Not a day to waste on making work safer in Hong Kong
- The latest deaths in industrial accidents show Hong Kong needs to do better for its workers, their families and its reputation
Safety in the workplace ranks alongside safety in the home. We are reminded of this when someone – perhaps a breadwinner – does not come home after an accident at work that causes injury or even death.
Occupational health and safety is, rightly, a benchmark of an advanced society. Accidents are inevitable, so reducing the risk is paramount.
On that count there is room for Hong Kong to do better. A rash of industrial accidents right up to the end of the year is testament to that.
In the most recent case, a 58-year-old man died on Tuesday after fainting in the cabin of a crane situated six metres (20 feet) above the ground at Kwai Tsing Container Terminals.
This was the third work-related fatality in recent days, after accidents at a landfill site at Ta Kwu Ling and at a ground support company site at the airport.
Still fresh in the memory is a dark day for the construction industry last August, when three workers died in separate incidents.
The Association for the Rights of Industrial Accident Victims notes that of 28 deaths in industrial accidents it investigated last year, 25 were in the construction industry.
At least five died in 10 accidents involving lifting operations, increasing concerns about the occupational safety level in a common procedure.
In a step in the right direction for further accountability on workplace safety, the government has begun reviewing its register of contractors of companies with poor safety records.
Hong Kong worker, 58, dies after fainting in crane cabin 6 metres above ground
Workers and safety advocates have also called for the courts to do more after penalties for serious industrial accidents were raised in April last year from HK$500,000 (US$64,000) and six months in jail to HK$10 million and two years’ imprisonment.
At the end of the day the accident record will reflect a safety culture that has to be jointly fostered by the authorities, employers and workers.
In that regard, Thomas Ho On-sing, chairman of the Construction Industry Council, rightly said the sector must improve its safety culture among workers to enhance risk management and precautionary measures.
Ho said analysis of fatal accidents indicated that up to 80 per cent were caused by habits and culture, adding it could take three to five years to change such behaviour. That said, every day shaved off the transition time may be a life saved.
