Crunch culture and tight timelines blamed for 15 construction site deaths this year

Since the start of the year, 15 fatal worksite accidents have been recorded in Hong Kong, with construction industry representatives attributing the incidents to the sector's "crunch culture". According to Chau Sze-kit, chair of the Hong Kong Construction Industry Employees General Union, workers are often encouraged to prioritize speed over safety, leading management to sometimes take shortcuts on safety procedures to meet deadlines and avoid penalties.

Lawrence Ng, chair of the Construction Workers Registration Board, noted that bosses face mounting pressure to complete jobs in shorter timeframes due to frequent delays from extreme weather. A survey conducted by the Construction Industry Council revealed that 5 to 7 per cent of frontline managers and workers possess "extremely weak" safety awareness.

Despite stricter penalties for negligent employers, including up to HK$10 million in fines and two years in prison, worksite fatalities continue to increase. Construction Industry Council chairperson Thomas Ho emphasized that the culture of safety has not permeated worksites and that even a safety supervisor among the fatalities is a grim reminder of the industry's failure to fulfill its responsibilities.

A smart site safety system, known as the "4S" Smart Site Safety System, has contributed to a 20 per cent reduction in accidents between 2023 and 2025, as reported by Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn. Chau Sze-kit also called for the adoption of Design for Safety (DfS), an international standard for construction safety that prioritizes hazard identification and risk reduction during the design phase.