AQHI is useful when planning a run, an older person's walk or outdoor work. Start with place, time and participants, then use the matching advice.
What to have ready
Identify the scope and records
EPD's AQHI communicates short-term health risk from air pollution using low, moderate, high, very high and serious categories. General and roadside stations report hourly and forecasts have defined time blocks. On a phone, first check the timestamp and whether the display is a reading or forecast. Yesterday's screenshot, another jurisdiction's AQI or a single pollutant measurement cannot be treated as today's Hong Kong AQHI, even if the numbers look similar.
The FAQs distinguish general stations for most activity away from heavily trafficked roads from roadside stations relevant to substantial activity beside heavy traffic and tall buildings. They also identify corresponding stations for districts without their own general station. Advice is separated for people with heart or respiratory conditions, children and older people, outdoor workers and the general public. Select the appropriate group instead of applying the advice from one column indiscriminately to everyone.
Practical steps to follow
- Before departure, use the official AQHI site or obtain the official app through it and check time, destination and station type. For activity alongside a main road, also consider roadside information rather than choosing whichever station happens to display the lowest number.
- Open the official advice table and read the relevant participant column at the current risk category. Adapt a shared outing to children's or older people's needs. Follow existing clinical advice for illness and do not change medication yourself because the index appears low.
- Read the forecast for the activity period and prepare options such as a shorter, gentler, rescheduled or indoor activity. Consider indoor smoke or cooking pollution as well. Use air-quality, heat and weather information together because each describes a different part of the conditions.
- Check again before activity or when changing location and explain the basis and alternative to companions. For outdoor work, bring the official advice into the employer's risk assessment rather than deciding the entire workforce's arrangements from one personal screenshot.
A worked example and wording to adapt
A family plans a brisk walk with an older person beside a busy road. They check general and roadside information, the forecast for the outing and the older-person advice column. Where official advice calls for reducing outdoor exertion, they shorten, slow or replace the activity with a suitable indoor option and recheck before leaving. The message says: 'Checked official station ___ at ___. Relevant advice: ___. Revised activity: ___. We will confirm again before departure.' No single index is used to promise that the participant cannot feel unwell.
Follow-up and completion checks
The official table gives susceptible groups reduced outdoor exertion and exposure advice at high risk, AQHI 7, with further measures at very high, 8–10, and serious, 10+. Read your column in full. Reduce, minimise and avoid describe different actions and should not be collapsed into one generic instruction.
AQHI is a public risk tool rather than a personal diagnosis or indoor-air certificate. Seek appropriate help if unwell and discuss activity with a clinician where needed. Follow the responsible workplace or school arrangements and retain the check time so an old display is not later presented as a current reading.
Match time, station and participant group, then turn the official advice into a workable plan.
Official information and enquiries
These are the reference and service entry points for this guide. Check current fees, eligibility, and schedules with the authority. The preparation date is not each source's official update date.