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framework, the Construction Sites (Safety) Regulations
were amended in 1983 to make more specific provision
for persons working at height. These amendments have
been vigorously enforced. Of 492 prosecutions in 1984
for breaches of Construction Sites regulations, 282
cases were in this particular area.
Meanwhile, the Labour Department's Industrial
Safety Training Centre conducts safety courses
specifically tailored to the needs of the construction
industry and also assist other organisations in
running similar courses. The Department itself ran 40
courses last year, attended by some 850 people.
Publicity is the third major weapon. In
recent years, the Labour Department
-
in conjunction
with the Labour Advisory Board's Committee on
Industrial Safety and Accident Prevention and other
organisations
-
has conducted an intensive publicity
campaign aimed at promoting good safety practices and
instilling a sense of safety-consciousness at work.
Safety in the construction industry has featured
prominently in this effort.
Action of the kind I have described will
continue to be taken and I trust that this will
contribute to a further decline in fatalities caused
by this type of accident.