At a Carnival on Occupational Safety & Health in the Catering Industry, the Commissioner for Labour applauded the catering industry for its improved safety record in the last two years.

Pamela Tan said the industry's accident toll continued to drop in the first three quarters of 2002. There were 7,646 accidents, a decrease of 15.9% when compared with 9,093 in the same period last year.

The accident rate per thousand workers also dropped by 12.7%, from 62.5 to 54.5, Mrs Tan said.

"We always attach great importance to the occupational safety and health performance of the catering industry and have been working closely with the Occupational Safety & Health Council and concerned organisations for years to raise the industry's occupational safety and health standard through large-scale promotional activities," she said.

"Catering is a major industry in Hong Kong with more than 180,000 employees. It has contributed enormously to Hong Kong's economy. Although the safety performance is improving, stakeholders should continue to nurture this safety culture," she added.

The department also fosters the safety awareness of employers and employees through promotional activities. It will continue to pull together the efforts of associations, unions and concerned parties to promote the safety awareness of the trade and raise its occupational safety and health standard.