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Occupational injuries reported in 1996
The number of occupational injuries reported to the Labour Department under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance (ECO) in 1996 was 59,465, very close to the figure of 59,375 in 1995.
Of all the occupational injuries reported in 1996, 59,187 were non-fatal cases and 278 involved fatalities.
The construction industry, with 16,861 reported cases, accounted for the largest share or 28.4 per cent of the cases reported in the year.
Another 27 per cent of the cases were reported in the wholesale/retail and restaurant/hotel trade.
Senior Labour Officer (Compensation) (Administration & Assessment), Mr Yiu Chak-lam, said that the distribution of occupational injuries by economic sector was broadly the same as that of 1995 except that the manufacturing sector, which accounted for 13.9 per cent of the reported cases, recorded a noticeable decrease of 3.2 percentage points compared with 1995.
The Employees' Compensation Division of the Labour Department assists injured employees and dependants of deceased employees in claiming compensation under the ECO. A total of 41,287 or 69.4 per cent of the cases reported in 1996 were settled by the end of the year. The amount of compensation involved was $290 million.
Irrespective of the year of reporting, the total number of cases settled in 1996 was 59,039 with compensation payable amounting to $1,004 million.
"Under the ECO, employers are required to take out insurance cover for all their employees so that they can fulfil their legal obligations to pay compensation for work-related injuries. The Labour Department takes a serious view on compliance with this provision and our labour inspectors conduct frequent inspections to establishments to detect offences," Mr Yiu said.
In 1996, 753 summonses were heard and 701 were convicted for failure to take out insurance cover.
Mr Yiu said that a number of amendments were made to the ECO in 1996.
"The main improvements, which came into effect on January 1, 1997, increased the rate of periodical payments for temporary incapacity from two-thirds to four-fifths of an injured employee's normal earnings and eliminated the three-day qualifying period in respect of periodical payments," he added.
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