Safe Systems

of Work

Labour Department
This Guidebook is published by the
Occupational Safety and Health Branch
Labour Department
First Edition January 2004
Second Edition December 2023

This Guidebook is issued free of charge and can be obtained from offices of
the Occupational Safety and Health Branch or downloaded from the Labour
Department’s website at https://www.labour.gov.hk/eng/public/content2_8.htm.
For enquiries on addresses and telephone numbers of the offices, please visit the
Labour Department’s website at https://www.labour.gov.hk/eng/tele/osh.htm or
call 2559 2297.

Publications and Media - Addresses and Telephone Numbers of

Occupational Safety the Offices

This Guidebook may be freely reproduced except for advertising, endorsement or

commercial purposes. For extracts of information, please acknowledge the source
as “Safe Systems of Work” published by the Labour Department.
Safe Systems of Work
 CONTENTS
Page

1. Introduction 1

2. Safe Systems of Work 2

2.1 What is a safe system of work? 2

2.2 When is a safe system of work needed? 2

2.3 Assess the task 3

2.4 Identify the hazards 3

2.5 Formulate safe methods 4

2.6 Implement the system 5

2.7 Monitor the system 5

3. Enquiries and Complaints 6

1. Introduction
Section 6A of the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance,
Chapter 59 and Section 6 of the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance,
Chapter 509 require respectively every proprietor of an industrial undertaking
and every employer to ensure the occupational safety and health of all persons
employed at the industrial undertaking and/or workplace, including provision and
maintenance of “systems of work” that are, so far as reasonably practicable, safe and
without risks to health.

This Guidebook intends to assist proprietors, employers, managers and others

responsible for safety and health at work to understand the principles and to provide
a general framework for developing safe systems of work.

Section 6A of Section 6 of
the Factories and the Occupational Safety and
Industrial Undertakings Ordinance Health Ordinance

1
2. Safe Systems of Work

2.1 What is a safe system of work?

A safe system of work is a suitable safe working procedure which results from
systematic examination of a task in order to identify all the hazards. It formulates
effective and reasonably practicable safe methods to ensure that hazards are
eliminated or risks are minimised.

2.2 When is a safe system of work needed?

Many hazards are clearly recognisable and can be overcome by physically separating
people from them, e.g. by using effective guarding on machinery.

A safe system of work is needed when hazards cannot be physically eliminated or

some elements of risk remain. You should apply it to routine work as well as to
more special cases such as:
cleaning and maintenance operations of plant;
making changes to work layouts, materials used or work methods;
employees working away from base or alone;
breakdowns of plant and emergency repairing;
controlling as well as monitoring activities of contractors on the premises; or
loading, unloading and movements of materials.

FIVE STEPS
TO
A SAFE SYSTEM OF WORK

Assess the task

Identify the hazards

Formulate safe methods

Implement the system

Monitor the system

2
2.3 Assess the task

Appoint a competent person who has substantial training and practical experience,
understands the task and is capable to conduct task-specific risk assessments to
assess all aspects of the task and the risks it presents. Hazards to safety and health
should be considered.

Take account of:

what materials, plant and mode of operations are used?
e.g. the plant and substances, potential failures of machinery, toxic hazards,
electrical hazards, limitation of design, risks of inadvertently operating
automatic controls.
who does what?
e.g. job allocation, training, foreseeable human errors, shortcuts, ability to cope
in an emergency.
where the task is carried out?
e.g. hazards in the workplace, problems caused by weather conditions or
lighting, hazards from processes or contractors adjacent to workplace.
how the task is done?
e.g. the procedures, potential failures in work methods, the response to
emergencies.

The assessments should be documented and kept for future reference or use.
If there is any significant change in circumstances (such as materials, procedures,
plant) or those assessments have become invalid, a fresh risk assessment should be
conducted.

