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Factory and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance
Following is the speech by the Secretary for Education and Manpower, Mr Joseph WP Wong, in moving the resolution of the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance to amend the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Regulations in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):
Mr President,
I move the motion standing in my name in the Order Paper.
The purpose of moving this resolution and the other two resolutions I am going to move is to provide for consequential amendments to the Regulations under the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance upon the full implementation of the Builders' Lifts and Tower Working Platforms (Safety) Ordinance.
The Builders' Lifts and Tower Working Platforms (Safety) Ordinance was enacted in April this year. It provides for more specific and effective control over builders' lifts and tower working platforms to protect the safety of workers concerned. The first part of the Ordinance which deals with procedural matters such as registration of equipment maintenance contractors have become effective since July 1995.
However, builders' lifts and tower working platforms also fall under the definition of "hoists" in the Regulations under the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance. Thus, the equipment are concurrently controlled under the aforesaid Regulations and the Builders' Lifts and Tower Working Platforms (Safety) Ordinance. To avoid overlapping of authority, the amendments to be moved today seeks to transfer the authority vested in the Commissioner for Labour to the Director of Electrical and Mechanical Services who already regulates the safety of passenger lifts and escalators in domestic and commercial premises under the Lifts and Escalators (Safety) Ordinance. Upon these amendments, the remaining parts of the Builders' Lifts and Tower Working Platforms (Safety) Ordinance are expected to come into operation in late December.
This resolution seeks to dispense the requirement of reporting a collapse or failure of builders' lift or tower working platform to a factory inspector as the reporting should be made to the Director of Electrical and Mechanical Services under the Builders' Lifts and Tower Working Platforms (Safety) Ordinance.
Thank you, Mr President.
End/Wednesday, November 29, 1995