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+STATISTICS ARE BALD BUT THEY ARE A USEFUL GAUGE TO BOTH THE SERIOUSNESS WITH WHICH PEOPLE REGARD SAFETY AND THE SOCIAL COST OF NEGLIGENCE, CAREFULLY PREPARED STATISTICS HELP TO IDENTIFY THE AREAS WHERE THE PROBLEM IS MOST SERIOUS AND POINT THE DIRECTION WHICH PREVENTIVE OR REMEDIAL MEASURES MUST TAKE.
+ IN HONG KONG THE INCIDENCE OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS IS HIGH. LAST YEAR THERE WERE ROUGHLY 46 000 ACCIDENTS OR ABOUT 45 IN EVERY THOUSAND INDUSTRIAL WORKERS, THIS INCLUDED 163 FATALITIES. INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS LOST 552 000 MAN-DAYS, HK$35 MILLION WERE PAID IN STATUTORY COMPENSATION, AND IT IS ESTIMATED THAT $150 MILLION WERE LOST AS A RESULT OF WORK STOPPAGE AND MACHINE DAMAGE. BUT FAR MORE IMPORTANT THAN THIS IS THE INCALCULABLE TOLL OF THE SUFFERING AND MISERY OF THE INJURED, THE GRIEF OF THE FAMILIES OF THOSE WHO HAVE DIED AND THE LIFELONG HARDSHIP OF THOSE WHOSE PRINCIPAL BREAD WINNERS HAVE BEEN PERMANENTLY DISABLED. NO ONE CAN COUNT THE COST OF THIS.
+HONG KONG IS A CITY INTENSELY PROUD OF ITS DEVELOPMENT, BUT WE CANNOT TAKE PRIDE IN THE SITUATION I HAVE JUST DESCRIBED. SAFETY IS A RESPONSIBILITY EQUALLY SHARED BETWEEN EMPLOYERS. WORKERS AND THE GOVERNMENT. THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT IS PLAYING ITS PART BY THE PROGRESSIVE ENACTMENT AND ENFORCEMENT OF SAFETY LEGISLATION AND THE INCREASING ATTENTION WHICH IT IS PAYING TO SAFETY EDUCATION. FOR THIS TO BE EFFECTIVE EMPLOYERS MUST ENSURE THAT THE LAW IS OBSERVED BOTH IN LETTER AND IN SPIRIT AND THAT THEIR WORKERS DO NOT FLAUNT THE RULES OUT OF EITHER SLACKNESS, BRAVADO OR LACK OF INSTRUCTION. HAPPILY THERE ARE WELCOME SIGNS THAT BOTH EMPLOYERS AND WORKERS ARE BECOMING MORE CONSCIOUS OF THE NEED FOR INDUSTRIAL SAFETY AND MORE DIRECTLY INVOLVED IN ITS PROMOTION. A NUMBER OF INDUSTRIAL SAFETY COMMITTEES HAVE BEEN ESTABLISHED ON A TRIPARTITE BASIS AND MORE ARE EXPECTED TO FOLLOW.
+AS REGARDS ROAD TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS, THE PICTURE IS ALSO NOT A HAPPY ONE. LAST YEAR THERE WERE SOME 15 000 ACCIDENTS INVOLVING THREE IN EVERY THOUSAND OF OUR POPULATION. 456 PEOPLE DIED- THREE TIMES THE NUMBER WHO DIED AT WORK. WE ARE A CROWDED TERRITORY WITH A VERY HIGH DENSITY OF OVER 200 VEHICLES FOR EVERY KILOMETRE OF ROAD. WHILE CONGESTION ITSELF BREEDS ACCIDENTS, A HIGH PROPORTION OF THEM RESULT FROM IMPATIENCE OR NEGLIGENCE ON THE PART OF DRIVERS, OWNERS OR PEDESTRIANS. THE FIGURES ARE UNACCEPTABLY HIGH AND EVERY EFFORT MUST BE MADE TO HALT THIS SENSELESS CARNAGE.
+THESE PROBLEMS ARE NOT UNIQUE TO HONG KONG. THE MEASURES WE HAVE ADOPTED IN OUR ATTEMPTS TO SOLVE THEM ARE NOT NECESSARILY THE BEST, AND I AM THEREFORE PARTICULARLY PLEASED THAT THE WORLD SAFETY ASSOCIATION TOGETHER WITH THE HONG KONG OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ASSOCIATION AND THE CHINESE MANUFACTURERS' ASSOCIATION HAVE SEEN FIT TO ORGANISE THIS CONGRESS HERE. IT WILL PROVIDE A VALUABLE OPPORTUNITY FOR AN EXCHANGE OF IDEAS ON BOTH PREVENTIVE AND REMEDIAL MEASURES AND I WISH ALL OF YOU WHO TAKE PART, EVERY SUCCESS IN YOUR DELIBERATIONS.
+] NOW TAKE GREAT PLEASURE IN DECLARING OPEN THE ASIAN REGIONAL SAFETY AND ACCIDENT PREVENTION CONGRESS AND EXHIBITION.+