Contractor Under Spotlight Over Workplace Deaths

The Labour Department said it has made 21 prosecutions after inspecting construction sites under a contractor that was linked to a number of recent fatal industrial accidents.

Officials also handed out 55 improvement notices after inspecting 13 sites in three days.

The department launched the campaign on Thursday, a day after a 55-year-old worker was crushed to death by a collapsed beam.

The firm involved in the incident in Yau Tong, along with another linked to a crane collapse at a Sau Mau Ping site in September that killed three people, are under the same parent, the Great Harvest Group.

A deputy commissioner for the Labour Department, Vincent Fung, said the government is highly concerned about the recent industrial accidents.

He appealed to employers and workers to pay attention to safety to try to prevent fatal incidents.

Lawmaker Lam Chun-sing, from the Federation of Hong Kong and Kowloon Labour Unions, urged the authorities to inspect sites run by other contractors linked to recent industrial accidents, amid a pick-up in activity as the pandemic stabilises.

"We worry that the construction site, the contractor and the company... maybe they need to speed up the construction process and sometimes will neglect occupational health and safety measures."