Editorial | Hong Kong work deaths cry out for tougher penalties
- Yet again Hong Kong has had a sad reminder of its unsatisfactory industrial safety record and the need for greater effort to protect workers
If every industrial accident is one too many, it has to be asked why fatalities and injuries have made headlines more often in recent years. The horror of two workers who plunged 20 floors to their deaths while working on a gondola at a high-rise residential block in Mid-Levels this week is a sad reminder of the city’s unsatisfactory industrial safety record. From awareness and compliance to legislation and enforcement, better efforts must be made to protect workers.
Initial investigations reveal the gondola carrying the two men fell after its cable snapped. The victims, aged 52 and 56, were said to have been examining the device for mechanical or electrical issues as part of a building inspection project. There have been suggestions the incident could have been avoided by carrying out such checks just above ground level. A wider probe into compliance with work safety procedures should provide more answers.
The official industrial accident rate per 1,000 workers may have been reduced from 51.7 in 2000 to 12.4 in 2020, but with as many as 25 work-related deaths last year, mostly in the construction industry, something is clearly amiss. More often than not, such incidents involve the suspected failure of employers and supervisors to properly assess dangers at sites, or workers bending safety rules for the sake of convenience. That probably explains why the city’s record still leaves much to be desired.
This is not helped when the penalties for occupational safety and health offences do not reflect the severity of the laws broken. Currently, contractors and employers who contravene safety requirements are liable to a maximum fine of HK$500,000 (US$63,700) and imprisonment for six months, while employees face a fine of HK$50,000 and six months in jail. But punishments currently handed down in courts may be just a fraction of those.
Under amendments being scrutinised by the legislature, those responsible for serious breaches will be liable to a fine of up to HK$10 million and two years in prison. There will also be new provisions asking judges to take into account the turnover of convicted entities when determining the level of fines. This is a long overdue step in the right legal direction.