With the start of the rainy and typhoon season, construction contractors and container handling yard proprietors are remind to keep an eye on weather conditions and adopt appropriate contingency measures in times of inclement weather to ensure workers' occupational safety and health.

They should also provide staff with personal protective equipment such as safety helmets, waterproof safety boots and raincoats.

To provide practical guidelines of work arrangements, the Labour Department has published a Code of Practice in times of Typhoons and Rainstorms. Some of the safety measures include the following:

* when the weather becomes unsettled, engineering staff on sites should ensure that all scaffoldings and hoardings are secured and all canvas removed;

* proprietors of container handling yards should take special precautions such as limiting the stacking height of containers and using stacking fittings or lashings to stabilise the containers, in particular the exposed rows;

* employers should ask employees to suspend work and provide a safe place for them to take temporary shelter when the weather turns unstable, and work should only be resumed when the weather conditions permit;

* when the weather is clear, contractors and container yard proprietors should check site conditions thoroughly and carry out the necessary repairs or rectifications to ensure site safety before work resumes.

Copies of the code are available at the department's Labour Relations Divisional Offices or online here. For enquiries on occupational safety, call the Safety & Health Advisory Telephone Enquiry Service on 2559 2297.