Safeguarding Officers' safety and health
The new FSMS is in compliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance and its subsidiary regulations, that have brought policing under occupational safety and health (OSH) legislation for the first time in Hong Kong.
The implications of the legislation require the Force to develop systems of work that would safeguard the safety and health of officers. The FSMS offers protection exceeding the minimum requirements of the legislation.
Earlier this month, Support Wing also arranged a series of briefings on risk management in a policing context. The Senior Directorate Group and Commissioner Rank Officers meetings were briefed on the current Corporate Governance and business risk issues affecting overseas police forces, while senior level commanders and civilian officers of equivalent level were provided with OSH refresher briefings on their roles in managing the FSMS. The briefings aimed at assisting commanders to better understand the FSMS mechanism, OSH risk processes and their roles in safety management, to enable managers throughout the Force to:
* protect disciplined and civilian staff;
* harness Force resources to effectively manage safety and health risks;
* avoid accidents and mistakes by managing physical and other risks that have the potential to damage staff, Force assets and members of the public, and
* assess and manage OSH risks associated with working with other departments as well as public and private organisations.
The briefings also covered the tools and techniques that officers from ACP to SP would require to implement the FSMS. These included controlling risks at source through improved risk prioritisation; action planning; risk reporting; and, risk monitoring.
Support Wing has also arranged an Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) risk management course for officers who were unable to attend the previous training, as well as for newly promoted Superintendents.
While FSMS is primarily a management driven system, Training Wing is in the process of developing a new OSH training day package to be rolled out next year aimed at introducing to junior staff how FSMS protects them and what they are expected to do to keep themselves and their colleagues safe and healthy. On top of this, Training Wing will commence 'internal' risk assessment training for all remaining Inspectorate officers, beginning in March 2005.
The FSMS has attracted the interest of the Metropolitan Police Service, and formal communication on sharing experience has been established.
