Industrial accidents for all sectors fell 23.2% to 17,249 last year. The accident rate per 1,000 workers also fell 16.2% to 31.3.

Of all industries, construction made the most substantial improvement in safety with accidents falling 30% to 4,367. The accident rate per 1,000 workers also fell 20.1% to 68.1.

The catering industry recorded 8,527 industrial accidents, a fall of 16%. The accident rate per 1,000 workers also fell 9.4% to 49.6.

The number of confirmed occupational diseases fell from 364 to 258, with the incidence rate per 100,000 workers down from 14.8 to 10.9.

Hard work brings improvement

Permanent Secretary for Economic Development & Labour Matthew Cheung said Hong Kong's safety performance at work continued to improve as a result of the concerted efforts of all parties concerned including the Government, employers, employees, contractors and safety professionals.

He said the Labour Department has been conducting a month-long intensive blitz operation covering all construction sites involving erection, dismantling and use of truss-out bamboo scaffolds since March 15. Up to April 8, 615 sites had been inspected.

Since March 8, the department has also been checking the safety of lift and escalator workers. The campaign will run for six weeks and is targeted at all construction sites with lift and escalator installation, alteration, maintenance and repair works of lifts and escalators in existing residential estates and commercial buildings. As at April 8, the department had inspected 770 lift and escalator installation and maintenance work sites.

It has also strengthened co-operation with property management companies to obtain the schedules for lift maintenance and the use of truss-out bamboo scaffolding in renovating buildings' external walls as soon as possible to follow up on safety matters.

Cargo and container areas also checked

The department carried out a Hong Kong-wide cargo and container handling safety campaign in February and March.

Officers inspected workplaces in container terminals and yards, warehouses and cargo handling areas to ensure the proprietors and workers had taken appropriate safety measures.

A total of 1,188 cargo and container workplaces were inspected. So far, 100 improvement notices and 20 suspension notices have been issued in the three special operations. A total of 118 prosecutions were taken out against contractors failing to comply with safety legislation.

Mr Cheung said despite the improvement in safety performance, the Government will keep up its efforts in minimising the accident toll.