Chapter 7   Sustainability at EPD – Social Impacts

1.   The EPD's policies and programmes have impacts beyond the environmental field, and beyond the polluters and key stakeholders that we interact with on specific policy issues. There is a public health element to our work and our air and beach water quality programmes produce indices which are related to the quality of life. Community awareness and education programmes bring environmental protection into people's everyday lives and encourage them to change their behaviour. Closer to home, we are also concerned about the needs of our staff through health, safety and professional development programmes.

Community Awareness and Education

2.   Two themes dominated community awareness and education programmes in 2006, air pollution and waste management. Under both themes, the public was encouraged to reduce pollution and waste production in their homes, schools and offices.

3.   The Action Blue Sky Campaign was kick-started by the Chief Executive, Mr Donald TSANG, on 25 July 2006, appealing for the whole community to help the Government clean up Hong Kong's air by clean air measures such as setting air-conditioned room temperatures at 25.5 degrees Celsius, dressing down during summer months, switching off idling engines, using energy saving electrical appliances and non-volatile organic compounds (VOCs) containing products. Energy conservation was also incorporated as a theme in on-going programmes, including the 6th Hong Kong Green School Awards, the Student Environmental Protection Ambassador Scheme and the 2006 Hong Kong Eco-Business Awards. Joint programmes with an energy saving and clean-air focus were undertaken with community groups and 15 one-minute television episodes were broadcast on TVB Jade, as well as two series of 30-second announcements in the public interest.

4.   On waste reduction, publicity efforts were carried out to promote the Programme on Source Separation of Waste (see Waste of Chapter 6 - Part A for details). These included mounting a roving exhibition, producing ten one-minute episodes for TVB Jade, and incorporating waste reduction as a central theme for World Environment Day 2006 and the annual Hong Kong Environmental Protection Festival, which straddled 2005-06. Financial support for waste recovery projects has also been provided to community groups. The Environment and Conservation Fund has funded about $21 million for more than 70 community waste recovery projects since 2001, and grants were provided to pair larger green groups and smaller organisations on waste-related projects.

Photo - Education and publicity programmes promote the Programme on Source Separation of Domestic Waste and enhance public awareness of waste recovery.

5.   Our other achievements in 2006 included:

Figure 1 - Number of Primary and Secondary Schools participating in the Student Environmental Protection Ambassador Scheme.
Figure 2 - Number of Students participating in the Student Environmental Protection Ambassador Scheme.

5.2.   Hong Kong Green School Awards. About 240 pre-school and primary and secondary schools participated. The awards are co-organised by the EPD, ECC and EMB.

Photo - Dr Sarah LIAO, former Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works (centre), together with other guests officiate at the Launching Ceremony of the 6th Hong Kong Green School Award.

5.3.   2006 Hong Kong Eco-Business Awards. 185 entries were received in the categories of Green SME Award, Green Innovative Practice Award and Green Property Management Award (with separate categories for Commercial and Industrial Buildings, Public Housing and Private Housing). The awards are organised jointly by the ECC, the EPD, The Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce and Hong Kong Productivity Council.

5.4.   Environmental Resource Centres. About 100 000 people visited the centres in Fanling, Tsuen Wan and Wan Chai and the Mobile Environmental Resource Centre.

5.5.   Community Green Network Programme. 95 "Green Desks" were set up in housing estates and other public areas to provide advice and answer questions. Another 48 Green Desks were set up alongside the Mobile Environmental Resource Centre. 49 talks were also organised under the Programme.

5.6.   Environmental Education and Information Counter. This counter handled almost 12 000 enquiries, received more than 4 800 visitors and served 588 organisations.

5.7.   Others. The EPD reports regularly on beach water quality, the Air Pollution Index, the Regional Air Quality Index, prosecutions, environmental impact assessments, monitoring of rivers, streams and marine waters and monitoring of solid waste in Hong Kong. The Environmental Protection Interactive Centre enables users to set parameters for the information they are seeking, and apply, pay for and receive permits and licences on-line.

Staff Programmes

Safety and Health

6.   The EPD was the first government department to receive certification under the Occupational Safety and Health Council's Continual Improvement Safety Programme Recognition of System in 2001. The certification has been extended to 2007.

7.   Our occupational injury rate is very low compared with other workplaces. In 2006 we had an average of about 1.2 incidents per 1 000 employees, against the Labour Department's reported average of about 18 per 1 000 employees for all economic activities in 2005. The incidents mainly involved injury while lifting or carrying, road traffic accidents and slipping, tripping or falling. These problems were generally caused by low alertness and inexperience so we are providing more training and awareness programmes to staff.

8.   We carry out annual safety audits and we have designated Group Safety Representatives for each group to look after safety and health matters. In 2006, we provided 70 safety and health training courses which were attended by more than 390 staff.

Training and Development

9.   All new staff are briefed on the EPD's green management measures as part of their induction training. Professional development courses are also offered to existing staff. In 2006 we organised 64 courses and 11 conferences/symposiums for 875 colleagues on various environmental topics, including 12 occasions for 148 colleagues on green issues such as corporate social responsibility, green management, energy conservation etc., as well as other training to enhance staff's professional knowledge.

10.   The EPD contributes to the development of the environmental engineering profession through its Environmental Graduate Training Scheme, which has been certified for the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers' "Scheme A Training" since 1997. So far 32 environmental engineering graduates have received on-the-job training with the EPD, of whom 18 completed their training in 2006.

Staff Awareness

11.   Staff are encouraged to participate in various environmental schemes. In the workplace, that includes recycling and energy-saving (see Chapter 6 - Part B), as well as contributing green ideas through our Departmental Staff Suggestion Scheme. Outside the workplace, the staff committee organises environmental programmes for staff and their families, which in 2006 included visits to the Island West Transfer Station and dolphin watching in Tai O and the western waters of Hong Kong. The department also arranged field visits to sewage treatment works, the Science Park and the Lamma Wind Power Station to enhance staff environmental awareness.

Photo - EPD staff and their families participate in a day trip of dolphin watching in Tai O organised by the Staff Recreation and Social Committee.