Two contractors have been fined just £9,500 by the courts in Hong Kong for the death of a scaffolder.
On 27 December 2018 in the residential district of Yau Tong, the scaffolder was erecting bamboo scaffolding at the eighth floor level of the external wall of a residential building. The man fell to the first lift of the scaffold sustaining fatal injures. He later died the same day.
The Hong Kong Standard reports that Wang Hong Construction Engineering Company and Ying Wu Scaffolding Engineering were each fined for six charges including failing to take adequate steps to prevent a person from falling, and failing to provide and maintain a safe plant and system of work.
Both contractors were each handed a fine of HK$95,000 which equates to just around £9,500 here in the UK.
The contractors were charged with violating the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance, the Construction Sites (Safety) Regulations, and the Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Protection of Eyes) Regulations.