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Safe & Healthy Estate In Hong Kong, the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance enacted in May 1997 extends the safety and health protection of employees at work to majority of economic activities. The safety and health matters associated with estate management and the construction and maintenance works in estates are also brought under the control of the Ordinance. Same as other organizations, estate management companies should develop their own safety and health management system to ensure the safety and health of estate management staff, residents and visitors in estates. A safe and healthy estate environment can educate citizen in health and safety at work. This can enhance the development of a positive health and safety culture within our community. The concept of Safe and Healthy Estate is originated from Hong Kong Safe Community Project. It recognizes the importance and need of safety and health to the housing estates, including public and private estates, and endeavors to enhance the safety and health awareness of residents and workforce in the estates via community level for cultivating a safety culture eventually. It also promotes the affiliation amongst estate management, owners’ organization, residents and community organizations to provide a safe, healthy and harmonious working and living environment for all people inside the estates . Accreditation of Hong Kong Safe & Healthy Estate The Guidelines for Hong Kong Safe & Healthy Estate Accreditation Scheme prepared by the Occupational Safety and Health Council (OSHC) aims at encouraging estates to establish their own safety and health management system with continuous improvement.
The Occupational Safety and Health Council has launched the “Hong Kong Safe and Healthy Estate Accreditation Scheme” and prepared the Guidelines for Hong Kong Safe & Healthy Estate Accreditation Scheme to encourage more estates to adopt the safe and healthy estate programme. Estate management companies can develop their own safety and health management system according to these guidelines and assess the management system by using the attached free assessment programme for continual improvement in safety and health performance. The estate can apply for the accreditation when their management system is ready for assessment. The estate's management system will be assessed by the assessor(s) of OSHC and accreditation certificate will be issued to the estate if it meets the performance criteria specified in the guidelines. If interested in participating the scheme, please complete the reply slip and the guideline will be sent to you upon receipt of your request. Application for the Accreditation Scheme The application for the accreditation scheme is welcome to all estates including both public housing estates and private residential estates. Those estates interested to join the scheme should fill in the application form or directly contact Mr. Ray Tsui (Tel: 3106 5665) or Ms. Helen Lam (Tel: 2116 5603) of the Occupational Safety and Health Council (or email: estate@oshc.org.hk) for details. Application for the accreditation scheme is free of charge. |