|
Subsidies to enhance work safety in HK
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-03-19 16:55
HONG KONG -- A subsidy of up to 3,000 HK dollars (385 U.S. dollars) is
offered to small and medium-sized contractors to purchase fall arresting and
anchoring equipment to improve work safety at heights, according to government
press release on Sunday.
A total of 149 applications have been received,
Permanent Secretary for Economic Development & Labor Matthew Cheung said on
Sunday.
The scheme, jointly launched by the Labor Department and the
Occupational Safety Health Council in October, aims to improve work safety
involving truss-out scaffolds, which are commonly used in repair and maintenance
works.
Speaking at the Construction Industry Safety Award Scheme
presentation ceremony on Sunday, Cheung said there were 1,070 accidents
involving repair, maintenance, minor alteration and addition works in the first
three quarters of 2005, accounting for 41 percent of the total number of
construction accidents.
The Labor Department has adopted a targeted
approach and more flexible measures to step up the enforcement work regarding
truss- out scaffolds, he said.
Apart from normal point-to-point
inspections, occupational safety officers also conduct blitz enforcement action
at night and during holidays to clamp down on offending contractors. Suspension
notices or improvement notices will be issued when necessary.
"We have
also enhanced cooperation with the Hong Kong Association of Property Management
Companies by setting up a reporting mechanism. We can then get hold of schedules
of property maintenance works using truss-out scaffolds to facilitate us to take
follow-up action," Cheung said.
In the first three quarters of last
year, the number of construction accidents stood at 2,587 as against 2,889 in
the same period in 2004, down 10.5 percent.
This year, 84 construction
sites, 47 sub-contractors and 57 safety teams took part in the Construction
Industry Safety Award Scheme.
|
| |
|
| |