As a construction industry and as a community, we cannot take pride in our many dramatic buildings and world class infrastructure in Hong Kong if the cost is measured in terms of lives, injuries and broken families. Despite the steady improvement in site safety over the years, the accident rate for local construction is still far from satisfactory when compared with other developed countries and cities. In response to such concerns, the Construction Industry Institute - Hong Kong (CII-HK) is organizing a one-day conference on construction safety and health in late November 2007 in Hong Kong. The Conference is organized by the CII-HK and co-organized by the Construction Industry Council, Labour Department, Occupational Safety and Health Council, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and The University of Hong Kong. Details of the Conference are given below and in the attached conference flyer for your perusal:

The CII-HK Conference 2007 aims to explore a wide variety of avenues within the construction procurement and engineering processes that can contribute to the elimination of unacceptable safety and health risks. Innovative ideas, sophisticated thinking and a commitment to implement are necessary ingredients to protect those who build our city.

Being a valued member of CII-HK and an active participant in the construction industry, you are cordially invited to attend the conference and/or submit a paper on construction safety and health or related issues for consideration to be published in the conference proceedings. Papers could be in form of, but are not limited to, technical reports, research findings, case studies, lessons/experience learned and discussion notes. We strongly believe that your experience and expertise is highly valuable to both the academics and practitioners.

Papers addressing but not limited to the following conference sub-themes relating to Construction Safety and Health are invited from all interested parties. I would be very grateful if you could put your thoughts together into a paper and forward your full paper to Miss Joyce Cheung of PolyU via email at bsjoycec@inet.polyu.edu.hk on or before 30 September 2007 (Sun) for consideration.

Conference sub-themes

(1) Financial Dimensions and Regulatory Initiatives
(2) Innovations in Construction Safety
(3) Safety and Health Management
(4) Design for Safety and Maintenance

Please also find attached the template for preparing your paper manuscript for your information. The Conference Technical Committee reserves the right to select and edit the papers submitted for publication.

Please send a reply note together with your tentative paper title to Miss Joyce Cheung of PolyU via email at bsjoycec@inet.polyu.edu.hk to indicate your intention to submit a paper on or before 17 August 2007 (Fri).

Important dates to remember:

Though not for presentaton at the conference, all paper submissions accepted by the Technical Committee of the Conference will be included and published in a printed conference proceedings distributed free of charge for sharing and referencing by many stakeholders of the industry.

For more information, please visit our conference website at http://www.ciihk.org.hk/conference2007/en/index.php, or contact the Conference Secretariat. Thank you in advance for your participation and contribution in this Conference. I look forward to welcoming you in the conference and receiving your paper soon.

Best wishes,
Dr Daniel Chan
For and on behalf of Prof Albert Chan, Chairman of Conference Technical Committee
CII-HK Conference 2007 on Construction Safety and Health
Department of Building and Real Estate
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Hung Hom Kowloon Hong Kong