1. Preamble

Safety arrangements and guidelines/regulations in InnoWing are overseen by the Safety Working Group under the Executive Committee of InnoWing. In this document, the arrangements and guidelines/regulations are described and the principal safety responsibilities of different staff are also indicated.

2. Safety & Health Relevant Staff

All staff and users have their safety and health responsibilities. The following table lists the safety & health relevant staff who assume more specific safety tasks:

3. Managerial/Supervisory Responsibilities

In this section, the principal safety & health responsibilities of various parties are indicated. The order does not necessarily reflect the level of responsibility and importance. Additional descriptions of the responsibilities can be viewed at http://www.safety.hku.hk/homepage/.

3.1 Supervisory Staff

Supervisory staff here include but are not restricted to supervisors of sub-spaces (thematic workshops, studios, maker spaces), projects (project in thematic workshops and project studios) and staff (Director, Technical Manager, Administrative Assistant/Executive Officer). They are responsible for ensuring that any risks to safety and health within their area of responsibility are properly identified and controlled.

• The safety responsibility extends beyond the boundaries of the University campus and includes off-campus activities. The supervisor should follow the safety guidelines of their home Department on these activities.
• Staff cannot delegate out of this responsibility and should endeavour to encourage and foster safe working practices among the supervisees.
• In cases where safety and health guidelines have not been prepared at InnoWing or University level, supervisory staff must ensure that a risk assessment has been completed and appropriate provisions have been made to eliminate or control the risks.

3.2 Staff (including Tutors) of InnoWing

All full-time and part-time staff (including tutors):

• should be familiar with the safety & health arrangement and recognize that they all have a part to play in preventing accidents and incidents of ill-health emanating from the workplace;
• have the responsibility to cooperate with supervisors and other staff to achieve a safe & healthy workplace and to take reasonable care of themselves and others;
• should not take risks nor carry out procedures or work practices contrary to safe working practices; if they are in any doubt they should raise such items with their immediate supervisor; if the supervisor does not offer a reasonable solution, the matter must be referred to the Technical Manager and/or the Director;
• ensure that the steel stair of design load of 5 kPa (~ 500 kg/m², ~ seven 70 kg persons / m²) connecting the G/F and LG/F is not overloaded in the hosted activities, including group visits;
• ensure that the stepped platform of 3 kPa (~ 300 kg/m², ~ four 70 kg persons / m²) in the brainstorming area opposite to the LED wall on the LG/F is not overloaded in the hosted activities, including group visits;
• ensure the infection control measures (see Section 9) are followed by themselves and anyone entering InnoWing;
• should know how to use the fire-fighting equipment provided in InnoWing.

3.3 Director

The Director has overall safety & health responsibilities for the staff and students working in InnoWing. The responsibilities include:

• providing adequate resources to ensure that healthy and safe working conditions are maintained and that safe working practices and safe systems of work are adopted by the staff and students;
• providing sufficient information, instruction, training and supervision to ensure as far as reasonably practicable the safety and well-being of the staff and students;
• ensuring that all measures designed to safeguard the safety & health of each individual are put into practice;
• monitoring the leave of the full-time technical staff so that, in general, only one of them takes leave on the same day.

3.4 Technical Manager

Technical manager is automatically the Safety Representative, the Chemical Waste Manager, First Aid Box Coordinator and Manual Handling Operation Risk Assessor of the InnoWing. He/she is also responsible for the health and safety of all the technical staff working in InnoWing. He/she as the immediate supervisor of all technical staff has full responsibility in their roles in upholding the safety regulations. In particular, his/her responsibilities are:

• directing and coordinating the handling of chemical wastes as stipulated in “Chemical Waste” (see Section 3.6);
• ensuring adequate first-aid materials are provided in all first-aid boxes and that they are regularly renewed (duty of the First-Aid Box Coordinator);
• enforcing and observing the incidents report procedure (see Section 8);
• enforcing the Safety Declaration and filing the Safety Declaration Forms until the Forms expire;
• maintaining the CCTV system in good working condition (including reviewing the recorded image) by enforcing a weekly functional check;
• ensuring the hard disk capacity for CCTV can store the recorded videos not less than one month;
• being the manual handling risk assessor (see Section 3.8);
• filing the safety and safety-related training records/certificates of all full-time and part-time technical staff;
• ensuring that tool and equipment, such as but not limited to air compressor(s), laser cutting machine(s), emergency shower(s), fume hood(s), protective electrical switch(es) and mobile working platform, are properly maintained, examined/tested and inspected in compliance with the statutory requirement;
• ensuring that all full-time and part-time technical staff know how to use the fire-fighting equipment provided in InnoWing.

