ENG-1992 — Page 135

EMPLOYMENT

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health officers are appointed as members of special assessment boards and prostheses and surgical appliance boards under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance.

The laboratory of the division, which is a member of the Hong Kong Laboratory Accreditation Scheme, continued to carry out analytical tests on biological samples collected from workers and on other environmental samples taken during site visits.

Occupational Safety and Health Council

The Occupational Safety and Health Council aims to promote a safer and healthier working environment through education and training, promotion of the use of modern technology, dissemination of technical knowledge, provision of consultancy services, and encouragement of co-operation and communication among government and non-govern- ment bodies having such common goals.

The council comprises 20 members appointed by the Governor and drawn from employers and employees, academic and professional fields, and the government. It is financed by a levy on the premium of all employees' compensation insurance policies.

To assist the council in routine operation, five functional committees have been formed to deal with publicity, staffing, finance, education and research, and general affairs. There are also nine industry-based committees covering the catering, construction, electronics, metalware, ship building and ship repairing, plastics, printing, transport and physical distribution industries. One additional advisory committee specialising in chemicals was established in the year.

The year under review ended with a significant expansion in the training activities of the council in that agreement was reached to transfer general safety and health training courses by stages from the Labour Department to the council. Other training courses for safety and health supervisors; health and safety management for civil engineers; competence programmes on ionising, radiation protection and safe handling of asbestos; management of dangerous substances; laser safety; and noise assessment were also conducted with gratifying feedback from the public. A total of 3 858 employees or professionals were trained through the courses.

Throughout the year, the council organised 13 seminars which focused on selected technical topics for professionals and interested members of the public. Research projects were also undertaken by the council to improve occupational safety and health in Hong Kong. Consultancy services of the council, which are provided on a cost recovery basis, also experienced increased demand.

The council also produced safety and health literature, codes of practice and guide- books, Green Cross (a bi-monthly magazine), safety advice pamphlets, bulletins for individual industries and posters. A comprehensive library housing a wide collection of safety and health journals, technical reference books and an advance data base on occupational safety and health is open for public use.

In addition, the council launched campaigns to arouse public interest in occupational safety and health. A major campaign was the Occupational Safety and Health Week staged from November 9 to 15.

The council's occupational safety and health employees' participation scheme continued to offer financial assistance to employees' organisations running safety and health activities. During the year, 21 employees' organisations received financial subsidy under the scheme.

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