Speech by PSLW at Quality, Safety and Environmental Awards Presentation Ceremony for West Island Line and Express Rail Link Projects (English only)

Following is the speech by the Permanent Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Paul Tang Kwok-wai, at the Quality, Safety and Environmental Awards Presentation Ceremony for the West Island Line and Express Rail Link Projects today (August 13):

Mr Chew, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It gives me great pleasure to join you here today at the Quality, Safety and Environmental (QSE) Awards Presentation Ceremony for the West Island Line and Express Rail Link Projects of the MTR Corporation (MTRC).

Hong Kong takes pride in its highly adaptable and skilled construction workforce, our valuable asset and a driving force for our development. However, construction is a high-risk industry, with consistently higher incidence of serious work injuries than other trades.

For years, protecting the occupational safety and health of our construction workforce has been an important item on the Government's labour agenda. Yet, the effort of the Government alone is not enough. Safety and health at work must be a "shared responsibility" of all, from clients to contractors, from employers to employees, and from trades associations, unions and professional bodies to the public sector.

We have, over the past decade, witnessed sustained and improvement in the safety performance of the construction industry, from around one in seven workers being hurt in 2000 down to around one in 18 in 2009. Such encouraging development has been the result of the concerted efforts of stakeholders. Nevertheless, there is no room for complacence. One life lost is too many. Every effort must continue to be made to bring the accident toll further down.

The commencement of major infrastructural projects in the coming years will bring us new safety challenges. The Government and all stakeholders will need to work in unison to brave these challenges ahead of us.

Carrying millions of passengers everyday, the MTR is renowned as one of the world's leading railways for its safety record, reliability, customer service and cost efficiency. While pursuing business excellence, MTRC also attaches great importance to work safety in its construction projects. Among various initiatives promoting the occupational safety and health of its employees as well as that of its contractors, the QSE Awards Scheme demonstrates further the Corporation's commitment to ensuring a safer work environment and inculcating a safety culture for development projects under its charge.

Finally, I offer my warmest congratulations to all awardees today and wish the QSE Awards Scheme every success.

Thank you.

Ends/Friday, August 13, 2010