3.5 Safety Representative

Responsibilities of the safety representative can be viewed at http://www.safety.hku.hk/homepage/DSR.html for further details. He/she assists the Director in fulfilling the safety & health responsibilities in the following aspects:

• informing the Director and Safety Office of any special hazards in, or new hazards about to be introduced into, the unit;
• ensuring that new members of the InnoWing, including students, are informed of the safety & health policy, standards and procedures;
• identifying training needs and conducting training activities;
• ensuring that means exist for all machinery and equipment to be properly maintained and used in a safe condition;
• ensuring with the assistance of Safety Office that first aid, personal protective equipment and safety facilities are provided and properly maintained;
• directing a regular program of safety inspections, and participating in such inspections (see Section 6);
• ensuring that accidents are reported promptly by following the University procedures and reporting any case of non-compliance to the Director;
• investigating accidents and incidents and recommending accident prevention measures to the Director as and when necessary;
• ensuring that the technical staff, Chemical Waste Manager, first aiders and the fire wardens are adequately trained, instructed, supervised and informed of any potential hazards associated with the handling, transport and storage of various tools, equipment, chemicals, etc.;
• ensuring that laboratories/workshops are maintained in a tidy and organized condition, and they continue to meet the safety & health requirements;
• ensuring that safety guidelines/regulations are properly enforced in all workshops/studios;
• ensuring technical staff have appropriate tools, equipment, access to equipment and proper safety gears to enable them to carry out work safely without risks to health;
• ensuring that outside staff such as those who do the repairing and maintenance jobs in the laboratories are not put at risk by University operations and conversely to ensure that they do not jeopardize the safety & health of University staff, students, visitors, etc.;
• identifying new hazards which may arise due to new equipment, projects, etc. and implementing the relevant safety measures and practices;
• updating the Health & Safety Information Placard every six months and whenever new hazard(s) arises;
• ensuring that the workshops/studios with hazards identified on Health & Safety Information Placards are visited at least once in every half working day by technical staff;
• ensuring that all machinery in laboratories/workshops conform to the standard of Regulation of The Factory and Industrial Undertakings (Guarding and Operation of Machinery) by proper inspection and maintenance regularly.

3.6 Chemical Waste Manager

Duties of the Chemical Waste Manager can be viewed at www.safety.hku.hk/homepage/pdf/CHWD.pdf. In particular, the duties include:

• initiating a Waste Log Sheet for each pail (Every waste entering the pail must be properly logged and the filled log sheet must accompany the pail at time of collection by Safety Office.)
• directing and coordinating the handling of chemical wastes.

3.7 Administrative Assistant / Executive Officer

General duties of the Administrative Assistant / Executive Officer are to ensure that office staff under him/her are trained, supervised, instructed and informed of any potential hazards in the general office. In particular, his/her safety & health responsibilities include:

• maintaining the InnoWing Office in an organized condition;
• ensuring the general cleanliness, tidiness and housekeeping are kept to a standard such that none are potential causes of accidents and ill-health;
• ensuring that infection control measures implemented by the University are upheld (see Section 9);
• ensuring that electrical equipment for office and pantry equipment is regularly checked for obvious faults and dangers;
• ensuring lighting in the office is adequate for work;
• ensuring the position of the computer screen does not create uncomfortable viewing and that the design of the computer installation is within acceptable ergonomic standards;
• ensuring the fire warden(s) and first aider(s) who are office staff are properly trained;
• ensuring that all staff in the General Office including themselves, the IT staff and tutors should not
  • enter a thematic workshop without escorting by technical staff;
  • distract staff/students working in the maker spaces and project studios;
  • use any tools in the maker spaces, project studios and thematic workshops unless they have received the relevant training recognized by the InnoWing;
• ensuring that all staff in the General Office including themselves have read and would observe the regulations/guidelines in Section 3.2 and this subsection.

