'Unimaginable' for workers to enter manhole without safety equipment: Siu Sin-man

It is unimaginable that the two workers who died after falling into a manhole at the airport construction site were not given any safety equipment, the head of an industrial accident concern group said. 

Two workers died on Wednesday after they fell into a manhole at a construction site on Chun Kwan Road in Chek Lap Kok. Zhao Gao, 38, and Fan Chu-leung, 34, are believed to have been knocked unconscious by an unknown gas. 

They and three others who also felt unwell after inhaling the gas were sent to North Lantau Hospital. Yet Zhao and Fan were later pronounced dead. 

Speaking on a radio program on Thursday, Siu Sin-man, chief executive of the Association for the Rights of Industrial Accident Victims, said it was unimaginable that the two deceased workers were only wearing a surgical mask when entering the sewage manhole for cleaning and inspection without being given any safety equipment. 

She slammed the contractor, who said safety tests were conducted before the works commenced and pointed out that they could not predict whether methane gas would be discharged from the manhole. 

Siu was furious to see such an industrial accident happen twice within about a month and blamed the Drainage Services Department and Airport Authority for not supervising the work site properly. 

She also urged the Labour Department to take follow-up action and strengthen workers' safety protection. 

In mid-November, four workers fell into an eight-meter-deep manhole at Siu Ho Wan Sewage Treatment Works on Lantau Island. A female worker died while the three other male workers sustained severe injuries.