As a department engaged in construction activities with an extensive network of contractors, site safety is one of our prime concerns. We promote site safety awareness by conducting in-house safety workshops for contractors, consultants and site supervisory staff. Seven workshops were organised in 2004 with an attendance of 390 people.

Our efforts are rewarded by a site safety record consistently lower than that of the whole Hong Kong Construction Industry (HKCI) in non-fatal and fatal accident rate, and are recognised by winning two awards in the Considerate Contractors Site Award Scheme 2004, organised by the Environment, Transport and Works Bureau. We are determined to keep up the good work and strengthen control on site safety.

Safety promotional posters are displayed at site entrance

A safe working stool for fabricating steel cage

Table 9.3 Resources devoted to environmental works (2002-04)

Occupational Health & Safety

As a responsible employer, we have the obligation to provide a safe and health environment for our employees, people working for us and people who may be affected by our work, and comply with the relevant legislations.

To raise our awareness and knowledge in this area, we arranged our staff to attend various courses by the Occupational Safety and Health Council (OSHC) and the Construction Industry Training Authority (CITA) on occupational safety and health. We also participated in workshops and seminars provided by OSHC, CITA and the Labour Department. Altogether 976 attendants registered at these events.

As part of our restructuring to establish the integrated management system, we are in the process of implementing the requirements of OHSAS 18001 (Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series). This will bring us in line with internationally recognised standard in occupational health and safety.

A morning gathering of workers - exercise and safety briefing

A fire and chemical spill drill for the site workers

A site assembly to promote safety and environmental awareness

A site with excavation commenced

Automatic water spraying system for<br/> dust control

Automatic water spraying system for dust control

A contractor's site meeting briefing workers on the use of chemicals

Employee Training

As a responsible employer, we have provided trainings to the appropriate staff. In 2004, 1293 attendees from different staff levels were sent to a total of 237 courses.

Total Training Hours per Employee Category (2004)

Employee Category Number of Attendees Total Number of Training Hours

Directorate 30 900

Professional 629 5156

Site Staff 506 1488

Technical Grade 103 492

General Grade 25 148

Mosquito Control

We were concerned with the issue of mosquito breeding in 2004, especially the aedes albopictus mosquitoes, responsible for carrying diseases like dengue fever. To address this, we implemented four strategies to control mosquito breeding on our sites. These include preparing the sample tool-box talks on dengue fever to educate the workers via the contractors, conducting weekly independent audit on sites, arranging a checklist as a reference in our intranet to combat mosquito breeding on site, and providing updated information to alert our project staff.

Our audit checklist includes:

Display of posters regarding anti-mosquito breeding;
Control of stagnant water;
Condition of wet areas (eg cleanliness and hygienic of toilets, washing facilities and shower rooms);
General cleanliness and tidiness of site/office/public area (eg free from littering; no unused equipment and temporary works lying around; no over-accumulation of waste; designated containers for collection of refuse; office accommodation with air-conditioning and free from mosquito bite);
Storage of construction materials; and
Provision of facilities (eg enough rubbish bins and collection container; mosquito killing device and insect repellent, etc).

Clearing site drainage system to ensure free flow of water - an anti-mosquito

Clearing site drainage system to ensure free flow of water - an anti-mosquito measure

Daily cleaning of covered walkway surrounding the site

Expansion foam was applied to bamboo nodes to prevent accumulation of stagnant water

Community Work

As a token of our support to society, our voluntary service team has offered services of different nature to the community. Our team of volunteers have helped the elderly in beautifying their homes through minor repairs and interior renovation of public housing units. The elderly deeply appreciated our hard work. Our other activities also include organising a birthday party for the disabled, a series of housewarming visits to elderly homes and rehabilitation centres, festival parties for the disabled, and giving Cantonese opera singing performances.

Apart from giving blood donations, our staff are eager participants in various fundraising activities such as Community Chest Skip Lunch Day and Dress Casual Day, TrailWalker and the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon 2004. The Architectural Services Department and our colleagues have raised a total of $103,180 in 2004. In addition, the Department collected $138,035 donations for the relief of tsunami victims in southern Asia.

