LCQ16: Pilot Rehabilitation Programme for Employees Injured at Work
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
LCQ16: Pilot Rehabilitation Programme for Employees Injured at Work Question:
The Government launched a three-year Pilot Rehabilitation Programme for Employees Injured at Work (the Pilot Programme) on September 23, 2022, to facilitate injured workers’ early recovery and return to work. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the current staff establishment and strength of the Work Injury Rehabilitation Office (WIRO), which is responsible for implementing the Pilot Programme, as well as the average number of cases followed up by each of its case manager;
(2) of (i) the number of reported work injury cases received by the Labour Department (LD) in each of the past three years and this year to date and, among them, (ii) the number of cases identified as eligible for participating in the Pilot Programme (and its percentage), and (iii) the number of cases participating in the Pilot Programme (and its percentage in the total number of cases eligible for participating in the Pilot Programme), and set out in Table 1 a breakdown by (a) construction industry, (b) catering and hotel industry (the industry covered since May last year), and (c) transportation and logistics industry (the industry covered since May last year);
Table 1
Case category(3) in respect of the cases participating in the Pilot Programme mentioned in (2)(iii), of (i) the types of work injury sustained by the injured workers involved, and (ii) the time taken between they agreed to participate in the Pilot Programme and received their first medical consultation from the case doctors, together with a breakdown by industry (i.e. (i) construction industry, (ii) catering and hotel industry, and (iii) transportation and logistics industry);
(4) given that in the reply to a question raised by a Member of this Council on the Estimates of Expenditure 2024-2025, the Government has indicated that the authorities will (a) analyse and compare the data of the participants of the Pilot Programme against (b) the data of the injured employees who sustain similar work injuries but have not participated in the Pilot Programme, so as to assess the effectiveness of the Pilot Programme, of the respective numbers and ratios of cases in which the employees referred to in the aforesaid (a) and (b) have recovered after treatment, as well as the respective average time taken for recovery, together with a breakdown by industry (i.e. (i) construction industry, (ii) catering and hotel industry, and (iii) transportation and logistics industry);
Return-to-work status(6) of the respective numbers and nature of enquiries and complaints received by the authorities about the Pilot Programme since its implementation; and
(7) whether it will consider extending the Pilot Programme to cover more industries, including those with higher risks of work injury such as the manufacturing and retail industries, as well as extending or regularising the Pilot Programme, so as to benefit more injured workers in need; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
The Labour Department (LD) launched the Pilot Rehabilitation Programme for Employees Injured at Work (Pilot Programme) in September 2022. The Pilot Programme adopts a case management approach to provide timely and coordinated private out-patient rehabilitation treatment services for participating injured employees to facilitate their early recovery and return to work. Starting from May 9, 2024, the industry coverage of the Pilot Programme has been expanded to the catering and hotel industry and the transportation and logistics industry in addition to the original construction industry, with the aim of benefiting more injured employees. (2) and (3) According to the Employees’ Compensation Ordinance (ECO), an employer must notify the Commissioner for Labour of any work accident within 14 days after the accident occurs or after it comes to his knowledge. The LD and the WIRO will, based on the reported work injury cases, preliminarily identify injured employees who are suitable for the Pilot Programme, proactively invite them to participate in the Pilot Programme and arrange interviews to ascertain their eligibility for and willingness to participate in the Pilot Programme. Thereafter, the case manager will schedule an appointment for the employee to meet with the case doctor. Once the case doctor ascertains after clinical assessment that the employee’s injury is suitable for treatment under the Pilot Programme, the relevant rehabilitation treatment will begin immediately. The injuries of the participants mainly involve contusion/bruise, sprain/strain and fracture, etc., accounting for about 80 per cent of all cases.
^@@(19%)(21%)(27%)(43%)(42%)(35%)(45%)(47%)* Numbers of non-fatal employees’ compensation claims involving incapacitation of employees for more than three days as a result of work injuries reported under the ECO and received by the LD ^ The Pilot Programme was launched on September 23, 2022. @ The Pilot Programme was expanded to the catering and hotel industry and the transportation and logistics industry on May 9, 2024.
Table 2
Time from preliminary identification to first medical consultation(Rate)(4) The LD has conducted a preliminary evaluation on the first two years of operation of the Pilot Programme (i.e. from September 2022 to September 2024), and compared the data of the injured construction employees participating in the Pilot Programme against that of the injured construction employees who sustained similar work injuries but did not participate in the Programme. The findings show that the participants had a higher rate (75 per cent vs 62 per cent) of reaching maximum medical improvement (i.e. recovered) upon treatment during the evaluation period and the median time required for recovery was also shorter (123 days vs 192 days), which met the objective of the Pilot Programme. Besides, the majority of participants were satisfied with the case management and rehabilitation treatment services provided under the Pilot Programme. Since many cases in the catering and hotel industry and the transportation and logistics industry are still being followed up, the LD will analyse the participants from these two industries in the future evaluation.
(5) Under the Pilot Programme, if participants have not returned to work within two months after recovery, the case manager will obtain updates on their return-to-work (RTW) status in the subsequent three months. As at February 2025, a total of 1 354 employees’ injuries have reached maximum medical improvement upon treatment (i.e. recovered). Their RTW status is as follows:
Return-to-work status(Rate)(43%)(51%)(57%)(46%)(Rate)(9%)(3%)(7%)(8%)(Rate)(12%)(34%)(26%)(17%)(Rate)(28%)(7%)(9%)(21%)(Rate)(9%)(6%)(1%)(7%) (6) As at February 2025, the WIRO received 232 enquiries mainly seeking information on the Pilot Programme’s content and eligibility for participation. There were also three complaints that mainly concerned the performance of individual rehabilitation professional or case manager.Issued at HKT 13:30