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EMPLOYMENT
health promotion and education activities were carried out by nursing officers to arouse employees and employers' awareness of occupational hazards in workplaces.
A prime responsibility of the division is to investigate notified occupational diseases and potential health hazards reported by the Factory Inspectorate and to determine preventive action. Surveys are conducted in various industries and epidemiological studies on health and hygiene conditions in the following trades were completed within the year; glass-making, button-making, joss-stick making, tunnelling and caissons, and off-set printing. Monitoring programmes of factories with possible lead hazards, quarries with dust hazards, factories with cotton dust hazards and solvents in major chemical factories are being carried out.
The division also carries out medical examinations of personnel exposed to ionising radiation and government employees engaged in compressed air, diving, pest control and flouridation work. It also deals with cases of silicosis under the Pneumoconiosis (Compensation) Ordinance. The division's registered nurses handle medical clearance for employees' compensation cases and its occupational health officers are appointed as members of Special Assessment Boards and Prostheses and Surgical Appliance Boards under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance.
The Occupational Health Division's laboratory carries out analytical tests on biological samples from workers and other environmental samples taken during site visits.
Employees' Compensation
The Labour Department administers the Employees' Compensation Ordinance and the Pneumoconiosis (Compensation) Ordinance. The department ensures that injured em- ployees and dependants of deceased employees covered by the Employees' Compensation Ordinance obtain from their employers, without undue delay, compensation in respect of injuries or deaths caused by accidents arising out of and in the course of employment, or by occupational diseases. It also ensures that persons covered by the Pneumoconiosis (Compensation) Ordinance obtain compensation as soon as possible from the Pneu- moconiosis Compensation Fund, which is financed by a levy imposed on the construction and quarry industries.
Under the two-tier Employees' Compensation Assessment Board system, employees with work-related injuries which are likely to result in permanent incapacity are assessed by the assessment boards at eight major hospitals in Hong Kong. In 1987, Ordinary Assessment Boards convened 531 sessions and completed assessment of 17 964 cases referred to them by the Commissioner for Labour and 1 157 review cases. Special Assessment Boards convened eight sessions and completed assessment of seven cases referred to them by the Ordinary Assessment Boards and two review cases.
In February, tumour of the urinary tract due to occupational exposure to certain aromatic amines was added to the list of occupational diseases in the Second Schedule of the Employees' Compensation Ordinance. The Employees' Compensation Regulations were also amended to replace the existing Form 2 (Notice of Accident) and Form 2A (Notice of Occupational Disease) with new forms with effect from July 1, 1987 in order to assist employers in giving more accurate information relating to their employees' death or incapacity due to accidents or occupational diseases.
Compensation levels under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance and the Pneu- moconiosis (Compensation) Ordinance are to be increased by about 15 per cent from January 1, 1988, to take into account changes in wage levels since their last revision in 1986. The Labour Department is also responsible for enforcing the provisions of compulsory insurance under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance. This ordinance requires all