Hong Kong, China

Organization responsible for the statistics

Collection and compilation: Labour Department.

Publication: Labour Department and Statistics Department.

Periodicity

Quarterly and annual.

Source

Reports of occupational injuries submitted by employers to the Labour Department under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance.

Objectives and users

Management planning, analysis of the characteristics of accidents and planning safety promotion.

Major users:

Labour Department and interested organizations.

Coverage

Persons:

All employees employed under contracts of service or apprenticeship, including domestic helpers and agricultural employees.

In September 1995, 2,650,000 employees were covered.

Economic activities:

All economic activities and sectors.

Geographic areas:

All areas.

The statistics cover employees outside Hong Kong, if they are engaged in Hong Kong by a Hong Kong employer, as well as persons involved in work accidents within the territory, even if they are normally resident outside the territory.

Establishments:

All types and sizes of establishments.

Types of occupational accidents covered

Compensated injuries due to all types of occupational accidents. Commuting injuries which are compensable under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance are included.

Statistics of occupational diseases specified under the Second Schedule of the Employees' Compensation Ordinance are compiled and published separately from those on occupational injuries.

Concepts and definitions

(Source: Employees' Compensation Ordinance).

Occupational accident:

accident to an employee arising out of and in the course of employment.

Occupational injury:

personal injury caused to an employee by an accident arising out of and in the course of the employment.

Commuting accident:

an accident that happens to an employee while he is travelling as passenger by any means of transport which is operated or arranged by the employer (other than a part of a public transport service) to or from his place of work;
an accident that happens to an employee while he is driving or operating any means of transport arranged or provided by his employer and travelling by a direct route between his place of residence and his place of work for the purpose of attending to or after attending to his duties in connection with his employment;
an accident that happens to an employee within the duration of a gale warning, or of a rainstorm warning while travelling between his place of residence and his place of work within four hours before or after the time of his working hours;
an accident that happens to an employee while he is travelling between Hong Kong and any place outside Hong Kong or any place outside Hong Kong and any other such place. The journey has to be made for the purpose of and in connection with his employment and by any means of transport with the express or implied permission of his employer.

Worktime lost:

the period of temporary total incapacity suffered by the injured employee.

Fatal occupational injury:

the death of an employee results from an accident arising out of and in the course of employment.

Temporary incapacity to work:

such incapacity which is of a temporary nature and which reduces the earning capacity of an employee in any employment in which he was engaged at the time of the accident resulting in the incapacity.

Permanent incapacity to work:

such incapacity which is of a permanent nature and which reduces an employee's earning capacity, present or future, in any employment which he was capable of undertaking at that time.

Minimum period of absence from work: temporary incapacity for more than three consecutive days (no minimum period of absence from work for permanent incapacity).

Maximum period for death to be considered a fatal occupational injury: none.

Types of information compiled

(a) personal characteristics of persons injured: sex, age, occupation and earnings;

(b) amount of worktime lost;

(d) characteristics of injuries: part of body injured, type of injury and degree of permanent incapacity;

(e) characteristics of employers or workplaces: economic activity; location of the workplace.

Measurement of worktime lost

Worktime lost is measured in workdays, i.e. days of sick leave. It is compiled on temporary incapacity for non-fatal cases absent for more than three consecutive days only.

Classifications

(a) fatal or non-fatal accidents;

(b) degree of permanent incapacity:

(nil, 1 to 5 per cent, 6 to 10 per cent, 11 to 30 per cent, 31 to 70 per cent, 71 to 99 per cent, 100 per cent);

(c) economic activity:

according to ten categories, roughly equivalent to the major divisions of the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC), Revision 2, 1968;

(d) occupation:

according to eight categories, corresponding to the International Standard Classification of Occupations, Revision 2, 1968;

(e) type of injury:

not applicable;

(f) cause of accident:

machinery: power driven, machinery: non-power driven, transport, explosion or fire, hot or corrosive substance, gassing, poisoning and other toxic substances, electricity, fall of person, stepping on, striking against or struck by object, falling object, fall of ground, handling without machinery, hand tool, miscellaneous or causes not yet assessed;

(g) duration of absence from work (number of workdays lost):

0, 1-7, 8-10, 11-14, 15-60, 61-120, 121-180, 181-365, 366-550, 551-730, 731-915, 916-1095;

(h) characteristics of workers:

sex, insured or not insured;

(i) characteristics of accidents:

not applicable;

(j) characteristics of employers or workplaces:

none;

(k) other:

monthly earnings: according to twelve groups.

Crossclassifications:

monthly earnings of injured employees and sex;
economic activity and insurance status (insured, not insured, pending clarification, not applicable - civil servants, to whom the provisions on compulsory insurance do not apply);
compensation amount payable and economic activity;
compensation amount payable and degree of permanent loss of earning capacity;
occupation of injured employees and degree of permanent loss of earning capacity.

