Editorial | Hong Kong workplace deaths call for strong deterrents
- The Hong Kong government may be taking tough approach to deaths of two workmen, but such a stance has failed in the past and tragedies continue
Officials are taking a tough approach over the two workers who died trapped in a toxic gas-filled underground tube last weekend, and rightly so. They have vowed to pursue accountability under a strengthened industrial safety law and upgraded the case to one of manslaughter.
While such moves cannot remove the tragedy, they are, hopefully, sober warnings to those responsible for work safety.
Initial investigations appear to confirm occupational safety rules were not followed at the MTR Corp-managed site in West Kowloon. Air-conditioning workmen Lau Ho-cheong, 63, and Kwok For-kee, 61, were reportedly locked inside the confined premises overnight on Saturday without being noticed and found dead the following day.
A 62-year-old subcontractor appeared in Kowloon City Court on Friday to face a charge of manslaughter and was denied bail. A 40-year-old project manager of the main contractor, who had earlier assisted in the investigation, is facing the same charge.
Separately, the accused subcontractor has been suspended from bidding for public projects. All enclosed construction sites in the city will also have to be checked within the next two weeks.