3.8 Manual Handling Operation Risk Assessor

It is required by law (Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance) that risk assessment for manual handling operations by the person responsible for the workplace is necessary. Besides, if ten or more staff are involved in a manual handling operation which may create safety & health risks, the person responsible (the Technical Manager) for the workplace must appoint a competent person to assist in carrying out preventive and protective measures in compliance with the Guidance Notes on Manual Handling Operations at www.labour.gov.hk/eng/public/oh/GN-MHO.pdf.

3.9 Staff-in-charge

The general duties of the Staff-in-Charge of a workshop, a studio or a Student Interest Group are to ensure that the staff, students and visitors working in the relevant workplace under their supervision are trained, instructed, supervised and informed of any potential hazards (and how to overcome them) which they may be confronted with whilst at work. Their responsibilities also include:

• ensuring the safety and health of the staff, students and visitors, as far as is reasonably practicable, whilst working in areas and laboratories other than their own;
• identifying and upholding the safety regulations applicable to the workplaces and laboratories;
• identifying the Safety Checklist(s) applicable to the workplaces and laboratories;
• informing the Workspace & Safety Committee and the Technical Manager of any special hazards in, or new hazards about to be introduced into the workplace;
• ensuring staff, students and visitors are aware of the hazard(s) in the workplace and the applicable safety regulations;
• ensuring proper, adequate and functioning equipment/facilities are available in the workplace and laboratory as required by various safety regulations on its activities and inventory;
• maintaining and managing the workplaces in a tidy and well-organized condition that the health and safety requirements are met;
• enforcing Incidents Reporting System (see Section 8) and Safety Awareness Declaration (see Section 10).

3.10 Technician-in-charge

Technician-in-charge of a workshop or studios is identified on Health & Safety Information Placard. His/her responsibility include:

• upholding the safety regulations in the workplace; if the act of upholding the regulations fails, they should report the incident to the technical manager and/or staff-in-charge immediately;
• being aware of the hazards as well as newly appeared hazards in the workplace and attending training workshops related to these hazards organized by the Safety Office or elsewhere;
• maintaining and managing the workplace in a tidy and organized condition and that the workplace continue to meet the health and safety requirements;
• ensuring the well-being of all the fire-fighting, safety-related and first-aid equipment materials/facilities and learning how to operate them;
• making the hazard(s) known to students before they start to work in the workplace and ensuring that the students are adequately supervised;
• making the hazard(s) known to the contractor and its workers, ensuring that contractor and their workers sign a record book in which their name, the company name, company telephone number; all work done by the contractor and their workers must be closely supervised;
• preparing the list of chemicals used and/or stored in the workshop or studios; the list should mention the means such as hardcopies or internet links for accessing the related Material Safety Data Sheets;
• reporting any accident, injury, near-misses and repeated violations of safety regulations that occurred in their respective laboratory or during the work by following the Reporting Procedure (see Section 8) as soon as possible;
• implementing the Laboratory/Workshop Safety Awareness Declaration (see Section 10);
• working with the First-Aid Box Coordinator to ensure that the first-aid box in the workplace contain sufficient quantity of suitable first aid materials and nothing else;
• if there is a hazard(s) on the Health & Safety Information Placard of the workplace, ensuring that the laboratories/workshops are visited at least once in every half working day by technical staff.

