THE $6,000 fine imposed on the China Light and Power Company (CLP) will be a bitter disappointment to all those striving to improve workplace safety. The company had pleaded guilty to failing to provide and maintain a hydrogen generation plant and systems of work that were safe and without risk to the health of all persons employed. That is a serious charge. The facts on which it was based were demonstrated in a tragic and dramatic way on August 28, 1992, when an explosion killed two company employees.
For a company of CLP's size and wealth, it makes no difference whether the fine was $6,000 or the maximum $30,000 laid down by the Factories and Industrial Explosions Ordinance at the time of the explosion. What does matter, however, is that the fine should have been exemplary. A company with the public prestige of CLP should expect to set an example to others.
In imposing the fine, magistrate Ernest Lim accepted that since the accident CLP had done much to help the bereaved families. Nothing less should have been expected. Behaving decently towards the families of men killed in the company's service hardly warrants reducing a fine for failing to provide safe equipment.
This fine sets a poor example for other companies whose equipment may be far less well maintained and reliable. Hong Kong's industrial safety record is poor. Mr Lim has missed an opportunity to help ensure that employers meet their obligations to their workers.
