Broken screws of surgical light that crashed down in Hong Kong operating room showed signs of metal fatigue, investigation finds
- Hospital Authority says ‘extremely dissatisfied’ with work of surgical light contractor Getinge and may pass case to police
- Checks at all public hospitals find 23 operating room lights, all supplied by same company, had ‘potential risk’

Screws that broke and allowed a surgical light to come crashing down in a Hong Kong operating theatre showed signs of metal fatigue that would have been identified if checks had been carried out properly, the Hospital Authority has said.
Announcing its findings into the incident at United Christian Hospital last weekend, the authority on Friday said it was “extremely dissatisfied” with the work of contractor Getinge that was responsible for the lights. It reserved the right to take legal action and would pass the case to law enforcement if necessary, the organisation warned.
Dr Eric Lim Chaw-hyon, a materials testing expert who led the investigation, said all six screws used to secure the light to a fixture attached to the ceiling of the operating room were broken, with at least four of them showing signs of metal fatigue.
“Those screws had signs of ‘beach marks’, which are very typical in conditions of metal fatigue,” he said, adding the damage was caused by prolonged periods of vibration that was the result of the screws being loose.

No patients were in the operating room when the light fell, but an anaesthetic assistant sustained a shoulder injury. The incident, which health minister Lo Chung-mau called “absolutely unacceptable”, triggered an inspection of 471 surgical lights used in public hospitals across the city.