Hong Kong lawmakers blast ‘very light’ penalties for workplace death and injury convictions
- Light penalties and low conviction rates for health and safety violations not enough to deter safety breaches that risk workers’ welfare, Legco told
Light penalties and low conviction rates for Hong Kong workplace health and safety breaches were on Wednesday slammed by legislators, who questioned how effective toughened-up laws were in reducing on-the-job deaths.
There were 29 industrial deaths recorded by the Labour Department to the end of May this year after Occupational Safety and Occupational Health Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendments) Ordinance 2023, which increased penalties for offenders, came into force on April 28 last year.
The Legislative Council heard that, of 111 prosecutions linked to eight industrial accidents, there was only one case where the hearing was concluded. The two proprietors of a non-construction industrial concern were fined HK$50,000 each.
“This is very unsatisfactory because there are very few convictions and the penalties are very light,” legislator Stanley Ng Chau-pei, also the president of the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions, said.
“It feels like, although we have amended the law, it has not prevented the occurrence of industrial accidents.”
Lawmakers at a Legislative Council meeting questioned the deterrent effect of the amended law and highlighted that a HK$50,000 fine (US$6,405) was not big enough to deter safety breaches that risked the welfare of employees.
The 2023 amendments increased the maximum penalty for serious breaches of work safety from HK$500,000 to HK$10 million, alongside a two-year jail term.
The maximum fine for offences prosecuted summarily under the employer’s general duty provisions went up to HK$3 million and under the employee’s general duty to HK$150,000.
Ng appealed to the government to carry out studies to come up with more targeted measures and legislation to cut the high toll of deaths and injuries in industry.
The time limit for prosecution for offences triable on a summary basis was increased from six months to nine months under the amended ordinance.
But legislator Lam Chun-sing, also a prominent trade unionist, added that authorities should consider a review of the present law, including whether the nine-month time limit for prosecution of offences triable on a summary basis was long enough.
Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han told Legco that officials had explained to the courts the legislative amendment’s intent, which was to make major increases in penalties for offences involving industrial accidents.
“But, eventually, it is still up to the court to decide how much should be fined and whether a penalty should be imposed in each case,” he said.
The Labour Department recorded a total of 24 industrial fatalities in 2023 and there were 25 deaths logged for the year before.
