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To ensure that the grants will be used for the designated purposes, the organisations will be required to submit to the Committee an evaluation report and an audited account on the use of the grant.

The Committee is chaired by the Chief Secretary. Other members are Dr Raymond Ch'ien, Mr Jimmy McGregor, Mr Cheung Hon-chung, Mr Lau Chin-shek, the Secretary for Health and Welfare, and the Secretary for the Treasury.

End

Measures to improve workers' safety

The Commissioner for Labour was empowered to issue suspension and improvement notices in a bid to further enhance workers' safety following the passage of the Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Amendment) Bill 1996 by the Legislative Council earlier this month.

Assistant Commissioner for Labour (Occupational Safety), Mr Mak Sai-yiu, this (Wednesday) afternoon said a suspension notice might be issued to suspend a hazardous work or process or the use of any dangerous equipment, machinery or substance which posed an imminent risk of serious bodily injury to workers concerned.

He said the notice would be served on the proprietor of an industrial undertaking as soon as practicable but in no case later than 24 hours from the discovery of the risk.

"This is to remove the risks swiftly and to deter hazardous and dangerous work

situations.

"However, the proprietor may within 28 days from the date he receives the notice, apply in writing to the Commissioner for Labour for a review of the issue of the notice," he said.

To tackle less serious situations, the Commissioner for Labour was empowered to issue an improvement notice requiring the proprietor or contractor to remedy the contravention within a specified period of time or to refrain from continuing or repeating the contravention.