Despite another year haunted by the COVID-19 epidemic, the Regulatory Services forged ahead with its work as the regulator of E&M safety and energy efficiency while meeting all targets and indicators set by the Government. The year 2020 also saw continual decline in the number of electrical, gas, lift and escalator and railway incidents. This reaffirms the effectiveness of our multi-pronged, risk-based approach to public education, inspection and law enforcement.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR
Beyond being a regulator, our role to promote and facilitate new initiatives to improve people's living has opened up new horizons too, such as facilitating regulatees to use innovation and technology (I&T). An example was our successful bidding of funds from the TechConnect Block Vote to develop a blockchain-based Digital Log-book for the lift and escalator trade to replace paper records, greatly benefiting the trade and the public.
We also expedited our own I&T transformation by digitalising Regulatory Services operations, including employing various mobile apps, online Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses, digital forms and e-licensing tools for the trade, all in line with the Government's Be the Smart Regulator initiative.
Another achievement in the year was deepening our culture of "curing diseases before they arise", a concept borrowed from the Chinese medicine. Upon identifying potential E&M safety risks in specific areas, we took prompt mitigating measures. These included a territory-wide publicity campaign to encourage households still using aged domestic gas appliances without the GU mark to replace them with models bearing the GU mark; visiting all restaurants and identifying those with gas installations of higher risks to carry out "Quick Checks" and replacement of aged gas parts; working with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and contractors to conduct electrical safety promotion visits and inspections to thousands of sub-divided units across the territory to check the safety of their fixed electrical installations.
On railway safety, we steered the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL) to make an extraordinary arrangement to enable an extended non-traffic hours testing of the full Tuen Ma Line (TML), with around two hours of delayed opening of normal services of relevant stations on the morning of 2 May 2021. Being part of the final preparation for the full TML commissioning, the testing was carried out to simulate the Day-1 running of the full TML under peak and non-peak hours, leading to the smooth full line opening in June 2021. Meanwhile, we pressed ahead with the Lift Modernisation Subsidy Scheme (LIMSS) to pre-empt aged lift incidents and rolled out I&T projects such as the Web-based Predictive Faults Alarm System of Escalators to help the trade enhance escalator safety. Overall, our colleagues are becoming more proactive and effective in nipping risk factors in the bud.
While it is anticipated that electric vehicles will be popularised and new energy vehicles will also be launched, we have to ensure a continual and reliable fuel supply for over 18000 LPG taxis and 4600 public light buses. A key step was the renewal of contracts for the supply of auto-LPG at the 12 Dedicated LPG Filling Station (DFS), while the contracts would be expired progressively from 2021 to 2023. We worked vigorously in the tender preparation and co-ordination with stakeholders, rendering all the new contracts being awarded smoothly in May 2021. The DFS network in our territory has been pivotal at the time being for the low carbon emission and good air quality for our community.
In addition, our energy efficiency team continued to lead by example via its energy saving, renewable energy use and retro-commissioning work for government premises as well as energy efficiency initiatives like the Solar Harvest and Energy Smart under Green Schools 2.0 for the community. EMSD made history, too, as our representative was re-elected to serve another term as Chairman of the Expert Group on Energy Efficiency and Conservation (EGEE&C) under the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). The EGEE&C and the Expert Group on Energy Data and Analysis (EGEDA) held their first-ever virtual meeting and workshops in Hong Kong via video conferencing in November 2020.
Hong Kong was also honoured to host in March 2021 the online APEC Workshop on Energy Intensity Reduction in the APEC Regions' Urbanised Cities, which was part of Hong Kong's first-ever APEC-funded project undertaken by our Energy Efficiency Office to analyse the outstanding energy intensity reduction performance of seven APEC member cities and crystalize best energy-saving practices. We are hopeful that another proposal on retro-commissioning capacity building will be our next APEC- funded project.
ANTI-EPIDEMIC WORK
The COVID-19 epidemic has disrupted normal economic activities, but the Government and the trades were quick to adapt. Meetings, registration renewals and CPD courses conducted online as well as I&T-enabled virtual events have become the norm. The online mode has in fact boosted CPD attendance rates and is welcomed by the trade, and these "low-carbon" modes will likely stay even after the epidemic.
We have also identified a local ropeway expert to become an approved surveyor to conduct in time the annual examination of Ngong Ping 360 in May 2020, under our close supervision, as overseas experts could not travel to Hong Kong due to the epidemic.
Indeed, it is our focus to help the trade maintain service continuity under the epidemic. From the onset of the epidemic in early 2020, we met with regulates including the gas and power companies, MTRCL, Airport Authority Hong Kong (for automated people mover services), Hong Kong Tramways, Peak Tram and the lift and escalator trade to review their Business Continuity Plans. To help E&M practitioners suffering from financial hardship caused by the epidemic, we proposed to include E&M trades in the Government's Anti-epidemic Fund for the one-off cash subsidy. We also provided partial refund of the application or renewal fees for registration as electrical workers and contractors.
With the efforts paid, our regulated trades succeeded in maintaining normal services to the public during the year. We are confident that both Regulatory Services and the trades stand ready to serve the public well even if the epidemic does not ease shortly.
