Burst
Written by: Yang Qian
2021-01-22 06:56
The last update date: 2021-01-22 07:56
A 58-year-old male cleaner was killed in a fatal industrial accident at King Lok House, Shan Shan Estate, Tuen Mun, in the early morning of Friday (22nd).
Similar tragedies have occurred repeatedly in Hong Kong in the past.
Among them, Luo Yuqiang, a 71-year-old cleaning male worker in the "Winter Solstice" in 2017, was suspected of falling into a garbage chute while working at Jinbang Tower, Jintaiyuan, Ma On Shan, and was trapped between the 30th and 29th floors. He was sent to hospital for rescue and was pronounced dead.
After the tragedy, the government installed metal bars to narrow the garbage chute.
However, when encountering blockages, workers still need probes to remove the obstacles, and the problem has never been cured.
Some labor unions advocate the use of "push buckets into the lift" method to collect garbage in buildings to prevent accidents among workers.
After the "Winter Solstice" tragedy in 2017, the Court of Death ruled that the cleaners died in an accident. It is recommended that the Labour Department or the Occupational Safety and Health Bureau provide cleaners with training in cleaning up garbage chutes to improve safety awareness; and the property management company should post warnings outside the garbage room. And make sure the garbage slot is locked.
The Clean Workers’ Union visited 17 public housing estates in 2019 to learn about the government’s improvement measures. Basically, the garbage chutes on each floor have been narrowed, mainly using three metal strips to cut the original circular notches about 20 inches in diameter. Each side of the frame is about 3 to 4 inches thin and rectangular to prevent workers from falling into the trough.
However, the labor union found that narrowing and heightening the notch is not the same as solving the problem. The Occupational Safety Guidelines of the Labour Department recommends wearing safety belts, placing iron rods and other tools to clean up blockages, and notices reminding you not to extend your body into the trough, etc. There is no real effect, the garbage chute pipe is easy to plug, and workers always rely on probes and hands to do it. When the upper layer of garbage falls during cleaning, it may also injure workers.
The lack of training is still the same. Some workers pointed out that using seat belts is not only troublesome, and many workplaces simply do not have relevant tools and settings.
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Leung Zhiyin, the director of the Clean Workers Union Organization, said on a radio program last month that working as a cleaner can enter the industry without any training or professionalism. For many casual workers, on-the-job training is simply empty talk.
The cleaning work is heavy and is basically done by one person. In the case of a single person, it is still doubtful whether the safety belt is really safe.
Liang also advocated the method of "pushing buckets into the elevator" to collect garbage in buildings, which can prevent workers from being dangerous, and prevent garbage bags from being broken due to falling into the trough, leading to the problem of garbage splashing and odor scattered.
But Leung Zhiyin also pointed out that many housing estates have not switched to this method. Apart from cost considerations, one of the reasons is that they are afraid of complaints from residents.
The union hopes to strengthen public education. As long as the garbage is packed and collected during peak hours, it can maintain environmental sanitation and ensure worker safety.
Life-threatening garbage chute | A cleaner from Shanshan Village fell off the garbage chute and died. There have been many similar tragedies in the past
Life-threatening garbage chute | A male cleaner in Mountain View Village suspected of falling from the 35th floor to the ground garbage room and died
A male cleaner fell into a garbage chute during the winter solstice in the seventies, and the jury ruled that he died in an accident
Seventy-year-old cleaning man fell dead in garbage chute during winter solstice court hearing
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Clean Workers Union Occupational Safety Industrial Accidents