Reference period

Year.

An injury is included in the statistics for the period (year) in which the accident occurred.

Worktime lost is included in each of the periods (years) in which worktime was lost.

Estimates

Total number of occupational injuries.

Rates of fatal injuries, using persons employed as the denominator.

Historical background of the series

The statistics were first compiled in 1955, for purposes of management planning and analysing the causes of accidents.

The coverage of the statistics was changed in 1980 as a result of the amendment to the Employees' Compensation Ordinance. Prior to 1980, they covered all manual workers and non-manual workers with monthly earnings not exceeding a certain amount. The amendment removed the ceiling of monthly earnings applied to non-manual workers.

Documentation

Series available:

The following tables are published:

reported number of injured employees by monthly earnings and sex;
reported number of injured employees by economic activity and insurance status;
compensation payable for settled cases by economic activity, for cases reported during the year, for case reported in the previous year and known as at the end of the year and for case reported in the previous year and pending as at the end of the year;
compensation payable by permanent loss of earning capacity of injured employee for cases reported during the year, for cases reported during the previous year and known as at the end of the year and for cases reported during the previous year and pending as at the end of that year;
days lost from non-fatal cases reported during year, from non-fatal cases reported during the previous year and known as at the end of the year and from non-fatal cases reported during the previous year and pending as at the end of that year;
reported number of injured employees, by job nature and percentage of earnings capacity.

Bibliographic references:

The data are published in:

Labour Department of Hong Kong: Report of the Commissioner for Labour (annual).

Census and Statistics Department: Hong Kong Monthly Digest of Statistics.

idem: Hong Kong Annual Digest of Statistics.

Methodological notes appear in each of these publications along with the data.

Only the major classifications are published. Detailed data are available on request, in printed form only.

Data published by ILO:

The following data are furnished regularly to the ILO for publication in the Yearbook of Labour Statistics, relating to reported injuries (including commuting accidents) according to major division of economic activity: number of persons fatally injured, number of persons injured with lost workdays, total of these two groups; number of workdays lost by persons injured with lost workdays, rates of fatal injuries. The number of persons at risk (total number of employees) is also supplied and stored in the LABORSTA database.

Confidentiality:

There are no restrictions on the use of data under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance.

International standards

Due consideration has been given by the Labour Department to the recommendations and standards of the ILO in order to facilitate international comparisons and analysis.

Method of data collection

Legislation:

Employees' Compensation Ordinance.

All occupational injuries arising out of and in the course of employment or the occupational diseases specified under the Second Schedule of the Employees' Compensation Ordinance which result in temporary incapacity for a duration exceeding three consecutive days, permanent disability or death should be reported to the Labour Department. The report should be made within seven days from the date of the accident for fatal cases, within 14 days from the date of the accident for non-fatal injuries or within a period of time as required by the Commissioner for Labour.

Reporting:

The employee should inform his or her employer of the accident. The employer should then complete a standard form and report the accident to the Employees' Compensation Division of the Labour Department. A pamphlet published by the Employee Compensation Unit describes how employees should apply for employees' compensation and related procedures, including what an employee should do when injured at work and the liability and report procedure for employers.

Data reported:

The form for notification of the death of an employee or of an accident to an employee resulting in death or incapacity consists of the following:

Part I:

information about the injured employee: name, identity card number, telephone number, address, sex, age, occupation and whether an apprentice;
information about the employer: name, address, telephone number and trade of employing company or person, name, address and telephone number of principal contractor if employer is a subcontractor;
information about the accident: date, description of how the accident happened, address of the place of accident, where the accident occurred (industrial building, non-industrial building, construction site, on board ship, other), result of accident (injury, death), if death, whether police was notified, machinery, if any, causing the accident (type and part of machine, whether power-driven, whether in motion);
information about the injury: part of body injured (hand, leg, head, other), nature of injury (amputation, fracture, contusion, laceration, burn, other), name of hospital or clinic where the injured employee received treatment;
name and address of insurance company at the time of the accident and policy number;
average number of working days per month (22, 24, 26, 30, other) and rest day (whether paid, whether fixed - day of week);
earnings of injured employee for the month immediately preceding the date of the accident (basic wage, food allowance or value of free food provided by employer, other items) and average monthly earnings for the twelve months preceding the accident;
name, address and telephone number of next-of-kin, and relationship with employee (completed if accident results in death).

Part II (to be completed only if the injury results in temporary incapacity for not more than seven days and no permanent incapacity):

period of sick leave (dates of each period) and total number of sick leave days;
amount of compensation paid or to be paid.

Part III:

name and position (sole proprietor, partner, manager, officer) of person signing for and on behalf of the employer;
date of report.

Changes planned:

The notification forms were to be revised to incorporate more items to be reported by the employer. It was expected that the new form would be used in the second half of 1996.