IN his letter headlined, ''A risky cleaning procedure'' (South China Morning Post, January 10), Mr D. R. Suff raised safety concerns at the recent use of a bosun's chair for cleaning/maintenance work to the exterior of the Science Museum.
He also implied that the Government's maintenance contract - which permitted such use - was flouting the safety regulations and encouraging practices which would not be tolerated by the Labour Department's safety inspectors on private sector buildings orconstruction sites.
As a starting point, I would assure Mr Suff that all government contracts require their contractors to fully comply with current safety regulations relating to building and construction site works.
Equally, the on-site operations of ''government contractors'' receive the same scrutiny from Labour Department inspectors as their private sector counterparts do - and enforcement action is taken against them for infractions of the regulations! In respect of the regulations relevant to this case, the Construction Sites (Safety) Regulations, the use of a ''boatswain's chair'' (as referred to in Regulation 38I) is not prohibited, although not encouraged.
The chair system is permitted for limited application, that is, when suspended scaffolding is not reasonably practical or when the work is of short duration.
The regulation sets safety requirements for the use of the chair system in such situations and these cover, inter alia, the soundness and maintenance condition of the system and components, the use of both safety belt and independent life-line by the occupant, and supervision by a competent person of the installation and use of the system. Whilst I believe that this branch's maintenance contractor did meet the requirements of the regulations in respect of the use of the chair system for the cleaning worksat the Science Museum, Mr Suff's letter did bring to light the fact that the contractor did not provide temporary barriers and ''Work Overhead'' notices at ground level to safeguard passers-by.