Environmental Protection Department Environment Hong Kong 2004
Vision and Mission Foreword Contents Home English Traditional Chinese Simplified Chinese
1. Hong Kong's Environment 2. Community Awareness 3. Customer Service and Partnership 4. Environmental Assessment and Planning 5. Air 6. Noise 7. Waste 8. Water 9. Enforcement

Chapter 1
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Hong Kong's Environment : Resource Materials

 

    1.7 EPD's Departmental Administration and Environment, Safety and Health Management

Establishment

The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) was established on 1 April 1986, with staff and resources from six government departments, to bring the majority of pollution prevention and control activities under one organisation. As at 31 March 2003, the department had an establishment of 1 656 staff. Of this, 27.6% are professionals, 45.5% are technical grade staff and the remaining 26.9% are administrative and other support staff. The changes in size of the establishment in the department over the years are shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1 - The Establishment of EPD

Figure 1 - The Establishment of EPD

See Data

 
   

    Departmental Expenditure

Of the total expenditure of $2,291 million on departmental activities in 2003 under General Revenue Account, 33.3% was for staff costs, 6.5% for general running expenses, 10.2% for capital expenditure and 50% for contract payments for the treatment and disposal of municipal and chemical wastes. The annual total expenditure under General Revenue Account of the EPD is summarised in Figure 2.

Figure 2 - Annual Total Expenditure under General Revenue Account of the EPD

Figure 2 - Annual Total Expenditure under General Revenue Account of the EPD

 
   

    Environmental Management System

Green housekeeping has been assigned high priority since the establishment of the Department in 1986. The first departmental green housekeeping guideline, on the use of electricity, was issued to our staff in 1987. Since then, many more internal guidelines addressing various other aspects of resource consumption and waste reduction during our daily operations have been issued.

In 1993/94, a formal Green Manager Scheme was launched for all government departments. Our Director formally assumed the role of Green Manager of the department to promote green awareness and good practice amongst our staff.

The Green Management Committee, chaired by our Director, was established in June 1994 to set the direction for green management in the department. Our Green Management Policy was formally written and adopted in 1996. It was revised in 2000 and became our Environmental Policy which covers also environmental management of our programmes as well as green management of our operations.

In 2002, our senior management endorsed an integration of our Environmental Management System (EMS) and the existing Safety and Health Management System (SHMS). This was accompanied by a merger of the Green Management Committee and the existing Departmental Safety and Health Committee into a new Departmental Environment, Safety and Health Committee (DESHC). The DESHC is supported by the Environment, Safety and Health Unit that is responsible for developing, implementing and reviewing our EMS, SHMS and related practices department-wide.

Green practices are carried out at each of our offices. An internal audit team has been set up to conduct regular environmental audits of our offices. We have implemented measures to separate and collect used paper for recycling, to collect used laser toners and ink-jet cartridges for refilling, to collect used film canisters for recycling, to refill used fluorescent pens, to use ballpoint pen refills, to ban the use of new paper for draft work, to recycle plastic office stationery, and to use rechargeable instead of disposable batteries. To promote waste recycling among our staff, mobile phone batteries have been collected from staff for recovering since May 2002. A trial of recovering plastic bags in EPD was also launched in August 2002. A total of 35 266 kilogrammes of waste paper and 197 kilogrammes of plastic waste were collected in 2003 for recycling. Suggestions on green measures are continuously sought from our staff through the departmental Staff Suggestion Scheme.

To further reduce the consumption of paper, communication by e-mail is now extensively used in the department. An electronic fax system has also been implemented in 2001 to send and receive fax transmissions electronically to reduce use of paper. In 2003, we have launched a number of new initiatives, including:

A quota and trading system to encourage paper saving on a divisional basis and more sharing of documents, rather than photocopying.
An electronic catalogue system for the department's library, through which library items can be reserved and renewed for loan.
The suspension of subscriptions to hard copies of newspapers, except for the Media Relations Unit. On-line services have been subscribed to instead.
A requirement that all requests for purchase of computer and related items to be submitted and approved electronically.
The setting up an Information Management Committee to oversee the dissemination of information internally and externally through the EPD's IT infrastructure.

To ensure our staff are well aware of our Environmental Policy, all new staff are briefed on environmental management measures as part of their induction programme. Furthermore, our staff are provided with training on environmental management through attendance at relevant courses. Our staff committee organises outings for staff and their families to participate in green activities outside the office.

More details on our environmental management system can be found in the Environmental Protection Department's Environmental Performance Report 2004.

Safety and Health Management

Safety and health of staff is a matter of great importance to the senior management. Our stated policy on this subject is as follows:

"We are committed to achieving a high standard of safety and health for all our staff and others who may be affected by our activities. We shall provide all necessary resources and employ sound management practices to implement our policy, and provide training, information and guidelines to our staff so that they are competent to perform their duties in a safe and healthy manner. Also, we shall pursue continual improvement in safety and health by regularly reviewing our performance."

In February 1998, we formed a Safety & Health Unit to centrally co-ordinate and advise on safety and health matters and to implement a safety and health management system in the department. In order to enhance communication and promotion of safety and health, the safety committee was organised in May 1999 as the Departmental Safety and Health Committee, with members from staff representatives and the management. Special working groups are formed from time to time to work on specific safety and health issues, and to prepare safety guidelines for use by staff.

In 1999, we were invited by Civil Services Bureau to join the pilot scheme on implementation of safety management system in the department for which Occupational Safety and Health Council was appointed as the consultant to assist. Under the scheme, the safety management system was progressively developed and successfully implemented in the department. In 2001, the first version of Departmental Safety and Health Plan was issued which systematically set out the objectives, organisation structures, resources, roles and responsibilities, practices and plans for implementation of the safety management system. Subsequently, we were awarded the first CISPROS (Continual Improvement Safety Programme Recognition of System) Level 2 Certificate by the Council for recognition of our successful implementation of a safety management system in the department.

In 2002, we integrated the environmental management system and the safety and health system and operated on Integrated Management System (IMS). The Safety & Health Unit was renamed as Environment, Safety & Health Unit to look after IMS issues.

In 2003, we have launched new safety and health initiatives, including :

- Introduction of purpose-built manhole cover lifter which prevented unnecessary back injuries during field inspections.
- Completion of risk assessments of display screen equipment (DSE) and improvement measures in accordance with the Occupational Safety and Health (DSE) regulation.
- Participation in the voluntary Indoor Air Quality Certification Scheme for EPD premises.

As our staff need to carry out their duties in a wide range of working environments, ranging from landfill sites to laboratories, complaint handling to law enforcement and building partnership with the community, we arrange safety and health training on various aspects tailored to the particular needs of our staff. In 2003, 46 training courses were organised which were attended by 736 staff, and the spending on safety and health training provided by outside institutions was $0.175 million.

Safety inspections in the workplace were also carried out regularly with action plans prepared for improvement works.

   

 


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