3.11 Fire Wardens

A fire warden should under no circumstances be responsible for more than one floor. The roles of the fire wardens are detailed in the document “Role of Fire Wardens” at www.safety.hku.hk/homepage/pdf/FREng.pdf. On hearing the alarm, each fire warden is requested to:

• immediately put on the “HKU Fire Warden” cap provided by the Safety Office for identification;
• check rooms to ensure all people have left; if some people are unwilling to leave, do not delay but continue to search other rooms;
• spur on people to leave their place of work and to direct them to the appropriate exit(s);
• note which rooms or areas were not checked due to smoke/fires and to inform the fire brigade upon its arrival without delay;
• move people away from building exits to the assembly point;
• report any problems (missing persons, non-evacuated staff etc.) to the fire brigade without delay;
• identify key holders should the fire brigade wish to enter locked rooms.

4. Fire Safety

4.1 Escape Routes

A poster on the escape route is posted near the exit of each workplace. Technician-in-charge should inform the users of the workplace with the escape route before they use the workplace.

4.2 Emergency Evacuation

In an emergency, the technician-in-charge and the fire warden have TOTAL authority to evacuate the workplace. Evacuation orders MUST be followed. If the fire alarm is on, unless it is on testing mode, all individuals must evacuate immediately by following an escape route.

5. Workplace Safety Regulations / Guidelines

A workplace here can refer to a maker Space, a thematic workshop, a project studio, a maker space, the Digital Learning Studio and the machine shop. The hazard(s) in the workplace is identified on the Health & Safety Information Placard posted on its door. Safety guidelines, regulations and checklists can be viewed at www.safety.hku.hk/homepage/lab.html and/or www.safety.hku.hk/homepage/manual.html. Following is a partial list of the relevant documents and their links:

• Biological Safety Policy and Guidance Document (www.safety.hku.hk/homepage/pdf/HKUBSP.pdf)
• Chemical Safety in Laboratories (www.safety.hku.hk/homepage/pdf/CSL.pdf)
• Chemical Waste (http://www.safety.hku.hk/homepage/pdf/CHWD.pdf)
• Electrical Hazards (www.safety.hku.hk/homepage/manual_EH.html)
• Engineered Nanomaterials, Guidelines for the use of (http://www.safety.hku.hk/homepage/pdf/Nano.pdf)
• Fume Cupboards (www.safety.hku.hk/homepage/pdf/FumCup.pdf)
• Working platform safety guidelines (http://www.safety.hku.hk/homepage/pdf/WPSG.pdf)
• General Safety of workplaces (Section 5.1)
• High-Power Lasers, Code of Practice on User of (www.safety.hku.hk/homepage/pdf/LCOP.pdf)
• Machinery safety (http://www.safety.hku.hk/homepage/pdf/MSG.pdf)
• Action in Case of an Emergency (www.safety.hku.hk/homepage/pdf/EP.pdf)
• Carcinogens (www.safety.hku.hk/homepage/pdf/Car.pdf)
• Display Screen Equipment (Visual Display Units) (www.safety.hku.hk/homepage/pdf/DSE.pdf)
• Guidelines on Safe Pest Control Operation (www.safety.hku.hk/homepage/pdf/PestCont.pdf)
• Health & Safety Information Placard (www.safety.hku.hk/homepage/pdf/HSP.pdf)
• Reporting Procedure for Accidents, Dangerous Occurrence & Near Misses (www.safety.hku.hk/homepage/pdf/ACCR.pdf)
• Work Outside Normal Working Hours (www.safety.hku.hk/homepage/pdf/WONWH.pdf)
• Inspection Lists (www.safety.hku.hk/homepage/pdf/DSRIC.pdf)

The applicable regulations/guidelines and checklists to a workplace are specified by the Staff-in-charge and endorsed by the Safety Working Group. The information given below is intended to be an outline of the more exhaustive regulations/guidelines of higher relevance to InnoWing. They should not be regarded as the only applicable regulations.

