Hong Kong cannot afford to lag behind on workplace safety or suicide prevention
Paul Yip calls on all stakeholders in the community to create a culture of accountability and ownership to address the high rates of construction site fatalities in the city and prevent student suicide
I recently attended a summit in Sydney on zero suicides, a global movement to improve health care systems towards that goal. Among participants from 16 nations, a presentation by Lend Lease, on reducing fatalities at construction sites, stood out.
The company leadership at Lend Lease adopts a “global minimum requirements” system to ensure physical and operational safety standards, supported by localised guidelines. They have effective governance in which the online safety compliance reporting system is customised to identify major areas of risk.
One worker killed and two injured in Hong Kong construction site fall
Data is collected to provide timely monitoring, manage risks and share lessons learned. Education and training ensures each employee and third party, including contractors, receives technical training to work safely. Safety management is continuously monitored, audited and reviewed to ensure it remains effective and aligned with best practices. Their efforts have seen the number of fatalities reduced to zero, and they are moving beyond that to prevent non-fatal injuries.
Sometimes, their minimum requirements for safety are higher than the local standard and could lead to higher operating costs. But they would rather lose some business than be involved in projects that do not comply with their minimum requirements.