In late January, a cleaner was found dead, hours after he had plunged 35 floors down a rubbish chute in a Tuen Mun public housing block. Over the past 11 years, five cleaners fell into rubbish chutes in Hong Kong, three of whom did not survive their injuries. The recurrent tragedy shows just how dire the situation is for such workers. According to 2002 government figures, among the 148 public housing estates in Hong Kong, only four are not equipped with rubbish chutes. After a Coroner’s Court hearing on a similar refuse chute accident in 2010, the Housing Authority was asked to improve the design of the chute openings to avoid any more such accidents. However, the Housing Authority did not follow the advice of the Occupational Safety and Health Council to elevate all old chute openings and install safety belt hooks in all refuse rooms to facilitate the use of such belts. The recent accident revealed that the rubbish chutes in Shan King Estate had not been modified. This is because it is one of the around 50 public estates sold to tenants under the Tenants Purchase Scheme . Both the Housing Authority and the owners’ corporations were reluctant to bear the responsibility and the cost. Moreover, given that services tend to be outsourced to the lowest bidder, costs have come under pressure for cleaning companies and so training and equipment barely exist now. A survey found less than 1 per cent of outsourced cleaners were provided with safety belts. In a Coroner’s Court hearing of another chute death of a refuse worker in 2017, an occupational safety officer at the Labour Department admitted that the cleaner had not been given training on how to clear congested chutes. Also, with cleaning companies understaffed, workers were often asked to take up tasks beyond their capability. The latest victim, Mr Kwan Hau-kei, was a part-time worker who had to clear refuse from hundreds of flats between the 19th and top floors of the 35-storey building in one shift. Clearly, there is room for drastic policy improvement. The Housing Authority should support owners’ corporations in estates under the Tenants Purchase Scheme, to ensure that all rubbish chute openings are shrunk to 35cm by 25cm or smaller, placed off the ground, and have safety belt hooks in the refuse room. The Labour Department, for its part, should provide training on how to clear congested rubbish chutes, and conduct more unannounced inspections. Further, the government should specify minimum manpower and equipment standards in tenders for service providers. Companies with a fatal accident record should be temporarily banned from bidding. If these problems are not addressed urgently, I fear tragedy will only repeat itself. Clara Law, Kowloon City
