The Labour Department (LD) will hold a public talk entitled "Health hazards of hot environment at work" on July 16 (Monday). The talk, designed for workers in hot environments to enhance their awareness of heat stroke prevention, will include symptoms of heat stroke, its first aid treatment and preventive measures.

     The talk, to be given by the LD's occupational health nurse and occupational hygienist, will be held at 3pm in Activity Room 1, Hong Kong Central Library, 66 Causeway Road, Causeway Bay.

     The LD will hold another talk entitled "Occupational health series for office workers (I): Health hints on the use of computer" on July 23 (Monday). The talk will briefly introduce the Occupational Safety and Health (Display Screen Equipment) Regulation, as well as the occupational health hazards and preventive measures associated with prolonged use of computers, so as to enhance employees' occupational health awareness.
 
     The talk will be held at 6.30pm in Activity Room 1, Hong Kong Central Library, 66 Causeway Road, Causeway Bay. To be given by the LD's occupational hygienist and occupational health nurse, the talk will include demonstrations and practice of workplace exercise.

     Both talks will be conducted in Cantonese. Admission is free. For enquiries or registration, please call 2852 4040.

Attention TV/radio announcers:

Please broadcast the following as soon as possible:

Here is an item of interest to swimmers.

     The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced today (July 12) that due to big waves, red flag has been hoisted at Stanley Main Beach in Southern District, Hong Kong Island. Beach-goers are advised not to swim at the beach.

     A man who went missing in Hung Hom was located.

     Yeung Hon-sum, aged 65, went missing after he left a hostel on Chi Kiang Street on July 9 morning. Staff of the hostel made a report to Police on the same day.
         
     The man was located on Nga Tsin Wai Road in Kowloon City yesterday (July 11) night. He sustained no injuries and was sent to Queen Elizabeth Hospital for examination. No suspicious circumstances were detected.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Housing Authority:
 
     The Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) strives to provide affordable public rental housing (PRH) to low-income families with housing needs. The newly completed Lin Tsui Estate at Lin Shing Road in Chai Wan has just begun the intake process, offering new homes to more than 700 people.
 
     Built on the former site of the Housing Department's Chai Wan Staff Quarters, Lin Tsui Estate has a gross area of about 2 000 square metres.
 
     "Lin Tsui Estate is a single-block estate, with the block named Lin Tsui House. With 36 domestic storeys, the block provides a total of 288 PRH units including Type A flats (one/two-person), Type B flats (two/three-person), Type C flats (three/four-person) and Type D flats (four/five-person) with internal floor areas ranging from about 14 sq m to 35 sq m and monthly rents from $1,090 to $2,730," a spokesman for the HA said today (July 12).
 
     Despite the limited site area, there is a landscaped garden and a children's play area as well as fitness facilities for the elderly and adults on the podium. As for shopping facilities, there are shopping centres in the vicinity of the estate.
 
     The estate also provides eight parking spaces, comprising six for private cars and two for motorcycles. Situated in the urban area, the estate is only a few minutes' walk to Chai Wan MTR Station and there are numerous bus and minibus routes to various districts.

        

     The Asian Aviation Meteorological Centre (AAMC), jointly established by the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO), the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) and the China Meteorological Administration (CMA), commenced operation today (July 11). The AAMC aims at providing meteorological organisations in the region and the aviation sector with quality en-route weather information, so as to meet industry needs and improve aviation safety and efficiency.
 
     The Director of the HKO, Mr Shun Chi-ming, the Deputy Administrator of the CAAC, Mr Wang Zhiqing, and the Deputy Administrator of the CMA, Mr Yu Rucong, officiated at the launch ceremony of the AAMC in Beijing this morning.
 
     Mr Shun said the HKO is pleased to join the CAAC and the CMA in establishing and operating the AAMC, which will provide a co-ordination platform as well as information on hazardous weather and other relevant areas. The AAMC will support meteorological organisations in the region in better serving the aviation sector and coping with increasing flight traffic. In 2004, the three agencies established the Asian Aviation Meteorological Service Website, which is the predecessor of the AAMC. Since then, the website has been fully upgraded. The three agencies have also been working closely with meteorological organisations in the region to co-ordinate Significant Weather Information (SIGMET) with a view to improving the level of aviation meteorological services in the region.
 
     At the launch ceremony, Mr Wang Zhiqing said the AAMC would provide international and Chinese meteorological organisations with fine resolution alerts for significant convection, turbulence, icing etc. It would also improve the service level of aviation meteorological forecast. Moreover, he thanked the CMA and the HKO for their support.  
 
     The AAMC seeks to provide a weather monitoring platform for issuing forecasts and alerts on hazardous weather affecting aviation operation such as thunderstorms, turbulence, icing and more for reference by meteorological organisations of neighbouring countries and regions and the aviation sector. The AAMC also provides a platform for forecasters from different areas to coordinate SIGMET contents, with a view to improving the overall forecast quality.
 
     The AAMC comprises a main centre operated by the CAAC, a technical support centre operated by CMA, both in Beijing, and a backup centre operated by the HKO in Hong Kong. The HKO's backup centre will specialise in nowcasts and high-resolution numerical weather forecasts, and related verification, as well as objective assessment and verification of forecasts by the main and technical support centres. The backup centre will also support the daily operation of the main centre.