Government asked if it will introduce compensation obligations on work overexertion
The Hong Kong government has underscored that "overexertion at work" is not a medical diagnosis amid calls to draw up compensation obligations for employers when an employee is injured or dies under this situation.
Labour and Welfare Secretary Chris Sun was responding to an inquiry last week about whether the government would provide a definition for overexertion at work and related compensation obligations regarding it.
"'Overexertion at work' is not a medical diagnosis," Sun said in a written reply in the Legislative Council.
"According to the information available to the LD, the International Labour Organization has not drawn up any definition or guidelines on workplace deaths caused by 'overexertion at work,' and there is also a lack of internationally recognised criteria. Most countries or places do not have related definitions made in the context of employees' compensation."
In Hong Kong, employees who are suspected of dying suddenly due to overexertion at work are often classified as "fatalities at work not caused by accidents or occupational diseases."
Sun said the number of fatalities at work reported to the Labour Department over the past 10 years that were not caused by work accidents or occupational diseases ranged from 98 to 192.
The vast majority of these fatalities are workers who died of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases during work, he added.
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