Hong Kong should make safety design a part of all building development plans and address the culture of rushing work at construction sites, industry leaders have said after the city recorded 15 fatal industrial accidents earlier this year. Their calls followed the warning by Construction Industry Council chairman Thomas Ho On-sing on Monday that the…
WANG ZHAO / Getty Images In Hangzhou city, a city off the east coast of China and a major AI hub, a worker only identified by his surname Zhou, was laid off at a tech firm. Zhou’s job, verifying the accuracy of large language models, was taken over by AI. His contract was terminated after…
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 have issued nine fixed-penalty tickets and 110 warnings to contractors since launching a citywide construction site smoking ban last Friday, according to the labour commissioner. Commissioner for Labour Sam Hui Chark-shum said on Monday that authorities had inspected more than 200 construction sites since the ban took effect, adding that officers would…
As Hong Kong marks the 29th anniversary of its return to Chinese rule on July 1, the South China Morning Post talks to the city’s senior officials about the administration’s achievements so far and what may lie ahead. Hong Kong’s tech chief has warned that AI will “exceed all previous industrial revolutions” and heavily impact…
An aerial view of downtown Sinuiju taken from the Chinese side of the border. (Wikimedia Commons) North Korean trade workers in China are facing tighter surveillance as Pyongyang and Beijing look to expand trade following a recent summit between the two countries, a source told Daily NK on Friday. The crackdown appears aimed at heading…
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…
Domestic workers in Hong Kong are routinely banned from switching on air conditioning when working at home alone, union leaders have said, urging employers to allow helpers to use it during very hot weather. The issue surfaced last week after an employer drew widespread online criticism for scolding her domestic helper for switching on an…
This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. Hong Kong labour authorities’ handling of Wang Fuk Court residents’ complaints and inspections at the renovation site before the estate was engulfed in an inferno last November will be scrutinised by the independent committee…
A resident of Hong Kong’s fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court housing estate in Tai Po has said that a drawer in her flat had been rummaged through, prompting a police investigation and rekindling burglary fears in the sealed residential complex. Police launched the probe after a resident surnamed Lee raised concerns about a possible burglary early…