Harsher penalties to keep bosses on their toes

Bosses could be imprisoned for two years and fined up to HK$10 million for failing to protect workers after legislators yesterday passed a bill to pump up the punishments from a fine of HK$500,000.

The amendment to the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance also extends the period for a prosecution for a summary offense to be mounted to nine months from six months.

The Labour Department is given more leeway by being able to prosecute employers for "indictable offenses."

A court will take turnover and other financial information of a convicted entity into consideration when sentencing.

The vetting process of the amendment lasted eight months after two fatal cases last year.

In July, an LED screen suspended above a stage at a concert by boy band Mirror fell onto a group of performers, hitting a dancer in the neck and leaving him at risk of permanent paralysis.

Police said earlier that the contractor, Engineering Impact, had "deliberately" understated the weight of the screen so that it could secure a permit from the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.

Three workers were crushed to death and six injured two months later when a 59-tonne tower crane collapsed on makeshift shipping container offices at a construction site on Anderson Road in Sau Mau Ping.

Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han said the high number of fatal industrial cases - about 20 annually in the past 10 years - was caused by a lack of deterrent in penalties.

Before the third reading, Michael Luk Chung-hung of the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions said industrial incidents are not cold, hard numbers because families are devastated by losing a loved one.

It was also unfair that a company involved was fined only tens of thousands of dollars.

Sun said the penalties were discussed thoroughly and based on levels in other developed countries and regions.

But legislator Shiu Ka-fai from the wholesale and retail sector is worried that most small and medium-sized companies cannot afford huge fines.

Sun, however, said the threshold of prosecutions made under an indictment was high.

It had to be a very serious offense with a firm highly culpable and the negligence level having dire consequences, he said. "We believe a court could impose a penalty with sufficient deterrent effect based on the maximum fine if there are extremely severe cases to serve as a warning."

Sun said the approval of the amendment was a "big step forward" and one of the strategies to improve the situation of worker safety and health.

"The Labour Department will continue to promote a culture of working safety and health and reduce the occurrence of accidents through inspection, publicity, education and training," he added.

Siu Sin-man, chief executive of the Association for the Rights of Industrial Accident Victims, said the amendment after 20 years was late but "better than never."

She believed the passing of the bill sent a message that industrial safety must be taken seriously, and she hoped the department could review the ordinance regularly.

The wife of a worker who fell into a manhole at a Chek Lap Kok construction site two years ago and was killed supported the amendment, saying higher fines could prompt bosses to secure safety of worksites and reduce accidents. But she also said it could not help her get over the grief of losing her husband as "a person cannot be returned by any amount of money."

stacy.shi@singtaonewscorp.com