Hong Kong suspends 2 construction companies building Kai Tak Sports Park after worker dies
- Development Bureau bars contractor and subcontractor after Labour Department halts work at park, where worker was crushed while inspecting metal structure
- Project website identifies Hip Hing Engineering as main company responsible for construction of venue
The government has suspended the contractor and subcontractor responsible for building Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Sports Park after a 52-year-old worker was crushed between an elevated work platform and a metal structure in a fatal accident.
The Development Bureau announced its decision to bar the two companies from tendering for public works contracts, a day after the Labour Department halted related platform work at the park to ensure measures were taken to mitigate future risks.
The suspension of the companies included their tenders for future contracts, as well as those already initiated but not concluded. But the overall construction of the park will continue.
A bureau spokesman said on Friday that as the agency responsible for procuring services for public works it issued the suspension orders in line with regulations and in response to the fatal accident.
Various government departments were investigating the incident, with the construction companies potentially being barred permanently from taking on any future public works projects.
Though the bureau did not name the main contractor, the project website identified Hip Hing Engineering as the company responsible for the construction of Kai Tak Sports Park. The company in turn hired the subcontractor to supply materials and perform specialist operations.
“The contractor and subcontractor concerned have to conduct an independent safety audit to review their safety management system,” the bureau spokesman said, adding that the construction firms were required to submit an “improvement action plan” and prove they could implement it. The government would review the plan as part of its ongoing investigation.
The bureau said the contractor in question had five active public works contracts, while the subcontractor had none.
“We have already requested our Works Departments to step up supervision of the work carried out by the contractor concerned,” the spokesman added.
The Labour Department on Thursday ordered the companies to halt work on Kai Tak Sports Park and stop using a mechanised platform after the 52-year-old worker inspecting a metal structure was crushed between the platform and the structure.
The worker was found unconscious on Wednesday morning and rushed to Kwong Wah Hospital in Yau Ma Tei, where he was later certified dead.