Walkathon on the Peak (1)

Walkathon on the Peak

Hong Kong Marathon

ArchSD Volunteer Service Team received souvenirs from Fong Shu Chuen Day Care Centre	ArchSD Volunteer Service Team and student helpers after renovation work for an elderly home
Birthday party for the disabled at Aberdeen Rehabilitation Centre at Tung Wah Group of Hospitals	Carnival talent show
A house warming visit to the elderly centre	Blood donation

Community Work

Community work

Total no. of voluntary work hours carried out by our staff 1360 hours

No. of staff participated in voluntary service 41 out of 1887 total no. of staff

No. of staff received CE’s commendation for voluntary service 1

No. of staff participated in blood donation activities organised by Red Cross More than 100

Social Achievements

Community Work Award

Our colleagues have always been active in helping the community outside of work and receive a number of appreciations in 2004. In December 2004, the Social Welfare Department granted a Gold Award for Voluntary Service to our volunteer service team in appreciation of their contribution of 1360 hours of voluntary service to the community in 2004. In July, our colleague Leung Kam-wa, an active Civil Aid Service volunteer, was awarded the Chief Executive's Commendation for Community Service. In September, welfare organisation Fong Shu Chuen Day Care Centre presented our voluntary service team with a souvenir to mark our contributions. The Hong Kong Red Cross and the Community Chest also presented us with certificates of appreciation in recognition of our donations.

Considerate Contractors Site Award Scheme 2004

The Scheme is organised annually by the Environment, Transport and Works Bureau. In 2004, three of our public works projects won the Considerate Contractors Site Awards. Participants were judged on their site management performance, environmental consciousness, safety, and consideration to neighbourhood and passers-by. In addition, two of our projects won Merit Certificates on Outstanding Waste Management Performance. This category looked at innovativeness and effectiveness of our waste management strategies.

Quality Building Award 2004

An encouraging recognition for our work comes in the form of the Quality Building Award 2004. The Public Health Laboratory Centre and the Sai Ying Pun Community Centre won two Certificates of Merit in the competition. The mission of the Award is to give public recognition to building projects that are constructed under collaborative team spirit over the past two years.

Safe Driving Award 2004

Four of our outstanding motor drivers won the Safe Driving Award 2004. The Award was organised by the Government Logistics Department. To be qualified for the 2004 Award, any one of the 2500 motor drivers, special drivers and chauffeurs in the Civil Service should have good service records and be free of any blame-worthy accident in the last 10 years. Congratulations to them indeed!

Best Developer Award

We are pleased that our endeavour in providing the best to our stakeholders is rewarded with recognition. We are happy to announce that we won the Best Developer Award on the Construction Safety Day, which is a territory-wide event jointly organised by 14 organisations, including the Occupational Health and Safety Council, Labour Department, Environment, Transport and Works Bureau, Hong Kong Housing Authority, Buildings Department, the Provisional Construction Industry Co-ordination Board and other trade associations. The award was a due recognition of our efforts in bringing about effective and useful management systems and practical procedures to enforce the health and safety practices at work sites. All these efforts pay off as we are recognised by the organisations as well as our partners at work.

Indoor Air Quality

Caring for the health and well-being of the occupants in our buildings is part and parcel of our social responsibilities. We seek to achieve good indoor air quality by:

segregating contaminated area from clean area through innovative architectural design;
selecting low VOC emission building materials;
providing adequate fresh air and ventilation for air exchange;
allowing sufficient time for treated air to dilute contaminants in buildings before occupation;
eliminating contaminants such as bacteria, fungi, particulates by filtration;
eliminating microbiological contaminants by micro-organism suppression devices; and
eliminating odour by absorption or oxidation, such as chemical water scrubber, bio-oxygen generator.

We have further invested in the pursuit of satisfactory indoor air quality by procuring more IAQ measuring instruments. In 2004, upon the request of the client, we have issued three "Good Class" IAQ Certificates. Besides this, we require our contractors to conduct IAQ measurements to verify the effectiveness of the mechanical ventilation and air-conditioning installations in controlling indoor air quality.

Long-term Targets Achievement

Long-Term Targets Achievement - Social Dimension

Objectives Targets Measurement Achievement in 2004

Improve occupational health & safety Reduce site accident rate to less than 36 accidents per 1000 workers per year in ArchSD sites Measured in terms of accident per 1,000 workers 23 accidents per 1,000 workers

Organise training for staff Measured in terms of no. of training 7 in-house trainings, 3 open presentations and external workshops attended with 976 staff attendants

Organise training for contractors/ subcontractors Measured in terms of no. of training 3 workshops arranged, attended by 214 contractors staff

Promote staff learning Implement e-learning Measured by no. of e-learning programmes/ packages uploaded to intranet 2 meetings organised. 3 packages uploaded.

Manage staff turnover Ensure strength of the department is maintained at a level of at least 95% of its establishment Measured in terms of fillable vacancies over establishment of the department 1.84%