First day of smoking ban at construction sites in Hong Kong catches out offenders
Authorities hand out eight fixed penalty notices to workers and plan to prosecute contractor as industry tries to stamp out safety risk
Hong Kong adopted a ban on smoking at construction sites on Friday, with authorities issuing eight fixed penalty notices to workers and intending to prosecute a contractor over suspected rule violations.
But many workers said they welcomed the ban and were hoping to finally quit the habit with the help of their employers.
The ban was introduced in the wake of a fire at Tai Po’s Wang Fuk Court housing estate, a disaster that killed 168 people last November and was suspected to have been caused by workers smoking while carrying out renovations.
Under the legal amendments, anyone caught smoking at a construction site faces a fixed penalty of HK$3,000 (US$380) for individual breaches, while contractors face a fine of up to HK$400,000 if they fail to ensure their sites are smoke-free.
The Labour Department said that it inspected 194 construction sites and issued eight fixed penalty notices on Friday.
It also issued two improvement notices to contractors that failed to take all reasonable steps to ensure that no one was smoking at construction sites, while intending to initiate one prosecution.