Are Hong Kong’s penalties tough enough for contractors behind on-site accidents?
Lawmakers raise concerns at meeting on ombudsman’s investigation into workplace health and safety
Hong Kong lawmakers have questioned whether existing penalties for contractors that fail to ensure workers’ safety are tough enough, pointing to a business that was convicted 77 times over several years but was fined no more than HK$10,000 (US$1,280) on average.
The concerns were raised at a Legislative Council meeting on Monday that discussed the ombudsman’s investigation into occupational health and safety.
According to the report, labour authorities conducted 74,410 safety inspections at various sites last year. They also issued 4,567 notices to employers for violating safety measures and launched 2,388 prosecutions.
Figures from the document also showed that 7,371 industrial accidents were reported in 2024, a decrease of 9.4 per cent from 2023. The report found 28 workers had died on the job last year, with 22 of them counted as industrial fatalities.
The number of fatalities in the construction sector last year stood at 14, down from 20 in 2023.
Lawmakers argued that the punishment for employers who failed to ensure worker safety was “too lenient”.