Builders' union calls for new safety rules after Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge worker's death

After a construction worker on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge died on Friday when his excavator fell into the sea, leaders of the city's construction union yesterday called for heightened measures to avoid similar incidents in the future.

Chow Luen-kiu, chairman of the Hong Kong Construction Industry Employees General Union, told reporters that the worker's death highlighted the danger of a common practice in which workers operated heavy machinery on free-floating barges.

He called for tighter regulations and more targeted training to be put in place to avoid similar accidents taking place again.

The man, a Hongkonger, died when a wave hit the floating platform on which he was operating the excavator, Chow said. The machine was at an angle on a pile of sand when the wave knocked it off-balance and into the sea.

"It took a man's life for us to realise this is how things usually work," Chow said, calling for both the Marine Department and the Labour Department to issue the new regulations.

Chow called on regulators to add more precise specifications to the current regulations on maritime construction safety, further clarifying what kinds of equipment could be used in what circumstances.