5.1 General Safety

• All personnel in the workplace MUST understand and follow the applicable safety regulations/guidelines at ALL times. Violation of these regulations is sufficient ground to revoke user’s access privilege for the workplace by the technical staff responsible to uphold the regulations for the workplace. If the act of upholding the regulations fails, the technical staff should report the incident to the Technical Manager and/or the Director as soon as possible.
• Unauthorized entrance to a workplace is prohibited.
• Unauthorized work/experiment in a workplace is prohibited.
• Hazard warning tape, often in black/yellow, is used to indicate the existence of hazard(s). The tape should not be crossed unless the user has in-depth knowledge on how to avoid the hazard(s) and/or has been granted the privilege to do so.
• Eating and drinking in all workplaces are prohibited.
• Non-technical staff should never perform work/experiment alone in a workplace.
• Operating any powered items after alcohol/drug that may cause drowsiness is prohibited.
• In all workplaces, loose clothes (including scarves, ties, etc.) and open-toed shoes, such as slippers, pumps and sandals, must NOT be worn. Shoes MUST provide adequate protection of your feet and MUST cover the whole feet.
• Using/operating any powered items with exposed high speed moving/rotating part(s) including drones, model aeroplanes and electric vehicles requires special approval from the Director and/or Technical Manager. In doing so, working alone is prohibited, hair should be carefully tightened, sleeves should be folded above the elbows, proper protective gear(s) (such as goggles, helmet, etc.) MUST be worn.
• Use of the three-phase power supply requires special approval from the Director and/or Technical Manager.
• Be aware of the location of the first aid materials/facilities, chemical spill kits, fire-fighting equipment and the fire escape route.
• In an emergency, the technical staff and the fire warden have TOTAL authority to evacuate the workplace. Evacuation orders MUST be followed. If the fire alarm is on, unless it is on testing intermittent mode, all personnel in the workplace must evacuate immediately.
• All accidents, injuries (no matter how minor), near-misses and repeated violations of safety regulations should be reported to the staff listed in the Health & Safety Information Placard and the Technical Manager as soon as possible (see Section 8).

5.2 Electrical Safety

• Be very careful with electrical equipment and never touch/operate any electrical switch gears if your hands are wet.
• All electrical connections must be completely and properly insulated and grounded. All conducting wires must be adequately concealed.
• The installation/repair of any apparatus operating at above 50 V a.c. or 120 V d.c. must be done by an approved licensed electrician “A” holder or above from the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department. The installations/repair can also be performed by a licensed contractor or an electrician from Estates Office.
• For portable apparatus operating at above 50 V a.c. or 120 V d.c., its flexible wires must either be permanently fixed to the power supply outlet or its connection to the power supply must be made through properly constructed plug and socket. The use of combination sockets is not recommended for heavy current equipment.
• An extension cord (拖板) should only draw electricity directly from a wall socket but not a socket adaptor (萬能蘇) or another extension cord.
• Where any part of a portable apparatus is made of metal and not of a double insulation type, the portable apparatus must be effectively earthed and inspected every 6 months for loose connection/fault.
• All high voltage equipment and appliances must bear the “High Voltage” warning label. A warning notice in 50 mm red characters and letters and white background bearing “DANGER UNDER REPAIR” and “危險–在維修中” must be displayed in a visible position at or near any conductor, apparatus or switchboard being worked on.

Further guidelines on electrical safety can be viewed at www.safety.hku.hk/homepage/manual_EH.html.

5.3 Machinery Safety

• All users of machinery must wear safety spectacles. Long hair and loose clothes (including scarves, ties, sleeves) must be carefully tied. Suitable personal protective equipment should be worn.
• Working alone in using/operating any powered machinery with exposed high speed moving/rotating part(s) is prohibited.
• Never put your hands/fingers or any part of your body near the moving parts or in the path of motion of machinery.
• All machine guards must be inspected and maintained periodically to ensure it conforms to the relevant safety standard.
• Only students with machine workshop training recognized and endorsed by the InnoWing are allowed to enter and use the Machine shop. Even a student is a recognized trained-user, he/she MUST work under the supervision of a technician (not a tutor) competent in machining, as designated by signage of the Machine Shop.

Further guidelines on machinery safety can be viewed at http://www.safety.hku.hk/homepage/pdf/MSG.pdf.

