CONSTRUCTION ENVIRONMENT - The Hong Kong Polytechnic ...

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RISUD’s Construction Safety Research
Group scores with OSHC
The Construction Safety Research Group of the Research
Institute for Sustainable Urban Development (RISUD) has been
awarded a contract by the Occupational Safety and Health
Council (OSHC) to conduct a one-year study on the effectiveness
of personal equipment for protecting workers from heat stroke
while working in a hot environment. A multi-disciplinary team
with expertise and experience in materials sciences, textiles
sciences, biological and exercise sciences, occupational
hygiene, occupational safety and health, and other relevant
disciplines, will conduct the study and interpret the findings. The
physiological responses of workers in four target industries will
be quantitatively assessed, while the comfort and usability of
personal cooling equipment will be qualitatively assessed. The
Construction Safety Research Group is headed by Prof. Albert
Chan, who is well known for his research on heat stress studies.
(RISUD)
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Media briefed on findings of research
study led by BRE academic
On the afternoon of 31 May 2012, the local media was invited
to a press briefing at PolyU, where they were presented with
the findings of a joint study by academics from the Hong Kong
Institute of Education, the Technological and Higher Education
Institute of Hong Kong, as well as the Department of Building
and Real Estate of PolyU. Led by Prof. Albert Chan, Associate
Dean of the Faculty of Construction and Environment, the
team of researchers revealed what could be done to prevent
construction workers from getting heat strokes in hot weather.
They scientifically established what is known as the heat
tolerance time, i.e. the duration that construction workers
could continuously work without jeopardizing their health. It
was subsequently determined that the length of a rest break
is directly proportional to a worker's physiological recovery.
However, how long and how frequent breaks should be are
open for negotiation between the various stakeholders,
including the government, developers, contractors, trade union
representatives, as well as the workers themselves.
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Funded by the Research Grants Council and supported by the
Hong Kong Housing Authority, Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd.,
Yau Lee Construction Co. Ltd., and China State Construction
Engineering (HK) Ltd., the joint study was widely reported by
the local press as well as foreign online media. Kudos to Prof.
Chan and his team for their noteworthy study, which has been
published in Building and Environment, an international journal
of building science and its applications.
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