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Raymond Yeung

Work at the building site where two men plunged to their deaths on Wednesday may have broken safety rules, the Labour Department has said.
Five workers on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge fell into the sea off Tai O, Lantau Island, when a temporary platform they were working on collapsed. Three were rescued and two died.
Union representatives have indicated the workers wore safety harnesses hooked to the platform, and when the platform collapsed it dragged them into the water.

During a radio phone-in on Friday Jeff Leung Wing-yan, the Labour Department’s deputy commissioner for occupational safety and health, said harnesses must be hooked to an independent anchor, according to the rules.
Asked if hooking the harness to a temporary platform broke those rules, Leung said, “generally speaking”, it did.
One worker killed and two injured in Hong Kong construction site fall
A department statement further clarified that under the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance, safety harnesses must be attached to a “suitable and secure” anchorage.
“The guidance notes … have specified different type of anchorage systems, including an independent lifeline. A temporary work platform is not an anchorage stipulated under the guidelines,” it read.
Leung promised to get to the bottom of the matter as quickly as possible, and vowed to take action for those responsible.
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Anyone found guilty of the ordinance faces up to one year imprisonment and a HK$500,000 fine.
The contractor is Dragages-China Harbour-VSL Joint Venture, which did not reply to a request for comment.
Hong Kong Construction Industry Employees’ General Union chairman Chow Luen-yiu said in most cases, contractors got away with fines of HK$100,000 or less.
Leung of the Labour Department conceded that penalties were not deterrent enough to avoid accidents, citing that undisclosed growth in the amount of penalities in the past few years.
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“Actually the Labour Department has a bigger weapon – that is the suspension of works notice,” Chow said.
He explained the suspension allowed authorities to look into the matter and make sure the work site was safe to operate.
The department suspended work at the construction site in question since the accident happened on Wednesday. The site links to a bridge connecting the main bridge’s Hong Kong section to Chek Lap Kok, where Hong Kong airport is.
Some workers have asked me why obeying instructions would still get us killed
Chow Luen-yiu, construction union chairman
Chow suggested the workers’ bosses had told them to harness their safety belts to the platform.
“Some workers have asked me why obeying instructions would still get us killed,” he said.
The latest incident took the project’s death toll to 10. He said he didn’t want to give workers’ lives in exchange for Hong Kong’s prosperity, with a “blood and sweat project”.
Leung said the Labour Department inspected the project about 400 times last year, but Chow said that was insufficient based on its scale and complexity.
The body of a 41-year-old man, one of the two killed, was retrieved on Thursday night. His colleague was found on Wednesday and certified dead at hospital.
The Highways Department has set up an independent team to investigate the incident’s cause, a department spokeswoman said. The team will submit its report to the director of highways in three months. The findings will be made public.
The works have been slated for completion by the end of the year, while an operation date depended on progress of talks between the Hong Kong, Macau and mainland governments.


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Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge

Workers at Hong Kong bridge site where two died may not have followed safety rules, Labour Department says

The latest accident took the death toll for the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge to 10. Photo: EPA

Bridge columns of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge is seen on the Lantau Island. 28MAR17 SCMP/ Edward Wong

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The men wore harnesses hooked to temporary platform, which collapsed and dragged them into the water


Workers at Hong Kong bridge site where two died may not have followed safety rules, Labour Department says

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The men wore harnesses hooked to temporary platform, which collapsed and dragged them into the water

The men wore harnesses hooked to temporary platform, which collapsed and dragged them into the water