Labour Department Celebrates Safety Achievements at 25th Construction Industry Safety Award Ceremony

Construction Industry Safety Award Scheme enhances awareness of occupational safety and health

The Labour Department (LD) held the 25th Award Presentation Ceremony of the Construction Industry Safety Award Scheme today (May 4) to recognise principal contractors, sub-contractors, site personnel and frontline workers with good performances in the area of occupational safety and health (OSH). The scheme aims at enhancing OSH awareness and fostering a culture of safety in the construction industry.

This year's award scheme received an overwhelming response and achieved several breakthroughs. These included surpassing recent enrolment figures with participation from 259 construction sites. Among them, 101 sub-contractors and 172 safety teams competed for awards in two categories, namely "Construction Sites" and "Safety Teams". Secondly, a new award, Lifting Operation Safety Innovation Award, was introduced in four sub-categories under the "Construction Sites" category, and additional marks were given to construction sites under the sub-category of "Building Sites (Private Sector)" who had joined the Smart Site Safety System Labelling Scheme, encouraging the construction industry to actively apply innovative technologies in OSH. Apart from the award presentation, a fun day was also held today, and a Parent-Child Safety Experience Zone was introduced for the first time, allowing children to operate child-friendly electric construction machinery in a small playground, planting the seeds of OSH in their minds and nurturing future guardians of workplace safety.

Speaking at the ceremony, the Acting Commissioner for Labour, Mr Vincent Fung, said that there was another breakthrough in promoting safety within the scaffolding industry in addition to the aforementioned breakthroughs. After more than a year of efforts, the LD successfully facilitated cross-sectoral collaboration among the scaffolding industry, the insurance industry, the Construction Industry Council (CIC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Council (OSHC). This collaboration led to the inclusion of the Truss-out Scaffolding trade as the 21st designated trade under the Registered Specialist Trade Contractors Scheme. Coupled with the support of the OSH Star Enterprise Scheme by the OSHC, scaffolding contractors can now obtain accreditations in their safety levels further, thereby reducing insurance premiums for scaffolding work. This accreditationwill encourage property owners to select scaffolding contractors with recognised OSH standards and motivate scaffolding contractors to proactively enhance their safety standards.

In recent years, the construction industry has made significant strides in the application of innovative technologies in OSH. The LD has also been promoting the use of these innovative technologies. The revised and now-effective Code of Practice for Safety and Health at Work in Confined Spaces requires proprietors or contractors to adopt technology to record videos at the entrance and exit of confined spaces throughout the entire work period to monitor and ensure the implementation of safety control measures to prevent accidents.

The LD will also put the use of small unmanned aircraft (SUA) on trial this year, serving as "sky eyes" to safeguard occupational safety. These SUAs will provide comprehensive assistance in OSH inspection, accident investigation and evidence collection, ensuring that non-compliant operations are exposed. In future, the LD will also collaborate with the OSHC to organise the second OSH Innovation and Technology Expo, aiming to help the industry access the latest advancements in innovation technologies for OSH.

Inaugurated in 1999, the Construction Industry Safety Award Scheme is co-organised by the LD with 16 organisations, namely the OSHC, the Development Bureau, the Hong Kong Housing Authority, the Occupational Deafness Compensation Board, the CIC, the Pneumoconiosis Compensation Fund Board, the Hong Kong Housing Society, the Property Management Services Authority, the Hong Kong Construction Association, the Hong Kong General Building Contractors Association, the Hong Kong Construction Sub-Contractors Association, the Hong Kong Federation of Electrical and Mechanical Contractors Limited, the Minor Works Contractor Association, the Hong Kong Association of Property Management Companies, the Hong Kong Construction Industry Employees General Union, and the Federation of Hong Kong Electrical and Mechanical Industries Trade Unions. The results of the award scheme will be uploaded to the LD homepage later.

Construction Industry Safety Award Scheme enhances awareness of occupational safety and health Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Construction Industry Safety Award Scheme enhances awareness of occupational safety and health Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Construction Industry Safety Award Scheme enhances awareness of occupational safety and health Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Construction Industry Safety Award Scheme enhances awareness of occupational safety and health Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Construction Industry Safety Award Scheme enhances awareness of occupational safety and health Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

AFCD takes stringent actions on FarmFest stalls suspected of selling non-self-produced agricultural products

Regarding the suspected sale of non-self-produced agricultural products by individual farm stalls during FarmFest 2026, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) today (January 13) issued a stern statement emphasising that it will not tolerate any acts that deceive consumers, and will deal with any such violations seriously. The AFCD has referred case details to the Police and Hong Kong Customs, and is actively assisting law enforcement agencies in their investigations.

In addition, the AFCD will disqualify the farms concerned from participating in the upcoming FarmFest, and is considering a permanent ban on non-compliant farmers from taking part in all future promotional activities organised by the AFCD. To prevent similar incidents from recurring, the AFCD is reviewing to optimise the event's contract terms, including introducing heavy penalties for breaches of contract and a compensation mechanism for claiming reputational damage. The AFCD will also require local agricultural organisations and associations to remind their members to ensure compliance in the sale of their products.

The AFCD has always attached great importance to the quality and origin of local agricultural and fisheries products sold at FarmFest. All participating farmers and fishermen must pass a qualification assessment in advance, including submitting detailed information on the agricultural and fisheries products intended for sale. Prior to FarmFest, AFCD officers will conduct on-site inspections of all participating local farms to record the varieties and quantities of produce in detail, ensuring that products sold during the event are produced by the farms themselves. In this incident, AFCD officers ordered seven stalls suspected of irregularities to cease operation immediately on the second day of the event (January 10), and took action against another stall suspected of irregularities on the last day (January 11).

The AFCD reiterates zero-tolerance attitude towards any violation of FarmFest operation contract terms. The objective of FarmFest is to promote premium local agricultural and fisheries products to the public. The AFCD will strive to uphold the reputation of the event, safeguard the interests of law-abiding local farmers and the general public, and ensure the healthy and sustainable development of the local agricultural and fisheries industry.

Source: AI-found images