Author Archives: hksar gov

     â€‹The Secretary for the Environment, Mr Wong Kam-sing, visited Kowloon City District this afternoon (January 21) and exchanged views with District Council members on environmental issues. He also called at a secondary school in the district and at Trade and Industry Tower in the Kai Tak Development Area (KTDA) to learn more about its green facilities.
      
     Accompanied by the Chairman of the Kowloon City District Council (KCDC), Mr Pun Kwok-wah, and the District Officer (Kowloon City), Mr Franco Kwok, Mr Wong first visited a secondary school in the district to learn about the achievements of environmental research projects carried out by its students, including scientific analysis on tree monitoring and energy systems. During the visit, Mr Wong chatted with students and environmental ambassadors to learn more about their studies and green activities at school. He also encouraged them to continue practising energy saving and waste reduction in their daily lives to foster a low-carbon lifestyle.
      
     Mr Wong then visited Trade and Industry Tower in the KTDA. In line with the concept of sustainable development, the tower is well equipped with energy-saving facilities and greening, plus the adoption of renewable energy technology. It is anticipated that the total electricity consumption of the tower will be about one-fourth less than that of a normal office building. The office tower has achieved the Platinum rating under BEAM Plus and the Platinum level under the LEED certificate programme of the United States, i.e. the highest level of green building certification under the local and international systems. The overall greening ratio is over 40 per cent.
      
     Mr Wong also called at Kai Tak Community Hall to see its various energy-saving and greening facilities. The green roof of the hall is equipped with solar-tracking optical fibre light pipes to divert daylight for indoor lighting, thereby saving energy.
      
     Before concluding his itinerary, Mr Wong paid a visit to the KCDC to meet with Mr Pun and District Council members to listen to their views on the Government’s environmental policies and learn more about their concerns on district environmental issues. read more

     The Labour Department (LD) is highly concerned about the recent spate of serious accidents related to work-at-height in the construction industry and reminds those working at height to pay special attention to work safety.

     A spokesman for the LD said today (January 21), “Four workers fell and unfortunately died while working at height in the past few weeks. The LD is highly concerned about the situation. Apart from issuing Work Safety Alerts and Suspension Notices to stop the related work processes, the LD has launched a special enforcement operation focusing particularly on high-risk operations such as scaffolding work.”

     “The LD, jointly with the Occupational Safety and Health Council and other stakeholders of the industry, is actively organising a seminar on work-at-height safety. We will invite various stakeholder groups from the construction industry to take part in order to alert them to the potential risks involved in work-at-height and remind them of the necessary safety measures. Furthermore, the Department will continue to promote work-at-height safety messages through various media channels and platforms,” the spokesman added.

     To prevent workers from falling from height while working, employers shall appoint a competent person to conduct task-specific risk assessments to identify all potential hazards associated with the work, taking into account the nature of work and the work environment and, according to the results of the risk assessments, formulate safe systems of work which comply with the relevant safety legislation. Main considerations include:
          

• Ladders should generally be used for ascending and descending only. Using them for other work is unsafe and should be avoided;
   
• Provide workers with suitable working platforms and ensure their proper use by workers. Use of boatswain’s chairs is strictly prohibited;
   
• Workers should put on suitable safety harnesses, which shall be attached continuously to a suitable and secure anchor point, an independent lifeline or a fall-arresting system, when erecting, dismantling and using a truss-out bamboo scaffold; and
   
• Safeguard all unprotected floor openings or other void spaces at construction sites by erecting suitable guard-rails or placing coverings to prevent workers from falling through them inadvertently.

