In this file photo dated Feb 19, 2021, a staff member wearing a face mask works in a coffee shop in Hong Kong, China. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

Hong Kong employers who have violated occupational safety and health regulations will face up to two years’ imprisonment and a fine of HK$10 million ($1.27 million), following the city’s legislature’s passing of the Occupational Safety and Health Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2022 on Thursday.

Chris Sun Yuk-han, Secretary for Labour and Welfare in Hong Kong, said in a Legislative Council meeting yesterday that occupational safety and health in Hong Kong has improved over the years, but the number of fatal industrial accidents has remained high in the past decade. The city has recorded 20 fatal accidents every year with no downward trend. There is an urgent need to amend the regulations, Sun said. 

Lawmaker Michael Luk Chung-hung said there have been 170 fatal work-related injuries in Hong Kong in the past five years, but the employers involved were generally fined only tens of thousands of Hong Kong dollars with no one sentenced to prison

The bill seeks to amend the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance (Cap. 59) and the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance (Cap. 509), as well as their subsidiary legislation, to increase the penalties for occupational safety and health offenses so as to better protect workers' safety.

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It involves many revisions to improve the penalties for violations, such as increasing the maximum fines for employers under the general duty provisions to HK$3 million and fines for employees to HK$150,000.

It also extends the prosecution time limit for offenses triable summarily from six months to one year so as to allow sufficient time for the Labour Department to conduct more in-depth investigations into serious cases.

Chau Siu-chung, a Hong Kong lawmaker who represents the labor sector, said that the penalties for occupational safety and health in Hong Kong have not been reviewed for more than 20 years. The previous ordinances did not reflect the seriousness of offenses and led to a high recidivism rate. 

He hopes the passing of the bill can fill the loopholes and encourage all parties to pay more attention to occupational safety. 

Lawmaker Michael Luk Chung-hung said there have been 170 fatal work-related injuries in Hong Kong in the past five years, but the employers involved were generally fined only tens of thousands of Hong Kong dollars with no one sentenced to prison. 

Sun believes that with the amendments, local courts can impose penalties with sufficient deterrence effects in serious cases. 

He added that the Labour Department will conduct a review of Hong Kong’s overall occupational safety and health situation and accident figures two years following the amendments’ implementation. 

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It will also continue to strengthen enforcement inspection, publicity, education and training to reduce industrial accidents.