5.4 Chemical Safety

• All chemicals must be treated as poisons and properly labelled. Work with chemicals only when you are familiar with their properties: flammability, reactivity, corrosiveness, toxicity, etc. The endorsement from the technical staff-in-charge must be obtained if you intend to bring any chemical into the laboratory. Unknown chemicals will be expropriated without notice. All waste organic solvents must be disposed of in specially marked containers (“WASTE SOLVENTS”). Disposal of organic solvents into the drains is strictly prohibited.
• All chemicals must be kept safely in their proper place. Spills must be cleaned up immediately and properly. Safety Office should be consulted in the disposal of unidentified chemicals.
• No chemical should be brought inside the InnoWing without the prior approval of the Technical Manager and the technician-in-charge. They, in turn, should consult the staff-in-charge whether the chemical is needed for the activities in the workshop/studio.
• The service condition of the chemical spill kit and the emergency shower/eye-washer should be checked and ensured at 6-month interval.
• Any work involving combustibles, volatile organic compounds, toxic gases, airborne particulates and unpleasant odours must be conducted in the fume hood. If there is a sash in a fumehood, it should be kept as low as practicable. When no one is working with the fumehood, the sash should be shut with the fan on. Comprehensive safety guidelines on fume hoods can be viewed at www.safety.hku.hk/homepage/pdf/FumCup.pdf.
• For workshop/studio in which chemicals are stored/used, a list of chemicals must be available. The list should mention the means such as hardcopies or internet links for accessing the related Material Safety Data Sheets.
• Pesticides should not be applied without the endorsement of the Technical Manager (see Section 11).

Further guidelines on chemical safety in laboratories can be viewed at www.safety.hku.hk/homepage/pdf/CSL.pdf.

5.5 Biological Safety

• Experiments with animals and infectious substances are prohibited in InnoWing.
• Never put anything in the mouth whilst in the laboratory and avoid subsequent transfer to items such as food by always washing hands before leaving.
• Avoid the likelihood of puncture wounds by careful handling procedures and always keep any breaks in the skin covered whilst in the laboratory.
• Care must be taken to minimize the production of aerosols.
• Place appropriate signs at appropriate areas in the laboratory including level of containment, restricted access and hand wash only, etc.
• Wash hands prior to and following laboratory activities and at any time contamination is suspected.
• Disinfect laboratory benches and equipment prior to and at the conclusion of each laboratory session, using an appropriate disinfectant and allowing a suitable contact time. Disinfection should also be used to prevent microbial growth in spent culture fluids and used culture ware.
• Biological wastes require specialist disposal. In particular, disinfected wastes should be autoclaved before putting into appropriate rubbish bags different from those of the general disposal stream. Disposal at designated garbage collection centre of the University by designated personnel is required.
• All broken glassware, syringe needles and other sharps involving biological hazards MUST NOT be disposed in rubbish bin but in a yellow sharp box. When the box is full, specialist disposal is required.
• Care must be taken when handle and use liquid nitrogen particularly appropriate protection such as wearing thermal gloves and shoes.
• Periodic examination of autoclaves must be done. Only designated personnel are allowed to use autoclaves.

The relevant manual/COP/guidance of the Safety Office on biological safety can be accessed at www.safety.hku.hk/homepage/pdf/HKUBSP.pdf. In particular, precautions for working in Room LG-09 of InnoWing at innowings.engg.hku.hk/safety_wetlab/ should be understood and followed.

