|
Number of Work/Study-Related Injuries
A total of 36 work/study-related injury cases were recorded in 2015. Among the cases:
- 21 cases involved staff members
- 12 cases involved students
- 3 cases involved contractors
A comparison of accident numbers over the past 10 years is shown in Table 1 below.
| Table 1. Comparison of Staff & Student Work/Study-Related Accident Numbers |
| Year |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
| Staff Accident Number |
25 |
18 |
22 |
27 |
35 |
19 |
22 |
27 |
19 |
21 |
| Student Accident Number |
8 |
8 |
8 |
4 |
8 |
6 |
4 |
5 |
13 |
12 |
Lost Workdays
A total of 82.5 lost workdays of all the staff injury cases were recorded by the end of 2015. The comparison of lost workdays over the past 10 years is shown in Table 2 below.
The severity of individual cases is analysed and represented by the number of lost workdays as shown in Table 3. In all the 21 staff work-related injury cases, 4 cases did not incur any lost workdays, 8 cases incurred 3 or fewer lost workdays and 9 cases incurred more than 3 lost workdays. The largest number of lost workdays in one single case was 13 days.
| Table 2. Comparison of Lost Workdays |
| Year |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
| Total Number of Lost Workdays |
430 |
86 |
140 |
473 |
382 |
143.5 |
432 |
272 |
389 |
82.5 |
| Average Lost Workday Per Accident |
17.2 |
4.8 |
6.4 |
17.5 |
10.9 |
7.6 |
19.6 |
10.1 |
20.5 |
3.9 |
| Table 3. HKUST Staff Work Accidents in 2015 by Unit |
| Department |
No. of Accidents |
| |
Total |
LWD=0 |
0 |
LWD>3 |
| CHEM |
2 |
1 |
|
1 |
| CIVL |
1 |
1 |
|
|
| DAO |
1 |
|
1 |
|
| DHSS |
1 |
|
1 |
|
| FMO |
6 |
|
2 |
4 |
| HSEO |
1 |
1 |
|
|
| LIFS |
3 |
1 |
2 |
|
| SAO |
3 |
|
1 |
2 |
| SHRLO |
3 |
|
1 |
2 |
| Total |
21 |
4 |
8 |
9 |
Cause of Work/Study-Related Injuries
Figure 1 summarizes the causes for all work/study-related injuries in 2015.
Both "Animal Handling" and "Machinery/Equipment" were the top causes for work/study-related injuries (5 cases each) in 2015. All five cases in "Animal Handling" were bites by mice, and 4 of them involved students.
Locations of Accidents
Among the 33 staff and students injury cases:
- 16 occurred in laboratories
- 3 occurred in student quarters
- 2 occurred in staff quarters
- 1 occurred in office areas
- 2 occurred in indoor common areas
- 5 occurred in outdoor common areas
- 1 occurred in plant room
- 2 occurred in sport facilities
- 1 occurred off campus
Common Root Causes of Accidents
Besides classifying causes of injuries in terms of physical sources and energies involved, investigation of the injury cases also revealed some common underlying root causes. These root causes are summarized in Figure 2 below.
Non-injury Incidents
A total of 4 non-injury work/study-related incidents were reported in 2015. These incidents are summarized below by their nature:
- Flooding in laboratory areas – 2 cases
- Smoke and smell due to overheating a glass bottle in laboratory – 1 case
- Smoke and smell due to defect of an equipment in NFF – 1 case
Summary of Significant Findings
- There were 32 cases of staff and students accidents in 2015, same as that of the previous year. The number of staff injury cases had increased by 2 cases, while the number of student injury cases had decreased by 1 case.
- The number of lost workdays in 2015 was 82.5 days, which was the lowest in the past 10 years.
- "Animal Handling" and "Equipment & Machinery" became the top causes for injuries in 2015, each having 5 cases. All five cases in "Animal Handling" involved people who were bitten by mouse when they were performing experiments with mice, and 4 of them were students.
- About 40% (13 cases) of all accidents were attributed to "Inadequate Knowledge or Skill" of the people involved, most of them were students.
- Number of accidents occurred in laboratories remained as the highest (16 cases or 48%), same as in 2014. All the 12 cases of student accidents occurred in laboratories.
| 
