Sustainability Report 2019/20

Construction workers are valuable assets to our property development. As such, health and safety remain our top priority at our construction sites. We have established designated safety targets for all construction sites managed by our construction subsidiaries covering all our employees and contractors, including zero fatal accidents, fewer than 0.5 serious accidents 1 per 1,000 workers, and fewer than nine incidents per 1,000 workers, to promote health and safety along our value chain. All contractors who work at our construction sites are protected by the Group’s occupational health and safety management system which has obtained the latest ISO 45001 certifications. They are also required to comply with our environmental, occupational health and safety policies and follow strict health and safety protocols to prevent work-related injuries and fatalities. Workers are encouraged to report work-related hazards and hazardous situations to their supervisors or site managers without any fear of reprisals, and may remove themselves from work situations that they believe are unsafe. During the reporting year, an accident rate of 7.98 per 1,000 workers 2 was recorded for our contractors at construction sites. The rate was much lower than the industry average of 29.0 per 1,000 workers 3 . Unfortunately, one fatal incident among our contractors was recorded during the reporting period. The site operation ceased immediately, followed by an accident investigation and a review meeting chaired by senior management. Additionally, we further strengthened temporary work-control systems at all sites and reviewed similar operations of different projects to ensure sufficient safe work procedures are implemented in order to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents. Various health and safety training courses are offered at different construction phases to raise awareness among workers. Before the commencement of any project, tailored training on health and safety issues is provided to all workers, depending on specific conditions of each construction site. During construction, toolbox talks are carried out weekly, or whenever there are changes in procedures. Site-specific training is also provided for complicated procedures that require special technical knowledge. During the reporting year, over 939,000 participants attended health and safety training sessions which covered topics such as the safe use of lifting equipment, working at a height, safety card renewal, manual materials handling, general safety management, on-site housekeeping and hazard identification. Besides, we also provided health talks and training for contractors to promote wellness, such as anti-alcohol, drugs and smoking talks. The Group actively explores the application of innovative technologies to improve construction safety. For instance, our internal teams have developed and introduced a smart management solution named SmartWorks at one of our construction sites. The solution equips workers with smart helmets that integrate with IoT (Internet-of- Things) sensors and GPS tracking, allowing workers’ real-time health conditions, as well as their attendance records, to be closely monitored on-site. The smart helmet To ensure that health and safety performance is fully aligned with the Group’s standards and expectations, we arrange internal site safety professionals to perform compliance audits quarterly to assess on-site health and safety risks. External safety audits are also conducted bi-annually in accordance with the Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Safety Management) Regulation. Safety effectiveness evaluations are conducted after the completion of projects to identify areas for improvement in pursuance of enhancing safety performance in future projects. In addition, to encourage the most accurate and reliable data on work-related accidents and injuries, we exempt our contractors from paying any standard industry fees levied on claims for all project sites. • A worker wears a Smart Helmet integrated with IoT sensors and GPS tracking 1 The definition of serious accident refers to work-related injuries that result in hospitalization for more than 21 days, loss of 20% of working ability or fatalities. 2 Calculation uses the methodology adopted by the Hong Kong Construction Association. 3 Industry rate is calculated on the calendar year. Reference was made to Occupational Safety and Health Statistics Bulletin (August 2020) from the Hong Kong Labour Department. Safeguarding the Safety and Welfare of Our Construction Workers also has an emergency button that can either trigger an SOS signal automatically or manually in case of accidents. We have also installed radar systems on heavy machines at our construction sites to send alerts when somebody gets too close, as well as facial recognition and smart- video technology to restrict access of unauthorized personnel. Value Created for Supply Chain Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited • Sustainability Report 2019/20 34