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RCP is reserved for the six street re-development housing project nearby, part of which is already near completion with an estimated population of 6 500 upon full occupation. After careful consideration by the Department, it is considered operationally impracticable to resite the Battery Street RCP in the short to medium term, but I will ask the Department to monitor the situation closely with a view to making parallel improvement.
4. MR. FUNG KWONG-CHUNG asked the following question (in Cantonese):- I raised a question on the safety of play equipment installed in UC parks or playgrounds in April last year. Recently, there has been another accident involving a child who fell down from a swing and sustained injury. People are concerned about safety again. Though this incident did not happen within the UC Area, it is the Council's responsibility to ensure safety so as to alleviate public concern. I therefore would like to raise follow-up questions as follows:
(a) At that Monthly Meeting, I was given the reply that visual examinations were carried out once every other day and checks for hidden faults were carried out once every four days. How are the safety standards set for these checks/examinations? Are there adequate technical training and manpower resources to carry out the checking of play equipment including safety matting?
(b) Is there a complaint or repair hotline? If yes, can it be shown on the play equipment?
(c) Although the Council has been improving public services in terms of comprehensiveness and safety, in case the public are involved in accidents when using Council facilities such as swimming pools, parks or playgrounds, has the Council taken out third party insurance on them so that they are fully insured when using Council facilities?
MR. MARVIN K. T. CHEUNG, VICE-CHAIRMAN OF THE RECREATION SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in English):-This question concerns the safety of play equipment which Mr. FUNG had previously raised in April last year. The first part of the question asks about the inspection system. The second is on the complaint hotline and the last on the Council's public liability insurance.
On the inspection system the Department has issued a set of guidelines for its staff on how to carry out regular inspections to play equipment. These guidelines are derived from the safety checklist of the National Playing Fields Association of the United Kingdom, a recognised worldwide agency in the field of playground safety. The Department also provides in-house training to its staff before they take up inspection duties. Technical training and manpower resources can be considered adequate in carrying out the checking of play equipment, including safety matting. There have been no accidents involving any serious injury resulting from the use of UC's play equipment.
The Department's complaint hotline (868 0000) together with the telephone number of the District Amenities Officer's office are displayed at the entrance of recreation venues. It is not considered feasible to incorporate the same information on the play equipment itself, because of limited space.
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As regards insurance, the Council has taken out third party insurance coverage against accidents involving the public using its facilities. The limit of indemnity at present is $13 million for any one year. The limit is reviewed annually.
DR. LEUNG PING-CHUNG (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, I have a follow-up question. According to the findings of the Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology in the Chinese University of Hong Kong, i.e. my Department conducted last year regarding injuries sustained in 'children's playgrounds' the rate of accidents in these playgrounds can be quite substantial even though fatality rate is minimal or even none. Moreover, we also discovered that in such playgrounds, there were few educational or publicity leaflets to guide the children or their parents to avoid accidents or to give proper care to children. My question is: will the Department consider providing educational as well as preventive publicity materials in these playgrounds in future?
MR. MARVIN K. T. CHEUNG (in English):—Mr. Chairman, I am not aware of the contents of Dr. LEUNG's study on accidents involving children playgrounds, but as far as the statistics of the Council is concerned, there were only 14 cases of minor injury reported in Council's children playgrounds in the last 5 years. So clearly the problem is not as endemic as is indicated in the study. However, we can give consideration to the suggestion of Dr. LEUNG. But I think from my personal point of view, it would not encourage the usage of those facilities if you put in a whole list of don't do this and don't do that. Really we want to encourage the use of those facilities within reason. It is clearly indicated by the statistics there has not been a major problem to do with safety. On the other hand, we will certainly consider those suggestions.
DR. LEUNG PING-CHUNG (in English):-I think we believe that prevention is better than cure. I am not assuming that there have been a lot of accidents, fatal ones and serious ones at the Urban Council children's playgrounds by no means. But our statistics on children playground accidents in general have been significant. We wish something could be done on the prevention side. We are talking about educational materials. It is a checklist for things not to be done.
CHAIRMAN (in English):—It is not a question and is just a suggestion and the Vice-Chairman has noted the point to be conveyed to the Department.
DR. SAMUEL P. W. WONG (in English):—Mr. Chairman, the figure given that there are 10 to 15 or 15 accidents happened in the past 5 years. I wonder if Council could be told of the two newer venues, i.e. the Hong Kong Park and the Kowloon Park, which both have excellent children's playground facilities, are there any accidents happened in these two playgrounds?