     Both employers and employees are responsible for ensuring work safety to prevent accidents from happening. Employers are required to comply with the relevant safety regulations and implement safety systems of work, including providing workers with sufficient safety equipment and ensuring its proper use by workers. At the same time, workers are also required to follow the safety work procedures as stipulated by employers, including proper use of safety equipment. Workers should report any unsafe working condition to the LD (telephone number: 2542 2172) as soon as possible.  The LD will take follow-up action as soon as possible to ensure workers’ safety. read more

     The Secretary for Education, Mr Kevin Yeung, will pay a duty visit to Zhuhai tomorrow (January 22) to look into the participation of Hong Kong’s universities in higher education development in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

     The Beijing Normal University-Hong Kong Baptist University United International College (UIC), founded in Zhuhai in 2005, is the first university jointly established by the higher education sectors of the Mainland and Hong Kong. With the opening of its new campus and the establishment of its graduate school in 2017, the institution has entered a new stage.

     During his visit to UIC, Mr Yeung will tour some of its facilities, including the studios of the Division of Culture and Creativity, the laboratory of the Division of Business and Management, the Food Safety Testing Centre and the Whole Person Education Experiential Learning Base. He will also attend a discussion session and other gatherings for exchanges with the management, teaching staff, students and alumni of the institution.

     Mr Yeung will return to Hong Kong in the evening on the same day. read more

     The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Monday, January 21, 2019 is 103.9 (down 0.1 against last Saturday’s index).

     The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Saturday, January 19, 2019 was 104 (up 0.3 against last Friday’s index). read more

The following is issued on behalf of the Commission on Poverty:
 
     The Commission on Poverty today (January 21) invited applications for the “Be a Government Official for a Day” programme 2019 – Heads of Departments edition under the “Life Buddies” Mentoring Scheme.  

     The inaugural programme last year received an enthusiastic and positive response. The Chief Executive announced in the 2018 Policy Address that the scale of the programme would be expanded this year to include the Chief Executive and more senior officials to benefit more students.

     In light of the expanded scale, the programme will be held in two phases. Officials participating in this phase will include Under Secretaries, Permanent Secretaries and Heads of Departments.

     The programme, to be held in April, will offer the opportunity for selected students to shadow a senior government official on the job for a day to gain hands-on experience of the official’s work and a better understanding of the Government’s operation. It also aims at providing officials with an opportunity to share with students their work experience while also learning about the students’ insights on various issues and their life goals and future plans. It is also hoped the job-shadowing process will help inspire students to develop positive values and multi-perspective thinking as well as strive to realise their potential and seize opportunities for upward mobility.

     “The inaugural programme held last year was a tremendous success and it fully reflected the commitment of the current-term Government to enhancing connections with young people. My ‘job shadows’ and I were able to openly exchange views, share our life experiences and understand each other’s thoughts through our interaction. The expanded programme will provide additional opportunities for senior government officials to directly interact with senior secondary students. I encourage students to seize this invaluable opportunity by applying for this inspiring programme,” the Chief Secretary for Administration and Chairperson of the Commission on Poverty, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung said.

     An experienced non-governmental organisation has also been engaged to arrange orientation, debriefing and sharing sessions for the selected students to consolidate their takeaways from the programme.

     Application for the programme is open to all local Secondary Four and Five students in the 2018/19 academic year and priority will be given to students studying the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education curriculum. Application forms can be downloaded from www.lifebuddies.hk. Applicants should complete the form, together with the school recommendation, and send it to lifebuddies@cso.gov.hk by email on or before February 22, 2019 (Friday).

     On the other hand, the Chief Executive and Principal Officials edition of the programme will be held in this year’s summer holiday and application details will be announced in late April.
 
     The “Life Buddies” Mentoring Scheme was launched by the Commission of Poverty in October 2015. It aims at promoting upward mobility of youths from disadvantaged background through the school-based mentoring and Job Tasting programme. To date, the scheme has enlisted the support of over 110 government departments, corporations and organisations and has benefited over 4 300 students. The “Be a Government Official for a Day” programme was launched under “Life Buddies” in 2018 to further broaden students’ horizons. Information about “Life Buddies” is available on its website (www.lifebuddies.hk/en) and social network page (www.facebook.com/lifebuddieshk). read more