XN000022-1996-07-04 — Page 18

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Our figures on industrial safety, though they have been coming down slightly, are still appallingly high for a civilised community like this and we do have to work to bring them down much more. There are a lot of things we could do and are trying to do, following the report that we produced in 1995. One of them is to co-ordinate things within Government better and the group of colleagues under the Chairmanship of the Secretary for Education and Manpower, which met about three weeks ago, is meeting again next week to continue to try to ensure that we get a grip in Government on the various aspects of our responsibility for dealing with the problem.

I think we have to continue to increase the amount of inspection and regulation that we do. I have to say that we've actually increased the number of factory inspectors on the ground six and a half fold since 1992. Six and a half times as many factory inspectors now in place as there were in 1992. We're increased penalties, we've increased regulation. I hope that the two bills which are at present in the Legislative Council which have a bearing on these matters will be passed as quickly as possible. We will be bringing at least four or five further measures to the Legislative Council later in the year.

But after doing all this, at the end of the day, the real issue is whether we can get employers and employees to recognise that they have to work within a wholly different concept of safety than that which tends to have prevailed in the last few years. I hope we can make that breakthrough. So long as we fail to do so, there will alas be too many widows, too many fatherless children, as a result of accidents which are preventable and should be prevented in a civilised society like Hong Kong.

The President: In accordance with Standing Orders I now adjourn the Council until 2.30 pm, Wednesday, July 10, 1996.

End

Governor to visit London and Brussels

The Governor, the Rt Hon Christopher Patten, will leave Hong Kong tomorrow (Friday) on a regular duty visit to London to brief ministers of the latest developments in the territory and to visit Brussels to meet senior officials of the European Union.

Mr Patten will be in Brussels on July 8 and 9. He will have separate meetings with the President of the European Commission, Mr Jacques Santer, and the Commission's vice-presidents, Sir Leon Brittan and Mr Manuel Mairn, as well as the President of the European Parliament, Mr Klaus Hansch, and the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister of Belgium, Mr Philippe Maystadt.