Staff Awareness, Training and Participation

THE EPD INTRODUCED formal training in environmental management for our staff in 1997. New staff are briefed on green management, including our Environmental Policy, during their induction course. Full-day courses on environmental management and auditing are organised for new and existing staff, and by the end of 2000, 261 staff had attended at least one of these courses. In addition, environmental management systems training was provided to 212 staff in the Waste Facilities Business Unit for the unit's ISO 14001 certification in 2000. A feedback mechanism was incorporated into the training sessions to ensure their content and coverage met the requirements of our staff.

We continually try to raise staff awareness of environmental protection through departmental circulars, postings on Green Corner notice boards, direct e-mails, a green management corner on the departmental computer network, the staff newsletter EPD Life, our annual report Environment Hong Kong, this Environmental Performance Report and our Internet homepage.

Image of Visit to Mai Po shrimp farm organised by our staff committee
Image of Our staff have easy access to environmental information at the green management corner on the departmental computer network

A Green Action Team is in place in every office to ensure staff comply with good green office management practises. The team makes surprise inspections and sends friendly reminders to colleagues who forget to follow green office management practices.

Our colleagues are encouraged to contribute green ideas through a staff suggestion scheme. Winning proposals receive cash prizes and/or departmental commendations, resulting in some very innovative ideas being adopted. One winning suggestion in 2000 was to use old 5.25 inch floppy disk jackets to make albums for holding CD-ROM disks.

Our staff committee organises outings for staff and their families to participate in green activities outside the office. They have visited the Mai Po Nature Reserve, joined Dolphin Watch cruises, participated in tree planting programmes, supported No Plastic Bag Please signature campaigns and taken part in Ride Green days. We will continue to promote these kinds of green activities among our staff. In 2001, we intend to arrange visits to our waste facilities, laboratories and other facilities for staff. This will be particularly informative for administrative staff and their families, who are generally less familiar with EPD's work.