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Our staff carry out duties in a wide range of working environments, from landfills to laboratories. Safety and health therefore are priorities and matters of great importance to the senior management.
Our Occupational Safety and Health Policy Statement is as follows:
"We are committed to achieving a high standard of occupational safety and health for all our staff and protecting others who may be affected by our activities. We shall provide the necessary resources and employ sound management practices to ensure a safe and healthy working environment, and shall provide information, guidelines and training for staff as required to promote their safety awareness and to ensure that they are competent to perform duties in safe and healthy manner. Also, we shall pursue continuous improvement in safety and health by regularly reviewing our performance. Promoting occupational safety and health is the shared responsibility between management and staff. All staff are expected to co-operate in achieving the above objective and to assume responsibility in protecting their own safety and health as well as those of other staff members and others who may be affected by our activities." (Endorsed in 2024 by the Director of Environmental Protection.)
Development of Departmental Safety Management System
To enhance communication and promotion of safety and health, the safety committee was reformed in May 1999 as the Departmental Safety and Health Committee, with members from staff representatives and the management. Special working groups were formed from time to time to work on specific safety and health issues and to prepare safety guidelines for use by staff.
In 1999, we were invited by Civil Services Bureau to join their Pilot Scheme on Safety Management System Implementation for which Occupational Safety and Health Council was appointed as the consultant to assist. The Pilot Scheme was completed in December 2000 after an audit by the Council which concluded that our safety management system had achieved Level 2 standard of the Council's four-level safety management system recognition programme, namely Continual Improvement Safety Programme Recognition of System (CISPROS). The CISPROS certification was renewed in 2008.
Based on recommendations of the Council under the Pilot Scheme, we compiled our Departmental Safety and Health Plan to systematically set out our safety management system covering our objectives, organizational arrangements, resources, practices and plans for implementation of various safety and health programmes. The Plan was issued after endorsement by the Departmental Safety and Health Committee and the management. The Plan is used as basic reference on our safety management practices by both the line management and all staff, and is being implemented in all the Divisions, Groups and Units irrespective of the nature of their activities. Later, the Departmental Environment, Safety and Health Committee was formed by combining the Green Management Committee and the Departmental Safety and Health Committee.
As part of our management system, safety inspections and audits in the workplace are carried out regularly with action plans prepared for improvement works. We continue to arrange safety and health training on various aspects tailored to the particular needs of our staff. Safety reminders and tips are sent to all staff on a daily basis through the internal intranet system.
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