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Protection against Accidents (Dockers) Convention (Revised), 1932 (No. 32) - Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (RATIFICATION: 1997)

DISPLAYINEnglish - French - Spanish

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Part V of the report form. Application in practice. The Committee notes the information on the number of inspections carried out during the period of June 2012 to May 2019, in particular that the Labour Department initiated a total of 51 prosecutions for breaches of the relevant legislation relating to cargo handling on shore. As a result of these inspections, 28 convictions were secured. The Marine Department initiated a total of 495 prosecutions for breaches of the legislation relating to cargo handling on board vessels, out of which 463 convictions were secured. The Committee also notes the statistical information on reported accidents in cargo handling operations, comparing the periods of June 2012 to May 2017 with June 2017 to May 2019 with regard to: (i) dock work on ships/lighters, where the number of fatal accidents fell from 15 to 4 and the number of non-fatal accidents fell from 515 to 144; and (ii) dock work on wharves, where the number of fatal accidents fell from 1 to 0 and non-fatal accidents fell from 26 to 13. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing statistical information on the number of inspections carried out, the number and nature of contraventions reported, the number and causes of occupational accidents reported, as well as any relevant information on the implementation of the Convention in practice.

Prospects for the ratification of the most up-to-date Convention. The Committee takes this opportunity to encourage the Government to follow up on the decision adopted by the Governing Body at its 328th Session (October–November 2016) approving the recommendations of the Standards Review Mechanism Tripartite Working Group, and to consider ratifying the Occupational Safety and Health (Dock Work) Convention, 1979 (No. 152), which is the most up-to-date instrument in this subject area. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on any measures taken in this regard.

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Part V of the report form. Application in practice. The Committee notes with interest that recent legislative changes, including the introduction of mandatory safety training required for persons engaged in shipboard cargo handling to improve their safety knowledge and awareness, and the issuance of a new code of practice for shipboard container handling, appear to have had a significant positive impact on the application of the Convention in practice. Compared to the previous reporting period the number of fatal accidents fell from 44 to 14, the number of non-fatal accidents from 2,042 to 931, and the number of miscellaneous cases from 133 to 112 during the reporting period (1 June 2007 to 31 March 2012). The Committee also notes the information that the Occupational Safety Officers of the Labour Department initiated ten prosecutions for breach of relevant legislation relating to cargo handling on shore, and that the Marine Industrial Safety Section of the Marine Department initiated 164 prosecutions for breaches of relevant legislation relating to cargo handling on board vessels. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the application of the Convention in practice, including information on the outcome of the prosecutions initiated by the Occupational Safety Officers of the Labour Department and of the Marine Industrial Safety Section of the Marine Department, respectively.

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The Committee notes the detailed report of the Government including information on recent legislative changes which give further effect to the Convention. These changes include amendments of the Dangerous Goods (Shipping) Regulations, Chapter 295, in 2005, and the Shipping and Port Control Ordinance, Chapter 313 (until 21 July 2007). They also include the adoption on 2 January 2007 of: the Shipping and Port Control (Works) Regulation; the Merchant Shipping (Local Vessels) Ordinance, Chapter 548; the Merchant Shipping (Local Vessels) (Works) Regulation, Chapter 548 I; the Merchant Shipping (Local Vessels) (Safety and Survey) Regulation, Chapter 548 G; and the Merchant Shipping (Local Vessels) (Certification and Licensing) Regulation, Chapter 548 D, and the consequential repeal of the Shipping and Port Control (Cargo Handling) Regulations, Chapter 313 B; the Merchant Shipping (Launches and Ferry Vessels) Regulations, Chapter 313 E; and the Merchant Shipping (Miscellaneous Craft) Regulations, Chapter 313 F. The Committee also notes that loadshifting machines are now controlled under the Industrial Undertaking (Loadshifting Machinery) Regulation, 2006.

Part V of the report form. Application in practice. The Committee welcomes the detailed statistical information provided, including information on reported accidents and their causes. As regard dock work on ships/lighters for the period 1 June 2002 to 31 March 2007 compared to the period 1 January 1996 to 31 March 2001, the Committee notes that the data seems to indicate a notable increase in the number of fatal accidents (from 33 to 44), a decrease in the overall number of reported non-fatal accidents (from 2,409 to 2,042) and a notable increase of the non-fatal accidents within the miscellaneous category (from 46 to 133). The Committee requests the Government to provide further information on the application in practice of this Convention including detailed information on measures taken or envisaged to address these trends.

The Committee also reminds the Government that the Governing Body has invited the State parties to Convention No. 32 to consider ratification of the Occupational Safety and Health (Dock Work) Convention, 1979 (No. 152), which would automatically entail immediate denunciation of Convention No. 32 (GB.268/LILS/5(Rev.1), paragraphs 99–101). It would also like to draw the Government’s attention to the code of practice recently adopted by the ILO entitled Safety and health in ports (Geneva, 2005), which is available, inter alia, at the ILO web site: www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/safework/cops/english/. The Committee would be grateful if the Government could keep the Office informed of any developments in this respect.

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The Committee notes the detailed report of the Government, as well as the statistics of accidents of dock work on ships/lighters (their causes and broken down by fatal and non-fatal ones), of dock work on wharves (their causes and broken down by fatal and non-fatal ones), as well as of dock work on wharves by types of accidents and their effects (injury and death). This information is particularly useful in evaluating the manner the Convention is applied in practice in the region, in conformity with Part V of the report form.