2.4 Identify the hazards

When you have assessed a task, you should be able to identify its job related hazards
and weigh up the risks. Nevertheless, you should eliminate the hazards before you
implement a safe system of work. If you could not eliminate such hazards, you
should determine for each hazard whether the level of the remaining risk is high,
medium or low, and reduce the risks in the priority of substitution, engineering
controls, administrative controls or personal protective equipment.

3
2.5 Formulate safe methods

Your safe system of work should be in writing, outlining the safe work methods,
work procedures and major issues, in exceptional cases by an effective “Permit-
to-work” system. The following should also be taken into account in formulating
safe methods:
the preparation and authorization needed at the start of the job;
proper planning of operation procedures;
details of safe work methods;
means of access and escape; and
method of dismantling and disposal of waste, etc. at the end of the operation.

Involve the employees who will be doing the work. Their experience and practical
knowledge of problems can help formulate suitable safe methods and prevent
false assumptions.

In those special cases where a “Permit-to-work” system is adopted, there should

be a properly documented procedure. It is important that everyone understands
the scope and condition of application of the “Permit-to-work”. “Permit-to-work”
system should include the following that:
(a) define the work to be done;
(b) state how to make the safe working area;
(c) identify any residual hazards and the precautions to be taken;
(d) describe checks to be carried out before normal work can be resumed;
(e) issue the “Permit-to-work” and specify its validity period before
commencing the work; and
(f) assign competent persons to monitor the work.

Jobs likely to need a “Permit-to-work” system include:

working in confined spaces;
carrying out hot work on plant containing flammable dusts, liquids, gases,
substances or residues of these;
cutting of pipes containing hazardous substances;
working on electrical equipment; and
cleaning, inspection and maintenance of large machinery, plant, production
line and compressed air vessel, etc.

4
2.6 Implement the system

Your safe system of work must be communicated properly, understood by employees

of its importance and correct application. They should be aware of its effectiveness
in prevention of incidents as well as reducing accidents.

Ensure supervisors know the systems of work they should implement and
maintain, and that employees, supervisors and managers are well trained in the
necessary skills and are fully aware of the potential risks and the precautions they
need to adopt. Appropriate supervision of employees is very important. Effective
supervision ensures that employees strictly implement safe work procedures and
safety measures.

Shortcuts must be avoided. It should be part of a system of work to stop work

immediately when faced with an unexpected problem until a safe solution can be
found.

2.7 Monitor the system

Appropriate monitoring is very important. Effective monitoring can help the

management implement safe systems of work and evaluate their effectiveness, and
assess the effectiveness of the training provided to employees.

Monitoring means periodically checking that:

employees continue to find the system workable;
the procedures laid down in your system of work are being carried out and are
effective; and
any changes in risk factors, circumstances, etc. which require alterations to the
system of work.

Review the safe systems of work regularly and ensure:

its compliance with the latest regulations;
its compliance with recent risk assessments;
to improve the control measures in the event of incidents, injuries or diseases;
new or modified plant or equipment is functioning well and in safe working
order;
safer substances are considered;
new working methods are effectively implemented; and
the use of advanced technology to improve its efficiency and effectiveness.

5
3. Enquiries and Complaints

Enquiries
If you wish to enquire about this Guidebook or require advice on occupational
safety and health (OSH) matters, please contact the Occupational Safety and
Health Branch of the Labour Department (LD) through:

Telephone : 2559 2297 (auto-recording service available outside office hours)

Fax : 2915 1410

E-mail : enquiry@labour.gov.hk

Information on the services offered by LD and on major labour legislation is also

available on our website at https://www.labour.gov.hk. The latest OSH information
can be obtained through the LD's Work Safety Alert Mobile Application. For
details on the services offered by the Occupational Safety and Health Council,
please call 2739 9000.

Labour Department's Website Work Safety Alert Mobile Application

Complaints
If you have any complaint about unsafe operations and environments at
workplaces, please call the LD's OSH complaint hotline at 2 5 4 2 2 1 7 2 or fill out
and submit an online OSH complaint form on our website. All complaints will be
treated in the strictest confidence.

Online OSH Complaint Form

6
12/2023-4-B46E