8
Friday, October 19, 1973
ONE WORKER INJURED EVERY SEVEN MINUTES
EMPLOYERS URGED TO JOIN GOVT IN PREVENTING ACCIDENTS
One person in Hong Kong is now being injured at work every seven
or eight minutes throughout the working day, the Commissioner of Labour,
Mr. I.R. Price, såld today.
"During the average working day, there will be some 80 such
accidents, some horrifyingly severe in the mutilation they will cause,
he said, "and almost certainly, one will kill."
Mr. Price was officially opening a one-day safety seminar organised
by the Chinese Manufacturers Association and attended by 80 management
representatives from 55 leading Hong Kong firms.
He said this accident rate was taking an incalculable toll in human
suffering, and leaving Hong Kong industry and commerce with a staggering
damage bill each year,
Last year, he said, 296 people were killed and 29,350 injured at
work. The total cost to management of the accidents was well over $200
million.
Mr. Price called on management and workers to form a united front
with the government to fight to prevent accidents at work.
He said that in the past, the Labour Department had been fighting
almost a lone battle in the field of industrial safety.
"Employers, managers and workers have looked too much to
intervention by government, and too little to their own interests,
responsibilities and possible efforts," he said.
"The only