Housing Authority promotes caring culture for site works (with photo)

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Housing Authority:

    Facing the challenge of a tremendous increase in public housing construction, the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) has made great efforts to maintain a high standard of quality control, safety management and environmental protection. Construction tasks should not be performed at the cost of human lives and the natural environment, the Permanent Secretary for Transport and Housing (Housing), Mr Stanley Ying, said today (July 3) at the opening of the Site Safety Forum for Works Contracts and Property Services Contracts 2018.

   "As an organisation devoted to caring for society, we have the responsibility to create a safe and healthy working environment for our employees and front-line workers. We have been proactively promoting 'zero incidents' and 'zero fatal accidents' in the industry for years. We encourage our business partners to formulate safety standards and enhance the safety level in the workplace. We have worked vigorously to prevent the occurrence of accidents,” Mr Ying added.

    In 2017, the accident rate of the HA's new works was 6.9 accidents per 1 000 workers, while that of maintenance and renovation works was 4.2 accidents per 1 000 workers. Both are below the HA's corporate limit of 9 accidents per 1000 workers, and far below the rate of 32.9 accidents per 1 000 workers in Hong Kong's construction industry. The overall safety performance of HA sites has been satisfactory.

     The Forum, jointly organised by the HA and the Occupational Safety and Health Council, has been held for 12 consecutive years. Keeping abreast of developments in the industry, the Forum aims to regularly disseminate updated safety information to the construction and property management services sectors. Through analysis and discussion of safety issues in different work aspects, members of the industry from management to front-line staff can further reinforce their awareness of safety practice and risk management.

     The theme of the Forum this year was "Caring Culture for Safe Work Practice". Contractors and professionals were invited to share their views with about 600 participants, including their experience of creating a safe and healthy working environment for workers by taking care of their needs. The HA believes that through constant and heartfelt caring for workers, the industry can effectively establish a caring culture in the workplace and ultimately prevent accidents.