A coroner's inquest has ruled that two steel workers who died in the collapse of a steel cage last year in Tsuen Wan died accidentally.

Coroner Michael Chan Pik-kiu blasted the practices of the contractor on the site as "reckless", adding he could not understand "why it (the company) has constructed so many tall buildings". Chan noted that the ground of the construction site was uneven.

He said the structure of the steel cage was flawed. It had no bearing bars when it collapsed. The steel used for attaching the cylindrical steel cage had over 300 interfaces, but only 20 percent were locked by buckles, and more than half of the buckles were capable of being loosened by hand.

The safety director of the Labour Department, which is responsible for investigating the incident, testified that making the steel cage was a high-risk process, criticizing the engineering company for poor management, failure to undertake a risk evaluation, and providing insufficient safety precautions.

The safety director also stated that the overseer who held supervisory responsibility was unqualified.

The Coroner suggested the Labour Department should increase snap inspections and prosecutions. He also accepted the suggestion from the department that only registered engineers should design steel cages in the future, and that they be required to use a detailed construction plan.

As repairing the steel cage is dangerous work, the job to supervise workers during the construction should be done by a foreman, added the Coroner.

He also called on the construction industry to raise its safety awareness.

A family member of one of the victims, Mrs Ng said she agreed with the finding of death by accident and said the developer or contractor has the responsibility to ensure the safety of the workers.

She said it was clear from the incident the company had no safety guidelines. She also urged the Labour Department to address the problem.

The incident took place in July, 2011, when the steel cage collapsed suddenly at a construction site on Kwok Shui Road, Tsuen Wan. Two workers, 47 and 49, were crashed under the weight of 7 tons of collapsing steel, as they were working in the cage.

fanfeifei@chinadailyhk.com

(HK Edition 08/02/2012 page1)