5.6 Rechargeable Battery Packs and Chargers

1. This set of guidelines applies to rechargeable battery packs (“battery packs”) and the related chargers (“chargers”), including those of electric hand tools, used in IW. It does not apply to cylindrical batteries as well as batteries used in mobile phones and laptop computers.
2. Only battery packs and chargers from trustworthy brands and suppliers can be used in IW. You can consult the technical manager for a list of these brands and suppliers.
3. All battery packs and chargers must be registered with the IW Office before being used in IW. A label, to be stuck on the registered item, bearing the IW stamp will be issued by the IW office for identification purpose.
4. Battery packs can only be charged in the charging cabinet provided by IW (to be implemented after the arrival of these cabinets).
5. Charging of battery packs in IW outside its opening hours is prohibited. Power supply to charging cabinets will be shut down half an hour before IW closes.
6. Excessive charging current may damage the battery pack and lead to safety issues. Unless the charging current limit of the battery pack can be detected by the charger through, typically, the balance plug/port/connect, the charging current limit must be correctly set manually in the charger.
7. Battery packs with ageing, abuse and faulty signs should not be used in IW. These signs include but are not limited to deformations of the battery cases typically due to swelling and dropping, excessive wearing of the battery cases, batteries running out appreciably quicker than normal, and charging appreciably slower than normal.
8. Faulty and partially faulty chargers should not be used in IW.
9. Each project team should keep its list of battery packs and chargers. A monthly statement should be submitted by the project team leader to the IW office to confirm that each of the battery packs and chargers is in good condition, see 7 and 8. The statement should also be endorsed by a technical staff.
10. IW staff should be notified immediately when the alarm of the charging cabinet rings; the battery pack and/or charger produce smoke, hissing sound and/or on fire regardless of whether the battery pack is being charged. The University’s Security Control at 3917 2882 or even 999, if applicable, should then be contacted unless the staff is sure that the situation has been under control, e.g. the smoke, hissing sound and fire have essentially stopped. Users and staff should stay away from the incident location until the smell, smoke and fire, if any, have gone out.
11. Useful information on battery packs and chargers can be accessed at Lipo Battery Guide and Understanding LiPo Batteries.

5.7 Work-above-ground and Work-at-height

In general, work-above-ground and work-at-height mean carrying out the work at less than and above 2 metres above the ground/floor level, respectively.

Ladders, including straight ladders and folding ladders, are usually used for ascending and descending purposes only. They should not be used for work-above-ground unless in very exceptional circumstances and after having conducted a task-specific risk assessment by the Technical Manager. If the use of ladders is unavoidable, stringent control should be implemented to ensure that adequate and suitable control and safety measures are in place. In particular, another technical staff should stay on the ground/floor level to prevent the ladder from being hit or struck by moving persons and objects.

In InnoWing, only full-time technical staff trained in using its working platform are allowed to work-at-height and the working platform must be used. Another staff should stay on the ground/floor level to prevent the working platform from being hit or struck by moving persons and objects.

• When a working platform is being moved to another workplace, do not allow any persons to stay thereon, any objects that may increase the risk of overturning the platform and loosen objects that may fall while moving the platform to be placed thereon;
• All the castors should be firmly locked in position while ascending/descending and using the working platforms;
• The outriggers of working platforms should be fully extended in accordance with the manufacturer’s requirements to ensure their secure foundation and stability.
• The height-to-base ratio of mobile working platforms and other safety recommendations in the manufacturer’s manual should be strictly followed. Do not arbitrarily increase the height of mobile working platforms beyond the manufacturer’s recommended level.
• The working platform should be properly maintained, examined and inspected in compliance with the statutory requirement. The relevant records should be made available in visible locations of the working platform.

More safety guidelines on the working platform can be seen at http://www.safety.hku.hk/homepage/pdf/WPSG.pdf.

5.8 Safety Quiz and Training for Students

To access the facilities in InnoWing, students must first become a member and pass a safety quiz: https://innowings.engg.hku.hk/membership/.

To access any particular equipment items, students must have gone through the appropriate training and have been assessed by the Technical Manager. Examples of the training include the engineering/workshop training courses offered by engineering academic Departments of the University. InnoWing also offers its in-house training and/or supervision on operating the equipment items of the InnoWing, see https://innowings.engg.hku.hk/membership/#rules.

5.9 Student Interest Group Working (SIG) Outside Opening Hours

Under exceptional circumstances, SIGs may request access to the project studio only (but not the open area) outside normal opening hours by applying to the Office. The application must be endorsed by the academic supervisor, who will be responsible for arranging supervision or monitoring. Supervision may be conducted by the academic supervisor, a technical staff member, or a tutor. If a technical staff or a tutor is proposed for this role, special endorsement from the Director of the Tam Wing Fan Innovation Wing is required.

The application will be reviewed by the Director and the Innovation Wing office following the academic supervisor’s endorsement. The final decision on approval rests with the Director and the Innovation Wing office.

