Hong Kong labour authorities have begun testing an infrared thermal-imaging drone to detect heat sources and illegal smoking at construction sites, with plans to add artificial intelligence (AI) to identify offenders. Since the total construction site smoking ban took effect on July 17, about 1,400 have been inspected as of Tuesday, according to Wan Chi-ping,…
Changing the smoking culture on the city’s construction sites will “take time”, Hong Kong’s labour commissioner has said as authorities completed 1,200 site inspections and issued 36 fixed-penalty notices in the first two weeks of a smoking ban at such locations. Commissioner for Labour Sam Hui Chark-shum said on Saturday that Labour Department officials also…
Hong Kong authorities issued 21 fixed-penalty notices to workers in the first six days of a citywide ban on smoking at construction sites, the labour commissioner has revealed, describing the situation as not ideal. Commissioner for Labour Sam Hui Chark-shum said on Saturday that about 530 construction sites had been inspected during the first six…
Some Hong Kong workers have said they intend to quit smoking as a new ban on smoking at construction sites came into force on Friday. The ban came in the wake of the deadly fire at Tai Po’s Wang Fuk Court housing estate, a disaster that killed 168 people last November and was suspected to…
Contractors should take “all reasonable steps”, such as installing CCTV cameras and setting up temporary cigarette storage points, to comply with a coming smoking ban on construction sites, Hong Kong labour authorities have said. They should also ask individuals to stop using e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, even though they do not require lighting, the…
Hong Kong authorities will crack down on flavoured tobacco substances in the next phase of its enhanced smoking control measures, with the health minister describing such products as a “poisoned chalice” designed to hook younger people. Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau warned on Saturday that flavoured tobacco was mostly delivered through e-cigarettes, with additives containing…
Despite public smoking bans in a number of Chinese cities, smoking is still a big thing — mainly among men. (Johannes Eisele/AFP | via Getty Images) Hilda Wang scolds smokers and posts videos of the encounters. She says she’s a natural introvert –- but she gets so upset about smoking that her personality has changed….
Hong Kong authorities have issued four HK$3,000 (US$382) fines in the first two days of an expanded ban on alternative smoking products, while assuring the public that inspectors will not conduct arbitrary body searches to enforce the law. Manny Lam Man-chung, head of the Tobacco and Alcohol Control Office, said authorities stepped up enforcement and…
Hong Kong police have arrested a 71-year-old man for attacking a woman and her son with a water bottle following a dispute over smoking. The 58-year-old mother called police at about 8.30am on Saturday, reporting that the man had poured water on her and used a water bottle to attack her 29-year-old son at a…
The death toll from Hong Kong’s worst fire in decades has risen to 160 after another resident of inferno-ravaged Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po was confirmed as a fatality, the city’s police chief has said. Commissioner of Police Joe Chow Yat-ming also said on Tuesday that the next stage of work at the site…