There were 4,375 industrial accidents in the catering industry in the first half of 2006, up 4.4% over the same period of 2005, Permanent Secretary for Economic Development & Labour Matthew Cheung says.

Speaking at the Catering Industry Safety Award Scheme ceremony today, Mr Cheung said the accident rate per 1,000 employees in the first half of 2006 stood at 44.8, down 0.3% on the same period of 2005.

Expressing concern over the rising trend, he said although work accidents in the catering sector were mostly of a minor nature, people should not take things lightly.

Publicity drive

"In addition to legislation and enforcement as well as training and education, we are dedicated to launching publicity and promotional schemes on occupational health and safety in a bid to raise the safety and health awareness of stakeholders in the catering industry and to reduce the accident toll to a minimum," he added.

The catering industry recorded 12,549 industrial accidents in 1999 and the accident rate per 1,000 workers was 66.9. The number of accidents dropped to 8,902 in 2005 and the accident rate per 1,000 workers decreased to 47.3.

"Although the accident figures in the catering industry recorded a significant downward trend from 1999 to 2005, the number of work injuries in the catering industry topped all trades for the past six years. The number was even higher than the high-risk construction industry. This situation warrants our concern," Mr Cheung said.

Employees' active participation

He called on employees at all levels of the catering industry to actively participate in safety work, as an individual's safe conduct and proper work attitude are an essential element in fostering an organisation's safety culture.

The Labour Department has joined with relevant bodies to organise publicity and promotion activities on occupational safety and health to raise frontline staff's awareness.