Editorial | Northern Metropolis should stand as a monument to workplace safety

Occupational safety is paramount to socio-economic aspirations. A landmark project should set new benchmarks

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The site for the San Tin Technopole, which is in the proposed innovation zone of the Northern Metropolis, is seen near the Hong Kong-Shenzhen border on February 27. Photo: May Tse

Published: 6:45am, 6 Oct 2025

Construction of large-scale development projects need not come at a price in life and limb of the men and women working on site. Sadly, they often do as a result of workplace accidents that could have been avoided. With Hong Kong about to embark on its biggest project, the colossal Northern Metropolis economic and housing hub near the mainland border, one of many challenges will be to make it a monument to workplace safety – a benchmark for big construction projects in Hong Kong and beyond.

That is a daunting expectation of a vision that will take years to fulfil. But it is worth striving for, as we are reminded by the latest workplace tragedy in the city. A woman died after being struck by a crane while working on a construction site on Tai Po Road in Cheung Shue Tan, and then being trapped between the crane and railings.

Police and the Labour Department are investigating the incident. The cause must be established. Likewise, in the case of the recent deaths of a worker crushed in a lift shaft at a Queen Mary Hospital building site and of a worker hit by a falling beam at an airport site.

New measures to make work safer include a heat stress warning system and the use of artificial intelligence to assess the safety of bamboo scaffolding. One company linked to five worker deaths has been removed from the government’s list of registered contractors. The maximum penalty for breaches of safety rules rose from HK$500,000 to HK$10 million and two years’ jail in 2023.

Fines in the past six years averaged only between HK$8,000 and HK$10,000, according to a report by the Ombudsman, who highlighted systemic safety problems and “blatant defiance” of the law in some cases. The Ombudsman’s investigation found that a surge in workplace fatalities stemmed from problems including slack supervision by contractors and authorities and inadequate deterrents for those who did not take their legal responsibilities seriously.

Hopefully such damning findings and measures taken so far to strengthen compliance with rules and good practice among all concerned, including workers, have a salutary effect. Occupational safety is paramount to socio-economic aspirations. Landmark projects that define a city’s development should be remembered for it.

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