Safety practitioner (Safety Officer and Safety Supervisor) is of vital importance because of his or her role in ensuring the safety and well-being of workers on construction sites.

According to the Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Safety Officers and Safety Supervisors) Regulations (Cap. 59Z), Safety Officer (SO) means a person employed as a safety officer in an industrial undertaking under these regulations while Safety Supervisor (SS) means a person employed as a safety supervisor in an industrial undertaking under these regulations. Under the Regulations, a main contractor must employ one full-time registered safety officer for a 100-worker construction site or one safety supervisor on each site with 20 or more workers.

SO is responsible for developing, implementing, and monitoring safety policies and procedures across an organisation or multiple sites. Their duties may focus on the safety management system development, which includes conducting safety audits, training employees on safety practices, and ensuring compliance with legal and regulatory requirements.

SS is responsible for overseeing safety practices on a specific site or project. Their duties focus on day-to-day safety management, including the conducting of site inspections, the identification of hazards, the enforcement of safety protocols, and the ensuring of compliance with safety regulations. SS often work closely with workers to promote a culture of safety and provide guidance on safe practices.

Engineers and safety practitioners could work together with a new mindset and implement different risk management tools, like AI, to improve safety on construction sites. Smart Site Safety System, abbreviated as “4S”, was adopted at construction sites, with the engineer and SO setting up the parameter to monitor site safety with daily support monitoring from frontline staff and SS. The data will be analysed by AI for the engineer and SO to further modify the strategies.

Safety is the responsibility not just for safety practitioners, but also for all the stakeholders on construction sites.

This article is contributed by Ir Harriet Chan with the coordination of the Safety Specialist Committee.