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Council Meetings (Question): Measures to Prevent Accidents Arising From Window Cleaning (2015.01.21)

MR CHAN KIN-POR (in Chinese): President, it has been reported that in recent years, accidents have happened from time to time in which people sustained injuries or even died as a result of falling from heights when cleaning windows. The causes for such accidents include that people fell from heights because they had lost balance due to overstretching of their bodies from windows, or people fell from heights together with dilapidated windows which had been dislodged as the latter could not support their body weights. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) whether it has compiled statistics on the number and resultant casualties of accidents in which people fell from heights when cleaning windows; if it has, of the statistics in the past five years; if not, whether it will collect such statistics in future;

(2) given that a number of private buildings are not included in the Mandatory Window Inspection Scheme (MWIS) at present, of the measures that the authorities have put in place to ensure window safety of such buildings;

(3) of the procedures adopted by the authorities at present for inspecting and repairing windows of public rental housing (PRH) blocks; and the monitoring measures in place to ensure that the inspection procedures comply with the relevant safety requirements; and

(4) of the current publicity work through which people are reminded of the need to pay attention to safety when cleaning windows; whether the publicity channels include television announcements in the public interest, or posters posted in the lift lobbies of buildings; the amount of resources deployed by the Government for conducting the relevant publicity work in each of the past five years; whether it has plans to allocate more resources this year to conduct large-scale territory-wide publicity activities with a view to enhancing the coverage of the publicity work, or to create a cartoon character similar to the “Big Waster” in the Food Wise Hong Kong Campaign in order to enhance public awareness about safety in window cleaning in a lively manner; if it does, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

SECRETARY FOR DEVELOPMENT (in Chinese): President, Mr CHAN’s question touches on matters under the purview of different bureaux and departments. My reply to the four-part question, in consultation with the relevant bureaux and departments, is as follows:

(1) Relevant departments have not maintained statistics on accidents in which members of the public fell from heights when cleaning windows. According to the records of the Labour Department, between 2010 and 2014, there were four accidents in which employees fell from heights when cleaning windows, involving four deceased employees.

(2) The Buildings Department (BD) fully implemented the Mandatory Building Inspection Scheme and the MWIS on 30 June 2012 to tackle the problem of building neglect at source. According to the Buildings Ordinance (BO) (Cap. 123), MWIS applies to private buildings aged 10 years or above (except domestic buildings not exceeding three storeys). The BD may issue a statutory notice to the owners of these buildings, requiring them to appoint a qualified person within a specified time frame to carry out a prescribed inspection and supervise the prescribed repair works found necessary of the windows of the building.

Building owners are responsible for properly maintaining and managing their properties. We encourage owners to carry out regular inspections and repairs of their windows as necessary on their own initiative to ensure safety. Even if a building is not included in MWIS, where the BD has identified dangerous or defective windows, it will take enforcement action under BO, including issuing a repair order to the owner requiring him to carry out repair works, and instigating prosecution against owners who have not complied with the repair orders. The BD, the Hong Kong Housing Society (HKHS) and the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) have also launched various schemes to provide financial and technical support to building owners in need to assist them in maintaining and repairing their properties including windows.

(3) The Hong Kong Housing Authority attaches great importance to building safety, including window safety, of its PRH flats. While MWIS does not cover PRH flats, the Total Maintenance Scheme of the Housing Department (HD) includes window inspection which is conducted by trained inspectors. If there is a need to repair the windows, the case will be referred to contractors registered under BO. The HD will also supervise the repair works to ensure its quality.

(4) The BD has launched television and radio Announcements of Public Interest (APIs) in respect of window safety, published a booklet Important Notes about Window Safety, and so on, to provide practical information about proper maintenance and repair of aluminium windows, minor works relating to windows and MWIS to the public for reference. The Important Notes about Window Safety booklet has been uploaded to the BD’s website. The BD will regularly arrange the APIs to be broadcast on television, radio and public transport vehicles. It will also launch newspaper supplements and issue letters to owners’ corporations (OCs) and mutual aid committees to remind building owners and occupiers to pay attention to safety when cleaning windows. Moreover, the BD will organize large-scale publicity events for members of the public such as “Building Safety Carnival” and “Building Safety Week” to enhance their understanding of the importance of building and window safety through diversified activities. To complement the launch of MWIS, the BD, in collaboration with the HKHS and the URA, will organize district briefing sessions for owners of target buildings throughout the territory to explain the details of the scheme. The BD will also attend residents’ meetings and seminars arranged or organized by district organizations or OCs to publicize MWIS in the community and answer residents’ enquiries. The BD will continue to promote window safety through different channels. The relevant work is part of the overall duties of the BD in promoting building safety and there is no breakdown of the expenditure for the related work. As regards whether publicity would be carried out by means of a cartoon character, the BD will adopt an open mind in considering the suggestion.

Concerning PRH, through various channels, the HD from time to time reminds tenants of the proper use of windows and draws their attention to the safety issues when cleaning windows, including posting up notices, holding estate activities, distributing newsletters, and so on. In order to prevent accidents, the HD also reminds tenants to immediately report any damages to windows in their units to the estate offices for repair.

Separately, the Occupational Safety and Health Council (OSHC) has issued publications relating to the work of domestic helpers, which covers safety measures for household window cleaning. The OSHC will also continue to organize regularly courses on working-at-height safety for household workers and domestic helpers and publicity activities to enhance their safety awareness of window cleaning.

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