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site supervision, as well as for the qualification and experience of specialist contractors and others responsible for crane operations. The department would draw reference to the standards laid down in the guidelines, and would suspend work at sites where cranes pose imminent danger to life, or where the standards laid down in the guidelines are not met.
Promotion and Education
In 2008, the department launched a series of campaigns to stress the importance of safety at construction sites following a rise in accidents involving work-at-height and repair, maintenance and alteration and additions (RMAA) works. The message was hammered across at seminars, talks, exhibitions, and through TV and radio programmes and publications. The department also continued promoting the Occupational Safety Charter and Workplace Hygiene Charter, promulgated to promote self-regulation and commitment of both the employers and employees in creating and maintaining a safe and healthy work environment. It also launched safety award schemes for the construction and the catering industries.
The Labour Department's Occupational Safety and Health Training Centre conducts courses and talks to help workers better understand the occupational safety and health laws. In 2008, the centre organised over 800 such courses and talks for some 16 000 employees.
The department also gives talks to employers and employees at their workplaces. In 2008, over 1 400 health talks were delivered, attended by some 42 900 people.
Occupational Health Clinics
The Labour Department's Kwun Tong Occupational Health Clinic and Fanling Occupational Health Clinic provide clinical occupational health services for workers. The two clinics conducted 12 999 clinical consultations during the year.
Occupational Safety and Health Council
The Occupational Safety and Health Council, established in 1988 to foster a safe and healthy working environment through training, promotional, consultancy, research and information services.
To strengthen management and frontline staff's knowledge of safety, the council offers a wide range of courses on the subject. In 2008, a total of 35 092 people attended 1 545 training courses specially designed for managers, supervisors and frontline workers. In addition to courses on risk-management and safe operations in high-risk industries, new programmes on advanced concepts were launched to encourage organisations to improve their safety performance in a more systematic way. For example, workshops on Safety Climate Index were introduced to help company managers understand their employees' views on occupational safety and health and gain a clearer picture of the company's safety culture. In addition, training courses were arranged to enhance employees' awareness of work safe behaviour and ways to prevent accidents at work.