I REFER to the letter 'Site safety' from Judy Yan (South China Morning Post, November 10) concerning the unsafe conditions of a construction site at Tai Po. Contractors are required to provide a safe place of work for workers on a construction site under the Construction Sites (safety) Regulations. There are specific safety requirements on the sound construction of scaffolds and the provision of a proper working platforms with suitable guard rails. Whenever a worker is found working dangerously on a scaffold without a proper working platform, legal action will be taken against the contractor. The same rule applies to the Tai Po site, which has been regularly inspected under our inspection programme. The site management has been warned many times. The company has been prosecuted several times for failing to observe safety requirements, including the provision of a safe working platform. Apart from legal enforcement, the Factory Inspectorate Division of the department is tackling the problem in various ways, such as conducting safety training courses, promoting industrial safety through the mass media, propagating the concept of safety management, launching site safety campaigns, publishing safety guide books and safety codes of practice, assisting contractors in forming codes of practice, assisting contractors in forming safety committees and introducing legislation. The Labour Department will continue its efforts to bring down the accident figures, and we need the participation of the contractors and the workers alike to make our construction sites a safer place of work.
