Hong Kong tests thermal drones to catch illegal smoking at construction sites
Labour Department says AI will be added later to help identify smoking workers
Hong Kong labour authorities have begun testing an infrared thermal-imaging drone to detect heat sources and illegal smoking at construction sites, with plans to add artificial intelligence (AI) to identify offenders.
Since the total construction site smoking ban took effect on July 17, about 1,400 have been inspected as of Tuesday, according to Wan Chi-ping, assistant commissioner for labour.
Authorities issued 39 fixed-penalty notices and 11 improvement notices to contractors, while two cases are now undergoing evidence review for possible prosecution.
Wan described the current level of illegal smoking as “not ideal”, but said enforcement was “not easy” during the ban’s early roll-out.
Deployed by the Labour Department under the new regulation, the enhanced drone allows safety officers to detect thermal hotspots from a distance.
Demonstrated at a Yuen Long construction site on Wednesday, the infrared drone streamed real-time footage that marked heat sources with a red dot, allowing operators to zoom in with optical cameras to check fire safety compliance or identify illegal smokers.
“The infrared lens allows us to precisely spot different heat sources across a site, which strengthens our enforcement work,” Wan said.