Department of Real Estate and Construction The University of Hong Kong 10 years of Construction Safety Measures in Hong Kong: Lessons Learned? CIIHK Conference

Department of Real Estate and ConstructionThe University of Hong Kong

10 years of Construction Safety Measures in Hong Kong:

Lessons Learned?

CIIHK Conference 2007

Never Safe Enough: A Wider Look at Construction Health and Safety

Professor Steve Rowlinson (盧連新 )Department of Real Estate and Construction,

The University of Hong Kong


Location and Share of Global GDP 1999

Africa Africa GDP:1.9% GDP:1.9% Pop:794MPop:794M

AsiaAsia GDP:24.2% GDP:24.2% Pop:3,495MPop:3,495M

Latin America Latin America and Caribbean and Caribbean

GDP:4.0% GDP:4.0% Pop:519MPop:519M

Northern Northern AmericaAmerica

GDP:31.7GDP:31.7% %

Pop:314MPop:314M Middle EastMiddle EastGDP:4.0% GDP:4.0% Pop:188MPop:188M

Eastern Europe& RussiaEastern Europe& RussiaGDP:3.0% GDP:3.0% Pop:307MPop:307M

WesternEuropeWesternEuropeGDP:31.3% GDP:31.3% Pop:422MPop:422M

1999 (GDP) / 2000 (Population)


Location and Share of Global GDP

Africa Africa GDP: 3.3 % GDP: 3.3 %

Pop: 800 M, 12.5%Pop: 800 M, 12.5%

Asia Asia GDP: 34.5 % GDP: 34.5 %

Pop: 3,531 M, 55.2%Pop: 3,531 M, 55.2%

Central & Central & South AmericaSouth America GDP: 7.5 % GDP: 7.5 %

Pop: 537 M, 8.4%Pop: 537 M, 8.4%

North AmericaNorth AmericaGDP: 21.3 %GDP: 21.3 %

Pop: 333 M, 5.2%Pop: 333 M, 5.2% Middle EastMiddle East

GDP: 3.1 % GDP: 3.1 % Pop: 269 M, 4.2%Pop: 269 M, 4.2%

Eastern Europe & RussiaEastern Europe & RussiaGDP: 7.2 % GDP: 7.2 %

Pop: 467 M, 7.3%Pop: 467 M, 7.3%

Western EuropeWestern EuropeGDP: 21.4 % GDP: 21.4 %

Pop: 403 M, 6.3%Pop: 403 M, 6.3%

OceaniaOceaniaGDP: 1.7 % GDP: 1.7 %

Pop: 26 M, 0.4%Pop: 26 M, 0.4%

Source : World Economic Outlook 2005, International Monetary Fund.


Researcher at play

Is this d

ang

erou

s?

Is this safe?


Economic and Demographic Indicators at Year 2004

Source : World Development Indicators Database, World Bank.

country Population (m) GDP/head (US$) Accident rate (per 1000 workers)

USA 293.5 39,752 63

UK 59.4 36,039 9.5

Japan 127.8 36,187 1.8

Australia 20.1 31,375 25

EU 307.4 30,480 72

Singapore 4.3 24,641 8

New Zealand 4.3 24,641 32

Hong Kong 6.8 23,814 60

Malaysia 25.2 4,672 7

Thailand 62.4 2,621 29

China 1,296.5 1,272 0.05

Indonesia 217.6 1,184 --

Vietnam 82.2 550 19 or more


Economic and Demographic Indicators at Year 2004

Source : World Development Indicators Database, World Bank.

country Population (m) GDP/head (US$) Accident rate (per 1000 workers)

USA 293.5 39,752 63

UK 59.4 36,039 9.5

Japan 127.8 36,187 1.8

Australia 20.1 31,375 25

EU 307.4 30,480 72

Singapore 4.3 24,641 8

New Zealand 4.3 24,641 32

Hong Kong 6.8 23,814 60

Malaysia 25.2 4,672 7

Thailand 62.4 2,621 29

China 1,296.5 1,272 0.05

Indonesia 217.6 1,184 --

Vietnam 82.2 550 19 or more


Accidents per 1,000 Construction Workers

Japan & UK : over 3 day non-fatal injuries


Accidents and Initiatives


Safety initiatives in HK (1)1994 Safety Management System

1994 Pay for Safety Scheme

1994 Performance Assessment Scoring System

1994 Safety Plan

1995 Consultation Paper on Self-Regulatory SMS

1996 Green Card Scheme

1997 Construction Sites (Safety) Regulations

1997 Factories & Industrial Undertakings Regulations

1997 Occupational Safety & Health Ordinance Cap509

1998 Construction Site Safety Manual & Handbook

1998 Site Supervision Plan System


Safety initiatives in HK (2)1998 Occupational Safety & Health Regulation

1999 Factories & Industrial Undertaking (Amendment) Ordinance

2000 PASS (Revised to include PFSS provision)

2000 Contractor Performance Index System

2000 Code of Practice for Site Safety Supervision

2001 Automatic Suspension from Tendering System

2002 Site Safety Cycle

2002 Factories & Industrial Undertakings (Safety Management) Reg

2002 Code pf Practice on Safety Management

2003 Construction Site (Safety) (Amendment) Reg

2005 Safety Partnering Programme


Source: Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

Hong Kong's GDP from Construction

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

80,000

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

HK

$ m

illio

ns


Source: Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

Hong Kong's GDP from Construction

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

80,000

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

HK

$ m

illio

ns

Hong Kong Accident Rate


One country

Two systems


One country

Two systems


One country

Two systems


Researcher at work

Is this d

ang

erou

s?

Is this safe?


Implementation

• Self regulation

• Legislation

• or

• Certification










Traditional Adversarial Approach

Long Term Benefits


Summary

• Current green card system is not effective• Communication is a problem in safety

improvement • Drivers for improvement are opposing:

– Business issues– Ethical issues– Social responsibility

• Institutional barriers exist to a concerted effort


Summary

• Education and training at tertiary and professional levels are inadequate

• Potential issues which can be used as drivers for improvements: – Corporate social responsibility– Developer attitude– Client insurance– Design management– Work life balance– “Can do” attitude– Use of data– Procurement systems – Relationship management – Honest auditing – focus on improvement


Issues arising

• Maturity

• Benchmarking

• Toolkit

• Competence framework

• CDM

• Engagement


Organisational Maturity


Benchmarking Safety

Steve Rowlinson, Jason Matthews, Brian Atkin


Why Benchmark?

Competitive advantage -“an external focus on internal activities, functions or operations in order to achieve continuous improvement”

Safety issues:


Safety supports company processes

Cost reduction & increased efficiency

Strategic


•human resource management

•implementation & procedures

•organisational management

•specific project objectives

SMS Inputs


0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Human Resource Management

Specific Project Objectives

Organisational Management

Implementation and Procedures



SafetytoolkitSafety toolkit


Construction safety competence framework

Staff competence

Culture actions

Safety culture Leading to

Performance


Initiatives

• Design management

• Worker engagement


Issues

• Legislate or manage


Issues

• Corporate manslaughter


Issues

• CSR


Issues

• CIC


A new business paradigm

• Safe sites are profitable sites?

• or vice versa?


Documents

Department of Real Estate and Construction The University of Hong Kong 10 years of Construction Safety Measures in Hong Kong: Lessons Learned? CIIHK Conference