Last week, we talked about the Government’s measures to increase the productivity of the construction industry, such as the application of “3S” in design and construction, technology applications, encouraging innovation and assisting small and medium contractors. However, Hong Kong’s construction industry is facing many problems including the ageing the workforce, a mismatch of skills and a shortage of new entrants. We need to step up our efforts to address these problems and enhance the manpower resources for the construction industry on various fronts. This work mainly consists of three aspects:

(A) Manpower training
The launch of numerous major public works projects coupled with the need to build a large number of residential, industrial and commercial buildings has generated a keen demand for manpower in the construction industry. In recent years, however, there have not been enough young people joining the industry, resulting in an acute manpower shortage in certain trades. In response we have adopted a multi-pronged approach to train local workers and help them raise their skill levels.

Firstly, the Construction Industry Council (CIC) launched the Enhanced Construction Manpower Training Scheme in 2010, and after years of hard work, its target of training 6 000 semi-skilled workers is expected to be achieved by the end of this year. Secondly, the CIC has implemented the Contractors Cooperative Training Scheme (CCTS) in collaboration with the industry, whereby contractors hire trainees and train them on-site. The CCTS aims to familiarise trainees with the working environment and to acquire on-site experience at an early stage, enabling them to stay and develop their career in the industry after training. Thirdly, we are taking forward the proposed legislative amendments to facilitate the implementation of “designated workers for designated skills” and registration by skills requirements, so as to recognise the skill levels of workers, raise their career status and provide them with a clear career path. Fourth, promotion and publicity work has been enhanced so that young people can learn more about the construction industry. In fact, the wages, career prospects and working environment for construction workers have been improved. Their wages are attractive and stable now. Their work which requires professional knowledge, offers good promotion prospects. The working environment is also safer and cleaner. We have launched the “Build-up publicity campaign” in collaboration with the CIC, and our latest promotional efforts include a new series of TV drama titled “Dreams come true”, which showcases the public the youthful, energetic and professional image of the construction industry.

(B) Site safety
The large volume of works and their tight schedules mean that site safety is all the more important. In the past 10 years or so, site safety has improved significantly, but one fatal accident is still one too many. Last year, we implemented a series of enhanced measures to improve site safety for public works projects, such as strengthening the monitoring of site safety for major infrastructure projects and introducing a performance-based pay for site safety scheme. After years of effort, the accident rate for public works projects has dropped by 80 per cent, from 56.6 per thousand workers in 1996 to 9.7 in 2012.

In 2014, we will continue to organise the Construction Safety Week with the CIC and strive to achieve zero accidents at work sites together with the industry. We will also encourage the industry to enhance both site safety and workers’ health care. Moreover, we have agreed with the industry that the marking scheme for tender evaluation should be amended so that contractors with good safety records will have a better chance of winning a tender for public works projects. We will also study and implement safety measures targeting high risk work and refine guidelines on works and designs to enhance work safety. We believe that more young people will be drawn to the construction industry with further improvement in site safety. .

(C) The Supplementary Labour Scheme
Local workers should benefit from and share the fruit of a flourishing construction industry. We aim to meet manpower demand for the construction industry by training local workers and attracting new entrants to the industry. However, it is difficult to provide a large pool of skilled workers in a short period of time. Since freshly graduated trainees are only semi-skilled workers with little experience, they need guidance and training provided by skilled workers, as well as more practice to reach a higher level of productivity/ ,

As a manpower shortage in the construction industry is likely to persist in the coming years, we should make good use of the existing Supplementary Labour Scheme under the principle of not affecting the employment of local workers and their reasonable wage levels to import skilled workers in a timely manner to cope with the surge in manpower demand in the short term and reduce the workload of local workers. Moreover, the scheme can ensure the timely completion of projects and allow us time to adequately train local skilled workers to sustain the development of the construction industry.

The unity and co-operation of the construction industry is crucial to its sustainable development. In this connection, it is very important to have an effective communication and co-operation platform for the industry. As a key partner of the Government, the CIC has made great contributions and improvements in various respects such as uniting Hong Kong’s construction industry, enhancing the health and safety awareness of the industry and raising the skill levels of workers. Looking at the year ahead, we hope to work with you all to boost the productivity of the construction industry, as well as to ensure a safe working environment for construction workers and promote the sustainable economic and social development of Hong Kong.