SMART REGULATOR AND REGIONAL CO-OPERATION UNDER "NEW NORMAL"
The epidemic has given rise to a "new normal" where the Government and businesses have embraced more online tools and I&T solutions for meetings, training and the delivery of services to meet rising public expectations for greater convenience. Further, in support of the Chief Executive's 2020 Policy Address initiative to promote Smart Government, including the Be the Smart Regulator and Streamlining of Government Services Programmes, we have been preparing e-licence, e-submission and e-payment tools for various E&M safety and energy efficiency licence applications, approvals and renewals, to facilitate online application for all 45 EMSD's licences by mid-2022.
We also made use of the E&M Trade App to e-process registration renewals and new registration for Registered Electrical Workers in July 2021 and October 2021 respectively, and more similar functions will be added to the app. Some e-processing functions are integrated into the Government's iAM Smart digital services platform.
The new normal has accelerated further use of technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and big data analytics for other regulatory and enforcement work, such as an AI database analytics system for analysing railway incident trends and video analytics for the prevention of railway incidents. Our electricity safety team has been developing an AI system with machine learning function to analyse aerial photos for detecting unregistered rooftop solar photovoltaic installations on village houses and buildings. If such installations without registration are detected, we can follow up with the owners for registration.
The new normal also impacted our interactions with the Mainland of China (Mainland), and we moved to online platforms for meetings and incident reporting. Though face-to-face visits were difficult, co-operation remained strong. Indeed, cooperation with the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China deepened further as we started to work with Hangzhou Customs to monitor and prevent the sale of non-approved gas products via e-commerce platforms directly into Hong Kong in the year.
New partnerships were forged too. We signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Energy Market Authority of Singapore in October 2020 to collaborate on energy safety issues; and made initial contacts with the gas safety regulators in Guangdong Province as well as Guangzhou and Shenzhen municipalities to explore collaboration in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA).
INCIDENT PREVENTION: I&T AND OTHER TOOLS
I&T can boost our incident prevention work and the culture of "curing diseases before they arise". All Divisions made good progress in using I&T solutions to step up inspections and other preventive measures, such as the Artificial Intelligent Nylon Optical Fibre Sensing Escalator Combs project, which features redesigned escalator combs made with a different material to avoid step dislocations due to small objects trapped, won the Gold Medal at the International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva. Meanwhile, an "AI Based Accident Prevention System for Escalators" which we developed with TechConnect Block Vote funding to reduce escalator incidents caused by passengers carrying bulky baggage or baby prams, is under trial at a MTR station.
Another preventive project was a survey on the structural integrity of aged lifts in Hong Kong, using a risk-based approach to select aged lifts of different brands maintained by different Registered Lift Contractors (RCs). A total of 57 lifts aged 30 to 50 years were surveyed, with results showing that while their structural integrity was generally in order, there were maintenance shortcomings like rust stains and wear and tear in parts not easily noticed during routine inspections. The results were shared with the RCs for prompt action. The survey provides a good template for future initiatives to enhance safety of the over 40000 aged lifts in Hong Kong.
ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS
Internally, in early 2021, having regard to the new developments in areas such as I&T, international situation and the epidemic, we refined the Regulatory Services strategic directions (SDs) which will further enhance our work. Under the new SDs, we stay committed to leveraging technology and innovation to bring benefits and convenience to the public via effective engagement with the trade. Another focus is proactive integration into the GBA and national development.
Regulatory Services have been expanded with new Divisions to handle new work such as implementing the LIMSS and new District Cooling System projects. The latest development during the year was the Government's proposal to establish the Railways Department which will integrate our Railways Branch and the Railway Development Office of the Highways Department, to further improve the operational efficiency and effectiveness of long-term railway development and safety. We have already formed a co-ordination committee to begin preparatory work as the proposal is being planned for Legislative Council review.
PRIORITIES NEXT YEAR
A priority is to deepen our incident prevention strategy and initiatives. One option is to cultivate all our colleagues so that the organisation is more vigilant and proactive in assessing risks with a bottom-up approach. At the same time, we shall conduct long-term planning to help achieve the Government's vision and initiatives, such as the goal to achieve carbon neutrality in Hong Kong before 2050.
We have been keeping abreast with the global development on decarbonisation and zero carbon issues, and stand ready to join the inter-departmental carbon neutrality working groups, and other steering committees if required, to share our knowledge and technical knowhow in formulating the respective policies and plans. This requires the contribution of not only our Energy Efficiency Office but all other Divisions, such as our colleagues of the Gas Standards Office who have recently joined the Carbon Neutrality Taskforce, an inter-departmental study team established by the Environment Bureau to explore the topic of hydrogen as fuel, an area which the Mainland is making fast and encouraging progress. We believe there will be important progress in 2022/23 onwards to shape up the Government's dedication on carbon neutrality.
Meanwhile, we shall continue our trade and public engagement via multiple channels like social media. As the epidemic eases, we plan to organise more face-to-face activities for students and youths. I&T and research collaboration with the trade is another priority, and new projects such as the blockchain-based Digital Log-book for lifts and escalators are truly exciting.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all our staff for their excellent service. Our appreciation goes to the policy bureaux and other government departments, our regulatees, trade partners, the academia, professional bodies, NGOs, training institutions and the public for their great support. Our co-operation partners in the Mainland, Asia Pacific and other regions have continued to share their experience despite the epidemic, for which we are sincerely grateful.
With support from our stakeholders, the Regulatory Services look forward to another year of fruitful collaboration.
