EMPLOYMENT
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employment contracts involving manual workers, or non-manual employees with monthly wages not exceeding $20,000, must be attested by the Commissioner for Labour.
Occupational Safety
The Occupational Safety and Health Branch (OSHB) of the Labour Department administers the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance, the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance and their 28 sets of subsidiary legislation. These pieces of legislation lay down the legal framework within which the occupational safety and health of employees in both the industrial and non-industrial sectors are protected.
Enforcement of the above regulations is carried out through routine inspections to workplaces. Besides, special enforcement campaigns on construction safety, plant and machinery safety, container handling safety, fire and chemical safety and the use of personal protective equipment are also conducted.
To foster a safety culture at work, the OSHB continued to promote the Occupational Safety Charter on the rights of employees to enjoy a safe working environment, and the employers' obligation to create a safe working environment. Up to December 31, a total of 301 major employer bodies, employee unions, professional bodies, enterprises, contractors and utility companies had subscribed voluntarily to the charter. Other promotional activities included safety campaigns and awards, talks, roving exhibitions, promotional visits, seminars, conferences and quizzes. Advertisements about workplace safety were put up on major transport carriers and broadcast on radio and television.
In 1999, a series of codes of practices and other publications were published to promote the compliance standards required by safety legislation and to instil in the public an awareness of safety. In all, 258 publication stands were placed at convenient locations to allow easy pick-up of safety publications by the public. Construction safety newsletters, catering safety newsletters, accident statistics bulletins and occupational safety and health bulletins were produced regularly to provide the public with up-to-date information.
The OSHB's Occupational Safety and Health Training Centre conducts legislation- related briefing sessions and train-the-trainers courses for trainers, supervisors and managers. It gives safety talks to trade associations and workers' unions, as well as organisations in both public and private sectors. The centre continues to assist tertiary institutions such as the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the City University of Hong Kong in organising evening courses leading to the award of certificates in industrial safety. It also helps training providers such as the Construction Industry Training Authority to run certificate courses for construction safety officers, and helps interested parties in the construction and container-handling industries to develop training and certification schemes in order to meet legal requirements.
There were 35 986 industrial accidents in 1999, representing an improvement over 1998 by 16.4 per cent in terms of absolute number and 15 per cent in terms of accident rate per thousand workers.