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HKU Graduates Win Occupational Safety & Health Best Project Award

13 Dec 2004

 

Two projects of the Faculties of Engineering and Architecture of the University of Hong Kong have won the 2003-04 Occupational Safety & Health Best Project Award. A ceremony was held on December 13, 2004 to present awards to the winners.

Organised by the Hong Kong Occupational Safety & Health Council for the fifth time, the Award aims to encourage invention of innovative ideas and practical ways to enhance occupational safety and to safeguard the health of workers in Hong Kong.

A winner of the Award, Mr Oliver Chau Kai Yeung, is a fresh graduate of the Bachelor of Engineering in Building Services Engineering degree programme. His winning project, entitled "Local Exhaust Ventilation (LEV) for Protection Against Nosocomial Infection", is to make use of local exhaust ventilation to protect healthcare workers against hospital-acquired infection. Oliver Chau designed an engineering system that could immediately remove any infectious droplets emitted by patients with infectious diseases, such as SARS and TB.

His project supervisor Dr Michael Leung, Research Assistant Professor of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, was at the ceremony to congratulate Oliver in person. He said, "I believe it was the high quality computer modeling, engineering design and experimental works that impressed the Award Selection Panel. My warmest congratulations to him!"

Another winner is Dr Raglan Lam Hei Choi who obtained a PhD from HKU and is currently teaching study programmes at the University's Department of Real Estates and Construction. His doctoral thesis "An Investigation into the Implementation of Safety Management Systems by Hong Kong Construction Contractors" won him the Award. Dr Lam investigated the effectiveness of the safety management systems used by Hong Kong construction contractors. He also compared the performance of contractors to determine the underlying problems in the management systems and to look for possible solutions.

According to Dr Lam's findings, management support and proactive frontline management staff play a determining role in safety performance of contractors. He found out that the major obstacles encountered by contractors are interlinked. They include a lack of resources, lack of safety awareness and knowledge, unclear responsibility under the sub-contracting system, and lack of management support.

Dr Lam also identified systematic failures in the implementation of safety management system; his research pointed out that remedial measures require long-term management commitment and change in work practices with workers' cooperation.

Dr Lam's supervisor Professor Steve Rowlinson, Professor in the Real Estate and Construction Department of the Faculty of Architecture, HKU, also attended the ceremony. "I am very pleased to see Raglan's thesis so recognised. It challenges the basis of Hong Kong's safety management system. The current approach that relies on legislation and self-regulation is inappropriate because legislative control is not suitable for organic organisations like those found in the construction industry. Raglan clearly pointed out that self-regulation would not work unless the safety culture in Hong Kong is mature enough to handle the system," said Professor Rowlinson.

Apart from these two projects, eight others have been given the Award this year. Each award-winner received a certificate and a cash prize of HK$3,000 at the Prize Presentation Ceremony held on December 13, 2004 at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

For enquires, please contact Ms Eunice Chan (HKU Faculty of Engineering, Tel: 2857-8259) or Ms. Polo Leung (HKU External Relations Office, 2859 2600).