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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1977
BILL TO PROVIDE FURTHER BENEFITS FOR INJURED WORKERS
INTRODUCED INTO LEGCO
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A BILL TO PROVIDE FURTHER BENEFITS FOR INJURED WORKMEN WAS INTRODUCED INTO THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL TODAY (WEDNESDAY).
SPEAKING ON THE SECOND READING OF THE WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION (AMENDMENT) (NO.3) BILL 1977, THE COMMISSIONER FOR LABOUR, THE HON. PETER WILLIAMS SAID ITS MAIN AIM WAS TO ENSURE THAT WHEN WORKERS SUFFERED INJURIES AT WORK, THE MEDICAL EXPENSES INVOLVED WERE MET BY THE IR EMPLOYERS.
HE SAID: +AT PRESENT OUR LEGISLATION MAKES NO PROVISION FOR THIS, ALTHOUGH SOME GOOD EMPLOYERS MEET SUCH EXPENSES AS A NORMAL RESPONSIBILITY.
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+ BUT IN MOST CASES, MR. WILLIAMS SAID, INJURED WORKMEN GO TO GOVERNMENT HOSPITALS WHERE THE FEES, ALTHOUGH VERY SIGNIFICANTLY SUBSIDISED, ARE MET BY THE WORKMEN THEMSELVES.+
HE SAID THE BILL ESTABLISHED A LIABILITY BY EMPLOYERS TO PAY WORKMEN'S MEDICAL EXPENSES.
THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT WOULD, INCIDENTLY, ENABLE HONG KONG TO COMPLY FULLY WITH INTERNATIONAL LABOUR CONVENTION NO.17, HE ADDED.
MR. WILLIAMS REVEALED THAT THE LABOUR DEPARTMENT HAD MADE A STUDY OF THE STANDARDS ADOPTED IN SEVEN NEIGHBOURING AS IAN COUNTRIES, TO PROVIDE INJURY BENEFITS FOR WORKERS IN JAPAN, THAILAND, MALAYSIA, THE PHILIPPINES, SINGAPORE, TAIWAN AND THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA.
THE STUDY SHOWED THAT ALL SEVEN COUNTRIES PROVIDED MEDICAL CARE AND ALLIED BENEFITS IN ONE FORM OR ANOTHER, EITHER AS AN EMPLOYER'S LIABILITY OR THROUGH INSURANCE SCHEME TO WHICH EMPLOYERS WERE REQUIRED TO MAKE CONTRIBUTIONS.
+THE PROPOSAL WOULD THEREFORE PLACE HONG KONG IN A COMPARABLE POSITION WITH ITS NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES IN THIS FIELD, HE SAID.
MR. WILLIAMS POINTED OUT THAT THE BILL DOES LIMIT THE EMPLOYERS' LIABILITY TO A MAXIMUM CLAIM BY WORKERS OF MEDICAL EXPENSES REIMBURSEMENT AT THE RATE OF $10 EACH DAY FOR OUT-PATIENT TREATMENT AND $20 EACH DAY FOR IN-PATIENT CARE IN HOSPITAL.
HE SAID: THESE RATES HAVE BEEN ARRIVED AT AFTER A STUDY OF THE PRESENT CHARGES MADE IN GOVERNMENT SUBVENTED HOSPITALS AND IN SEVEN PRIVATE HOSPITALS.+
HE ADDED THAT THE RATES WOULD BE REVISED WHEN NECESSARY BY RESOLUTION IN THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.
THE INJURED WORKMAN WOULD ALSO BE ENTITLED TO CLAIM MEDICAL EXPENSES FOR A MAXIMUM PERIOD OF 24 MONTHS FROM THE DATE OF THE INJURY,
BY THIS TIME,