The Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) strives to build a harmonious and thriving community with the concepts of inclusivity, quality living, community engagement and public spaces for social interaction and leisure. Internally, we put forth dedicated efforts in providing a safe and rewarding workplace with development opportunities for our staff.
To promote social interaction and neighbourliness in new estates, the HA plans and designs common areas and ancillary facilities based on site characteristics.The HA also engages the District Councillors and local community in the process of planning, design, construction and flat intake for all new developments to obtain suggestions and feedbacks on their expectations and needs, via channels such as engagement workshops, forums and meetings.
90.2%
1.69 per 1,000 PRH flats
The HA continued to uphold socio-spatial equity when planning and designing new housing developments. For example, we adopt universal design in modular flats and communal facilities, plan integrated community play areas for all ages and abilities, incorporate in-flat accessibility facilities, and implement barrier-free access to block entrances, strategic estate facilities and transportation nodes.
Ramps and tactile paths at external area to enhance accessibility
Multi-sensory map provided at major pedestrian entrance to estate facilities
Shuttle lifts are incorporated in projects to enhance pedestrian connectivity to different platforms within the estates
Outdoor space designed for use by all age groups at the same time
The HA works closely with contractors and service providers to safeguard the occupational safety and health (OSH) of our staff members and contractors on the construction sites.
To enable effective OSH risk management, the HA continued to implement the Safety Management System and uphold workplace safety as stipulated in the Safety and Health Policy. We strictly comply with the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance, Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance and other applicable laws and regulations of our site operations.
We continued to alert the works contractors of the requirement to gain accreditation with ISO 45001 within the 3.5-year grace period from 12 March 2018, and monitor the listing requirements on safety management system, with a view to identifying further enhancement. A reminder was issued to works contractors during the year on replacement of OHSAS 18001 by ISO 45001 in 2021. Over 90% works contractor employees are covered under OHSAS 18001 or ISO 45001.
In addition, we continue to monitor the OSH performances for our staff members and work contracts to ensure effective accident prevention. During the year, we achieved zero fatal accident, and the accident rates on HA’s new works and maintenance works sites were 5.2 and 5.3 per 1,000 workers respectively, which were both far lower than those of the Hong Kong construction industry.
The performance statistics, number of construction employees, number of industrial fatality, number of accidents of HA works contracts and Hong Kong construction industry are presented at HA Site Safety Website.
Site Safety Checking by HD Site Staff
To ensure the staff and workers of our contractors have updated knowledge on construction safety best practices, we provided them with multiple supports and services. During the year, we issued safety and health alerts, organised a Site Safety Forum, and site safety seminars on topical issues, and prepared articles to disseminate messages of safety events through HA Site Safety Website to promote safety awareness and practices.
The Site Safety Forum for Works Contracts and Property Services Contracts 2019 was jointly organised by the HA, Occupational Safety and Health Council (OSHC) and Construction Industry Council (CIC), which attracted about 600 participants, including works contractors, property management agents, cleansing and security service providers, as well as HA works and estate management staff. Site safety culture was promoted through presentations by industry representatives and Questions & Answers sessions. The participants could also get the latest safety information through the exhibition area.
Safety Forum for Works Contracts and Property Services Contracts 2019 with the theme of “Caring Culture for Safe Work Practice”
We continued to offer training programmes to our site staff to enhance their site safety awareness when conducting safety inspections on construction sites. Newly recruited or cross- posted professional grade, technical grade and site staff are required to attend the Site Safety PASSPORT Training Programme organised by OSHC. Staff members who have completed the Programme are required to attend the online refresher course every five years to upkeep the competency of the latest site safety practice and regulations for discharging routine duties. We also provided site safety trainings for Construction Industry Safety Training Certificate (commonly known as “Green Card”) and refresher courses for Green Card renewal to refresh and deepen the safety awareness of our staff members.
The HA continued to engage with stakeholders to promote best safety practices and formulate new or revised specification requirements, including application of Safety Climate Index and work safety behaviour programme and accreditation of safety supervisor. We also continued to maintain the Site Safety website with the latest site safety information and multi-media materials provided by the CIC, OSHC and the Labour Department.
To avoid occupational hazards caused by miscommunication, we continued to work with the OSHC to promote the development and implementation of standardised Pointing-and-Calling oral commands by contractors in high-risk activities through safety audit. The use of pointing and confirmed slogans can improve coordination on construction sites and prevent accidents arising from human errors or negligence.
Stakeholders can access to the latest site safety information and multi-media materials on HA Site Safety website
To monitor the safety performance of the new building works and maintenance projects, the HA has the Performance Assessment Scoring System (PASS), Independent Safety Auditing System and Surprise Safety Inspection Programme (SSIP) in place. By appointing OSHC as our consultant, we obtained advices on good practices, guidelines, specifications, standards and alerts to promote site safety under Independent Safety Auditing System and SSIP. The identified hazards are reported in the audit reports of which are sent to contractor and project teams for immediate rectification actions.
The random selection mechanism of Accredited Safety Auditors was enhanced by relating to their performance grading for implementation from 1 April 2020 onwards. We are in the process of reviewing regulatory actions against contractors on account of unsatisfactory performance in safety audit and SSIP.
The Housing Department Site Safety Sub-committee (HDSSSC) meets bi-annually with the Development Bureau, Labour Department, Buildings Department, OSHC, CIC and construction-related associations and unions and HA representatives from both DCD and EMD to review, appraise and advise site safety management measures for both new work construction contracts and maintenance & improvement (M&I) works contracts of the HA.
The HA has implemented the Safety Alert Module under the Development and Construction Site Mobile System (DCSMS) Phase 2 for reporting industrial accident/ incidents on new works construction sites.
Once an accident or incident occurred on site, HA new works contractor is required to submit a preliminary report within the following day to alert top management of HA through the Safety Alert Module of the DCSMS. The contractor should then submit the detail accident/incident report through the Safety Alert Module for vetting by the HA. The submitted records would be generated as accident statistics report for future monitoring.
The HA encourages our contractors to participate in safety campaigns and awards, keeping them abreast of the latest industry trends and best practices and enhancing their current OSH management approach.
The HA’s contractors received a total of 11 awards in the 20th Construction Safety Forum and Award Presentation Ceremony
To meet the high housing service quality and public housing production demand, the HA established the DCD Academy in 2016. The DCD Academy is a knowledge-based community which offers timely, continuous and comprehensive training to in-house staff and external participants engaged in public housing development and construction.
