XN000022-1996-11-22 — Page 8

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Subsidiary regulations will be made under the Bill to set out specific standards for the working environment in general and regulate certain hazardous processes, equipment and substances under six broad categories:

(a) safety, health and welfare of the workplace (including ventilation,

lighting and fire precautions);

personal protective equipment at work;

(b)

manual handling operations:

(c)

(d)

(e)

(1)

dangerous substances and their labelling, handling, storage, etc.;

health and safety aspects in the use of visual display equipment; and use of machinery and equipment.

The Government intends to implement the regulations in three stages. As the first stage, the Occupational Safety and Health Regulation will cover the general safety, health and welfare aspects of the workplace and manual handling operations. There will be provisions to cover lighting, ventilation, washroom facilities, first-aid, drinking water, fire precautions, etc.

"In effect, this will mean extending protection to all non-industrial employees upfront. Manual handling operations are included in the first stage because of the relatively large number of occupational injuries arising from such operations," Mr. Wong said.

The Secretary explained that in many ways, the Bill and the Regulation sought to enshrine in a consolidated piece of legislation most of the existing safety and health standards in a workplace which the average employers follow at present.

"Most of the proposed provisions in the Regulation, for example, those on fire precaution and fire escapes are based on standards adopted in existing legislation and, as such, should not be onerous for employers," he said.

Mr Wong said the potential financial burden on employers should not be significant and would be minimised by the phased approach to be taken by the Government.

"We propose also to exempt small business from some of the provisions. For instance, those employing less than 150 employees will be exempted from the requirement to have at least one employee who is trained in first-aid," he said.

The proposed new legislation is part of the recommendations of the Consultation Paper on the Review of Industrial Safety in Hong Kong published last year. The recommendations in the Report received wide public support.