Letters | Safety lapses in Hong Kong’s construction industry must be fixed
Readers discuss an overhaul of the project tendering process, more raids at renovation sites, high-rise building design, and deploying the emergency alert system
The city is in grief following one of the worst construction disasters in its modern history. When the genuine sorrow and heartbreak have settled, we need to examine precisely what went wrong and why.
The Hong Kong Construction Industry Council has a supposed stance that prioritises construction safety, with a stated vision of “Zero Accidents on Construction Sites”. This is said to be achieved through promoting a safety culture. In fact, 2024 was declared the “Year of Construction Safety” and in March this year, the CIC announced that it was allocating HK$220 million to help promote construction safety.
Hong Kong’s construction industry has a less than creditable accident rate with 20 site fatalities in 2023 and 14 fatalities in 2024. In fact, the construction sector remains the most hazardous in Hong Kong. There were 3,046 accidents in the industry in 2022 and 3,097 in 2023, according to figures compiled by the Labour Department.
It has to be asked why project tendering, which resulted in the contractor’s tender for this site being accepted from a total of 57 bidders, had seemingly little recourse to a company’s safety record. This was despite convictions being on the public record and previous prohibitions from carrying out even minor works. It is equally remarkable that Buildings Department inspections had taken place only days before the fire with no immediate action being taken such as a suspension of work.