Sustainability Report 2020/21

Ensuring the Health and Safety of Our Construction Workers Understanding that construction workers play an important role in property development projects, we emphasize health and safety for the employees of our construction subsidiaries. Designated safety targets are set for all construction sites covering all employees under SHKP and those of our contractors, including zero fatal accidents, fewer than 0.5 serious accidents1 per 1,000 workers, and fewer than eight accidents per 1,000 workers. To achieve the targets, all contractors are required to comply with our Safety and Health Policy Statement, relevant environmental, occupational health and safety policies, and strictly follow our health and safety protocols to prevent work-related injuries and fatalities. They are also required to adopt the Occupational Health and Safety Management System that meets the requirements of ISO 45001 certifications. If a project fails to meet the target rates, project managers and site agents are required to attend the Safety Executive Committee meeting following which they are required to commit further enhancement measures. The safety performance of each employee will also be one of the consideration factors of their annual performance bonus. In addition, we encourage workers to report work-related hazards and hazardous situations to their supervisors or site managers without any fear of reprisals. They will also consider leaving work situations that are considered to be unsafe. During the reporting year, the accident rate for our contractors at construction sites was 9.18 per 1,000 workers2 which was much lower than the industry average of 26.1 per 1,000 workers3. In spite of this, we will keep stepping up our efforts in ensuring workplace safety given that we have yet to achieve our internal target. We will review our safety measures and strengthen the safety awareness of our workers to achieve a lower accident rate in the future. Regrettably, one fatal incident among our contractors occurred during the reporting year. Following a review meeting, a thorough accident investigation was conducted and risk assessment on lifting operations was conducted for all sites to avoid the re-occurrence of similar incidents. The lifting safety, control mechanism and safety procedures of lifting by crane lorries, including the qualifications of associated co-workers, training and permit systems, rigging methods and particular safety rules were reviewed and further enhanced. To promote a positive health and safety culture, we offer a range of training courses for our workers at different construction phrases. Prior to the implementation of each project, we provide tailored training on health and safety issues to all workers based on the specific conditions of each construction site. During construction, site-specific training is offered for complicated procedures that require special technical knowledge. Toolbox talks are also conducted weekly, or whenever there are changes in procedures. During the reporting year, over 880,000 attendances were recorded for the health and safety training sessions which covered topics such as the safe use of lifting equipment, working at heights, safety card renewal, manual material handling, general safety management, on-site housekeeping and hazard identification. Health talks and training on the topics of anti-alcohol, drugs and smoking are also provided for our contractors. To identify and monitor potential on-site health and safety risks, we arrange internal site-safety professionals to conduct compliance audits quarterly. External safety audits are also performed biannually according to Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Safety Management) Regulation. Pursuing enhanced safety performance in future projects, we carry out safety effectiveness evaluations upon project completion to identify areas for improvement. In addition, our contractors are exempted from paying any standard industry fees levied on claims for all project sites in order to capture the most accurate and reliable data on work-related accidents and injuries. We have also made strenuous efforts to mitigate the health risk of coronavirus spread at our construction sites. For example, we changed all meetings to video conferencing, installed an automatic disinfection spray machine at office entrances and introduced foot-operated wash basins on the site to reduce exposure to virus. Apart from these, we executed product inspections in factories before delivery remotely via video cameras to manage risk while ensuring the quality of the products. 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 2021) from the Hong Kong Labour Department. Value Created for Supply Chain Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited • Sustainability Report 2020/21 38