Site inspections alone not enough to fix Hong Kong’s industrial accident problems, unions and concern group say, calling for more safety training
- City has recorded a spike in accidents related to lifting operations this year
- Concern group says it is very difficult to investigate dangerous behaviour on construction sites as work will stop during checks
Hong Kong construction unions and a concern group have warned that the government merely stepping up site inspections will not be enough to solve the problem of industrial accidents, saying more training and increased safety awareness are needed following a spate of blunders.
Their comments on Monday followed a pledge by Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han to increase checks at sites where lifting operations were carried out after 10 related accidents this year.
Fay Siu Sin-man, chief executive of the Association for the Rights of Industrial Accident Victims, said it was not ideal if the government only stepped up inspections when there was an increase in accidents related to particular construction procedures. She said she doubted the effectiveness of such surprise checks.
“Work will stop at the construction site when the Labour Department arrives. It is very difficult to investigate whether there is dangerous behaviour and incorrect practices. It cannot achieve the desired effect,” Siu told a radio programme.
She said the issue lay in workers and site managers failing to follow guidelines, which could be related to tight construction timelines and insufficient awareness about safety.
“There is no immediate solution to minimise accidents. It takes a long time to build a safety culture,” Siu said.
“It has to be tackled through a multipronged approach, including increasing penalties and education, as well as strengthening risk assessment on sites. Lengthening the construction time also has to be considered.”
She also warned about a potential rise in lifting-related accidents as the city had increased the use of prefabricated components in construction.
4 Hong Kong construction workers injured by falling metal rods
The city has recorded a spike in accidents related to lifting operations this year. The latest, involving a large piece of equipment that tilted and fell onto construction site hoardings while being lifted by a crane truck at the University of Hong Kong on Saturday, was exposed by the media. No injuries were reported.
On the same day, four workers were injured after being hit by falling metal rods at a site for the new Central Kowloon Route in Yau Ma Tei, with a wire rope on a crane truck suspected to have snapped while making a delivery.
On Friday, a 58-year-old worker was hit on the head by an aluminium sheet that fell during a lifting operation at a construction site in Tung Chung. He later died in hospital.
Speaking on the same radio programme on Monday, Lee Kwong-sing, a safety adviser with the Hong Kong Construction Industry Employees General Union, said it was important to ensure work guidelines were implemented on sites.
Call for better construction supervision in Hong Kong after 3 workers die
He added that the government should step up efforts to regulate lifting procedures, noting that only crane operators were required to hold a training certificate. Other workers involved, such as signallers and riggers, only received general training.
“If the government requires licensing and introduces a series of procedures, where workers may lose their job and face disciplinary action, they will implement the guidelines seriously,” Lee said, adding that proper training could teach employees the right way to handle lifting work.
Lee also had reservations about the effectiveness of government inspections as officers would be less familiar with the site to identify high-risk spots, while on-site safety advisers understood the situation much better but rarely had time for inspections due to heavy paperwork.
The construction industry has recorded at least 20 fatal industrial accidents this year.
On Sunday, Sun said the government was keeping a close eye on potential violations of the law or guidelines and reminded people to strictly follow safety rules, adding he would hold discussions with the Development Bureau on the issue.
