 000 workers also dropped from 252.4 to 203.9.  It is encouraging to see such a downward trend, but we must not be complacent and have to continue our efforts in keeping accidents to a minimun," he stressed.

Also speaking at the ceremony, the Secretary for Works, Mr Lee Shing-see, said that as a proactive measure to ensure work safety, the Works Bureau had, in awarding public works contracts, included special provision requiring the contractor's safety supervisor to inspect their work sites daily and to ensure that deficiencies were rectified.

"In addition, the contractor's managerial staff are required to attend meetings of the Site Safety Management Committee to review and improve housekeeping standards in conjunction with the site management team of the works departments," Mr Lee said.

"Similarly, the contractor has to hold Site Safety Committee meetings with sub-contractors and different working teams," Mr Lee said.

He paid tribute to the recipients of the awards and hoped that they would persevere with their good housekeeping practices.

"These practices can be transformed into a culture in Hong Kong and can change the public perception of the working environment of construction sites," Mr Lee said.

Launched in November last year, the Safety Award Scheme on Good Housekeeping for the Construction Industry aims to enhance the awareness of site management staff and workers on good housekeeping to reduce accidents.

The Scheme is jointly organised by the Labour Department, the Works Bureau, the Occupational Safety and Health Council, the Hong Kong Housing Authority, the Construction Industry Training Authority, the Occupational Deafness Compensation Board, the Pneumoconiosis Compensation Fund Board, the Hong Kong Construction Association and the Hong Kong Construction Industry Employees General Union.

Entries for the Scheme are divided into three groups, namely Construction Sites, Safety Teams and Safety Workers.  The site-based awards, which include Gold, Silver, Bronze and Meritorious prizes, are further divided into six categories according to the nature of the sites - Building Sites (Public Sector), Building Sites (Private Sector), Civil Engineering Sites, Alteration and Addition Work Sites, Building Sites (Sub-contractors) and Civil Engineering Sites (Sub-contractors).

There has been overwhelming response from the trade.  A total of 89 construction sites participated in the scheme and 21 sub-contractors and 44 Safety Teams were nominated to join the competition.

At the ceremony, 24 construction sites, six sub-contractors and 21 Safety Teams were awarded.  Forty workers who had demonstrated good safety practices during the assessment were presented with the "Safety Worker Award".