ELECTRICAL SAFETY

Periodic Testing of Electrical Installations
Whether in residential apartments, shops or offices, or in communal areas of buildings, electrical installations with an approved loading exceeding 100 amperes should be inspected, tested and certified at least once every five years to ensure safety. Residential buildings have always been a priority of EMSD's efforts over the years.

More than 96 per cent of all 35,000 residential buildings in Hong Kong have been inspected and tested for electrical safety, with the kind support of the Buildings Department and Home Affairs Department. As owners/tenants of some of these buildings have not appointed a property management company nor formed an incorporated owners association, patience, determination and numerous negotiations and home visits were necessary to persuade them to take compliance actions.

Closer Cooperation with Mainland Authorities
EMSD has been working with its mainland counterpart to foster closer cooperation in the safety standards of electrical products. This initiative helps to safeguard our required standards and is of particular significance considering the volume of imports from Mainland China.

Special arrangements have been made to facilitate reciprocal training and exchange visits, and more important, to allow for faster checking of the source of any problematic product. Appropriate and timely action can then be made to prevent the problem from worsening.

Enforcement Work
To ensure safety, EMSD has continued its effort to conduct regular inspections at various outlets of electrical products and fixed electrical installations throughout the territory. In 2001, we have initiated 41 prosecution cases in relation to electrical product safety while 322 owners of fixed electrical installations who violated the five-year periodic inspection and testing requirements were prosecuted.