Under the scheme, payment for safety items in a public work contract will only be made when these are verified as properly done. Those who do not comply will not be paid. Those who persist in non-compliance will be liable to further sanctions which may include the suspension of the contractor's right to tender for Government work.
The scheme will be reviewed before the end of this year, and if it proves successful in lowering accident rates, the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council will be asked to provide the funds to expand the Scheme to all Government construction contracts.
End
Recommendations adopted to develop ambulance service
The Government is taking forward the recommendations of a consultancy study, commissioned on its own initiative, in a bid to develop the ambulance service, the Deputy Secretary for Security, Mr Alex Fong, said today (Friday).
During a meeting with representatives of the staff side of the ambulance service, Mr Fong said the Government was fully aware of the pressure faced by the staff side due to an increase in their workload.
He told the staff representatives that the fact that the Government had taken the initiative last year to commission a consultancy study on the delivery of the ambulance service indicated its recognition of the need to review ambulance service delivery and its determination to seek improvements in the service.
"The Government has already implemented the recommendations of the consultancy to achieve efficiency improvements in the short-term, through a better distribution of ambulance stations, more effective deployment of personnel and similar management initiatives," he said.
"We will be making bids to obtain the needed resources to implement other recommendations in the report."
These measures include further efficiency improvements, improvements in staffing levels and development of further ambulance depot facilities in areas of increased local demand.