Hong Kong gov’t investigating scaffolding collapse injuring 11 workers
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong authorities have said they are investigating the collapse of scaffolding at a construction site that left 11 workers injured, including one still in critical condition, on Monday.
Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun said in a Facebook post on Monday night that the Labour Department was looking into the incident, which took place at a construction site of a new hospital in Kai Tak.
Police received a report at around 4 pm on Monday that a large bamboo scaffold — which measured around 20 metres by 60 metres — collapsed at the site where the New Acute Hospital’s tumour centre is being built.
A total of 11 workers, among them seven men and four women, were injured. One female worker was trapped mid-air and emergency responders spent around an hour to rescue her, the Fire Services Department told reporters on Monday night.
A total of 14 fire trucks and 65 firefighters and paramedics were dispatched to the scene. The injured were sent to United Christian Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
The Hospital Authority told HKFP on Tuesday evening that five people had been discharged, five were in stable condition, and one was in critical condition.
“I express deep sympathy to the injured and wish them a speedy recovery,” Sun wrote in Chinese.
The Labour Department has sent officers to inspect the site and issued suspension notices to contractors, he added.
The construction of the New Acute Hospital began in 2018. According to the Hospital Authority, it is slated for completion next year and will be one of the largest hospitals in the city.
In a statement on Monday, the Hospital Authority said that the main contractor of the site is China State Construction Engineering (Hong Kong) and that all scaffolding work at the site had been suspended.
The Association for the Rights of Industrial Accident Victims said on Monday evening that the same construction firm was in charge of a construction site in Lok Ma Chau, where a crane collapsed and injured five people in September. The concern group urged the contractor to evaluate their safety measures.
In an incident unrelated to the construction firm, a worker died after falling from height last November while dismantling bamboo scaffolding outside a building in To Kwa Wan.
The Labour Department revised the Code of Practice for Bamboo Scaffolding Safety in April, banning unauthorised alteration of bamboo scaffolding and enhancing requirements related to the supervision of workers.
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