MR. MARVIN K. T. CHEUNG (in English): May I just make a correction. There are 14 and not 15 as mentioned by Dr. WONG. I do not have the up-to-date
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Page 57 of 126
98
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
RCP is reserved for the six street re-development housing project nearby, part of which is already near completion with an estimated population of 6 500 upon full occupation. After careful consideration by the Department, it is considered operationally impracticable to resite the Battery Street RCP in the short to medium term, but I will ask the Department to monitor the situation closely with a view to making parallel improvement.
4. MR. FUNG KWONG-CHUNG asked the following question (in Cantonese):- I raised a question on the safety of play equipment installed in UC parks or playgrounds in April last year. Recently, there has been another accident involving a child who fell down from a swing and sustained injury. People are concerned about safety again. Though this incident did not happen within the UC Area, it is the Council's responsibility to ensure safety so as to alleviate public concern. I therefore would like to raise follow-up questions as follows:
(a) At that Monthly Meeting, I was given the reply that visual examinations were carried out once every other day and checks for hidden faults were carried out once every four days. How are the safety standards set for these checks/examinations? Are there adequate technical training and manpower resources to carry out the checking of play equipment including safety matting?
(b) Is there a complaint or repair hotline? If yes, can it be shown on the play
equipment?
(c) Although the Council has been improving public services in terms of
comprehensiveness and safety, in case the public are involved in accidents when using Council facilities such as swimming pools, parks or play- grounds, has the Council taken out third party insurance on them so that they are fully insured when using Council facilities?
MR. MARVIN K. T. CHEUNG, VICE-CHAIRMAN OF THE RECREATION SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in English):-This question concerns the safety of play equipment which Mr. FUNG had previously raised in April last year. The first part of the question asks about the inspection system. The second is on the complaint hotline and the last on the Council's public liability insurance.
On the inspection system the Department has issued a set of guidelines for its staff on how to carry out regular inspections to play equipment. These guidelines are derived from the safety checklist of the National Playing Fields Association of the United Kingdom, a recognised worldwide agency in the field of playground safety. The Department also provides in-house training to its staff before they take up inspection duties. Technical training and manpower resources can be considered adequate in carrying out the checking of play equipment, including safety matting. There have been no accidents involving any serious injury resulting from the use of UC's play equipment.
The Department's complaint hotline (868 0000) together with the telephone number of the District Amenities Officer's office are displayed at the entrance of recreation venues. It is not considered feasible to incorporate the same information on the play equipment itself, because of limited space.
Page 57 of 126
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
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99
As regards insurance, the Council has taken out third party insurance coverage against accidents involving the public using its facilities. The limit of indemnity at present is $13 million for any one year. The limit is reviewed annually.
DR. LEUNG PING-CHUNG (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, I have a follow-up question. According to the findings of the Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology in the Chinese University of Hong Kong, i.e. my Department conducted last year regarding injuries sustained in 'children's playgrounds' the rate of accidents in these playgrounds can be quite substantial even though fatality rate is minimal or even none. Moreover, we also discovered that in such playgrounds, there were few educational or publicity leaflets to guide the children or their parents to avoid accidents or to give proper care to children. My question is: will the Department consider providing educational as well as preventive publicity materials in these playgrounds in future?
MR. MARVIN K. T. CHEUNG (in English):—Mr. Chairman, I am not aware of the contents of Dr. LEUNG's study on accidents involving children playgrounds, but as far as the statistics of the Council is concerned, there were only 14 cases of minor injury reported in Council's children playgrounds in the last 5 years. So clearly the problem is not as endemic as is indicated in the study. However, we can give consideration to the suggestion of Dr. LEUNG. But I think from my personal point of view, it would not encourage the usage of those facilities if you put in a whole list of don't do this and don't do that. Really we want to encourage the use of those facilities within reason. It is clearly indicated by the statistics there has not been a major problem to do with safety. On the other hand, we will certainly consider those suggestions.
DR. LEUNG PING-CHUNG (in English):-I think we believe that prevention is better than cure. I am not assuming that there have been a lot of accidents, fatal ones and serious ones at the Urban Council children's playgrounds by no means. But our statistics on children playground accidents in general have been significant. We wish something could be done on the prevention side. We are talking about educational materials. It is a checklist for things not to be done.
CHAIRMAN (in English):—It is not a question and is just a suggestion and the Vice-Chairman has noted the point to be conveyed to the Department.
DR. SAMUEL P. W. WONG (in English):—Mr. Chairman, the figure given that there are 10 to 15 or 15 accidents happened in the past 5 years. I wonder if Council could be told of the two newer venues, i.e. the Hong Kong Park and the Kowloon Park, which both have excellent children's playground facilities, are there any accidents happened in these two playgrounds?
MR. MARVIN K. T. CHEUNG (in English): May I just make a correction. There are 14 and not 15 as mentioned by Dr. WONG. I do not have the up-to-date
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