EMPLOYMENT
employers. All employment contracts involving manual workers, or non-manual employees with monthly wages not exceeding $20,000, must be attested by the Commissioner for Labour. The department attested four contracts in 1997.
Occupational Safety
The Factory Inspectorate of the Labour Department has expanded its service from promoting and protecting the safety and health of employees only in the industrial sector to those in the non-industrial sector as well upon enactment of the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance in May 1997. To reduce accidents and guard against ill-health to employees, efforts are focused on legislative control, safety training, education and promotion.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance and the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance administered by the inspectorate, there are 28 sets of subsidiary regulations covering various aspects of hazardous work activities in factories, building and engineering construction sites, catering establishments, service and other workplaces.
To undertake its task more efficiently, the Factory Inspectorate was restructured in 1997 with additional manpower resources and new responsibilities. Apart from strengthening its safety and health promotion and enforcement programme, the inspectorate also focuses on accident prevention and information, safety management legislation and policy formulation and implementation.
To foster a safety culture at work, the inspectorate continues to actively promote the Occupational Safety Charter setting out the rights of employees to enjoy a safe working environment and the employers' obligation to reduce the risk of accidents. By year's end, 67 employer associations, employee unions, safety practitioner bodies, contractors, enterprises and utility companies had subscribed voluntarily to the charter.
A publicity campaign was launched to promote occupational safety and health through the mass media. Symposia and seminars were held on safety and health management, construction site safety, and safety and health education and training. Site safety award schemes were launched for the construction industry and Housing Authority projects jointly with Radio Television Hong Kong and the Housing Authority, respectively.
The Operations Division emphasises regulatory activities in the hazardous areas of factories, catering establishments and construction sites. Special enforcement campaigns were launched to monitor high-risk working conditions in workplaces. During these campaigns, 18 717 factories, 3 693 catering establishments and 7716 construction sites were inspected. The special teams set up to inspect construction sites at the new airport projects helped company and site-based safety committee meetings formulate safety policies, review safety standard and procedures, and monitor safety performance on site.
The Occupational Safety and Health Training Centre conducts legislation-related safety training courses for employees, supervisors and managers. It gives safety talks to university and post-secondary students and other organisations. The centre continued to assist the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the City University of Hong Kong in organising evening courses leading to the award of certificates in
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