To ensure compliance, the Office may conduct spot checks, including reviewing CCTV footage, to verify the activities of the SIG and the presence of the supervising staff.

To optimize resource utilization, approved access will be granted for a specified minimal period during the academic year, as determined by the Innovation Wing. The Director and the Office reserve the right to suspend or deactivate access rights for working outside opening hours at their discretion.

Please note that the terms and arrangements for such access are subject to change without prior notice.

6. In-house Inspection System

In-house Inspection is conducted at approximately 12 months intervals by the Safety Working Group. A report would be furnished by the Group for each Inspection and disseminate to all the staff-in-charge and technicians-in-charge.

7. Safety Vetting for Activities

An application for hosting activities in various Project Studios, Thematic Workshops and Event Halls must be raised by the activity supervisor who must be a teacher in the Faculty of Engineering. The application would be vetted by the Safety Working Group to ensure the technical and safety issues, if any, would be adequately addressed.

8. Reporting Incidents and Injuries

Incidents here refer to health and safety-related accidents, injuries, near misses, repeated violations of safety regulations, etc. All incidents must be reported to a technical/office staff who should then notify the Technical Manager or the Director as soon as possible. The technical/office staff should note down:

• (i) time and date of the incident,
• (ii) location of the incident,
• (iii) name(s) of student/staff/visitor involved,
• (iv) staff-in-charge of the incident location,
• (v) a brief description of the incident,
• (vi) medical treatment and medical leave,
• (vii) nature of the incident (e.g. accidents, injuries, near misses, repeated violations of safety regulations), and
• (viii) telephone number of the relevant person(s).

The Director needs to report any work-related injury (including those on outsiders) leading to temporary or permanent loss of work capacity to Human Resources Section of the Registry and the Safety Office. In practice, it may be difficult to judge whether a minor injury leads to any loss of work capacity. So the policy of the University is that staff, students and visitors are encouraged to report all work-related injuries. In particular, the injured MUST notify the InnoWing if he/she sought medical treatment from any hospital, medical clinic or practitioner no matter how minor the injury is.

For emergency, the University’s 24-hour Security Control Centre at 3917 2882 or even 999, if applicable, should be contacted directly.

9. Infection Control Measures

The University has established guidelines on Infection Control Measures (see https://covid19.hku.hk/control/measures/). These include but are not restricted to:

• Temperature check using IR camera is done at the main entrance. Persons with fever would be declined from entering the InnoWing and advised to visit a medical doctor as soon as possible.
• Mask should always be worn and the mask should fit snugly over the face.
• Alcohol-based hand-rub should be provided at the main entrance for disinfecting, if necessary.
• Events & crowd management should be exercised to maintain a reasonable social distance.

Please visit https://innowings.engg.hku.hk/innowing1/special/ for the most up-to-date infection control measures of InnoWing.

10. Safety Awareness Declaration

• All workshops/studios users including technical staff are requested to sign a Safety Awareness Declaration Form.
• The duly completed form should be submitted to the staff-in-charge of the thematic workshop or the supervisor of the Student Interest Group for endorsement.
• The supervisor submits the endorsed form to the Technical Manager.
• The form will automatically expire on 31 August every year. Members should make the declaration again for keeping his/her privilege of working in the thematic workshop/project studio.
• Smart card door access privilege to a workshop/studio would not be granted without a duly completed Form.
• The technical manager may request users to make a declaration again if a new hazard(s) appears on the premises.

11. Guidelines on Safe Pest Control Operation

Cases have occurred in Hong Kong in which the health of people has been seriously compromised by pesticides which are by nature toxic chemicals. It is therefore essential to ensure that people are not unduly exposed to pesticides via inhalation, ingestion and/or skin absorption. Fumigation is generally not allowed on campus unless it can be established that it is the only effective method for a particular task.

If staff and students are repeatedly annoyed by pests, please report to the General Office which, at its discretion, can contact the Estates Office for assistance.

More comprehensive guidelines on pest control operations can be seen at www.safety.hku.hk/homepage/pdf/PestCont.pdf.