Case 3 Private Residence in Deep Bay

In Hong Kong, many private construction companies employ only minimal safety measures, with no additional safety measures on top of the requirements in Factories Industrial Undertakings Ordinance FIU(O) Cap 59. 

This case is a typical case of a private client. The client generally only pays for the materials and labour, and safety is not the client s primary concern. Though no accident has happened at this site, safety awareness is not very high among workers. One worker was observed not wearing a safety helmet Fig. 6.16. 

Why do the site owners or contractors choose not to use other safety measures on top of the legal requirements Are safety measures useless on small sites From a safety officer s point of view, a safety management system is useless for a site like this small site. In addition to the time and resources required to implement safety measures such as OHSAS, there is also doubt about the effectiveness of these safety management systems. Without enough support from the client, the safety officer can report the adoption of safety measures in black and white, but nothing is likely to be done in reality to improve workers safety. Unless the client pays for safety measures, small companies as such do not want to invest. 

Bennett, A., George, A. L. (2005) Case studies and theory development in the social sciences. USA MIT Press. 

Pattern, Q. M. (1980). Qualitative evaluation methods. California Sage Publication. 

---