Maximum penalties for breaches increased to 'strengthen their deterrence,' says Labour Department
A new bill increasing the maximum penalties for occupational safety violations to HK$10 million has been passed by Hong Kong's Legislative Council (LegCo), according to reports.
Under the Occupational Safety and Occupational Health Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2022, employers breaching workplace safety rules will also be facing up to two years of imprisonment.
Hong Kong's Labour Department will also be granted authority to charge employers, owners, and occupations of premises with indictable offences, the Hong Kong Free Press reported.
The new law also extends the prosecution period from six months to nine months, according to the report, allowing the Labour Department to gather more evidence to press summary offence charges.
According to Labour Secretary Chris Sun, initiating prosecutions under the new format of indictable offence would have a relatively high threshold.
"It has to be an extremely serious case of violation of the law, with either extremely high culpability or extremely serious negligence. In addition, the consequences had to be very severe," Sun told legislature as quoted by the Hong Kong Free Press.
LegCo has long been urged to speed up the passing of the amendments to strengthen OSH protection for employees.
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The bill was introduced in the wake of fatal industrial accidents in Hong Kong, with the Labour Department reporting around 20 cases per year over the past decade "with no sign of slowing down."
Lower penalties
LegCo has previously debated on the surge of maximum penalty to be imposed by the amendment - which stood at HK$500,000 before the bill was passed.
Authorities previously proposed hiking the fines to HK$50 million, before it was reduced to HK$10 million. There were also previous proposals to lower the proposed maximum fine to HK$6 million as high penalties may incur operational risks in the construction industry.
Labour Secretary Chris Sun, however, told the legislature that the fine is already lower when compared to surrounding regions.
"[The fine] is also far lower than the maximum fines for occupational safety and health regulations in some advanced overseas regions, so it is necessary to revise the maximum penalties for occupational safety and health regulations to strengthen their deterrence," Sun said as quoted by the Hong Kong Free Press.
Workplace safety laws in Asia
Nations across Asia have been pushing for stronger occupational health and safety laws as of late to protect workers from harm.
In Singapore, the Ministry of Manpower imposed last year a "Safety Time-Out" as it registered increasing cases of workplace fatalities.
The government also threatened to bar employers from hiring new foreign employees for up to three months if they find serious workplace safety and health (WSH) lapses.
Executives are also being held more accountable for the safety of their employees.
Singapore said chief executives will "personally account to MOM and take responsibility for rectifications" in cases of serious WSH lapses.
In South Korea, the Serious Accident Punishment Act that took effect in January 2022 makes business owners or executives liable for a deadly workplace accident that involves workers who they directly or indirectly employ.
On Wednesday, a district court there sentenced the co-CEO of Hankook Steel & Mill to one year in prison for failing to protect an outsourced employee's death at an industrial site in March 2022, The Korea Herald reported.
The steelmaker was fined KRW100 million ($74,800), while the business owner who directly employed the worker was given a suspended sentence.