A THIRD of the 86 passenger hoists in use on Hongkong construction sites are the same model as one which plunged 17 floors this month, killing 12 workers inside, and just 10 of them have overload warning systems.
The figures were released by Labour Department officials during yesterday's meeting of the Legislative Council manpower panel and prompted immediate calls for the British-made hoists to be banned.
Legislator and unionist, Lau Chin-shek, said: ''It has not been proved yet that this model is safe. The Government should ban it until proper monitoring and maintenance systems have been improved.'' But deputy director of the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department, Tong Kin-wah, said there would be no ban until the full results of the investigation into the June 2 Quarry Bay tragedy were known.
Preliminary results found that the hoist's braking system failed.
''We need to find out why the braking system did not work. If it is found to be related to the design, then we would have sufficient reasons to ban the model,'' he said.
''But we cannot do so if it is found to be related to poor maintenance or human error.'' In the meantime, letters would be sent to contractors advising them to improve hoist safety systems and check the machines.