Gaping holes in Hong Kong government oversight need to be plugged

On the surface, things may seem to be going well for the Hong Kong government. However, dig a little deeper, and things do not look so good. Two recent news items have been particularly damning. First was the discovery that two government-approved providers of mandatory basic safety courses had violated conditions and had been suspended by the Labour Department. The second was the latest ombudsman investigation that revealed care homes and facilities had failed to deliver respite services to those who needed them.

On the safety training courses, the Labour Department acted after the ombudsman released findings of an investigation into the government’s regulation of occupational safety and health in the construction industry. That was sparked by the number of industrial accidents and fatalities in the construction industry. From 2018 to 2023, it saw 108 fatal industrial accidents, accounting for more than 80 per cent of the total across all industries.

In its efforts to tackle occupational safety issues, the government requires those who work in the construction industry to take a basic course and pass an exam. Education is key to keeping people safe, but the ombudsman found the monitoring of course providers and trainers to be lacking.

The Labour Department acted on the ombudsman’s report recommendations, taking a little over five months to find and suspend the course providers. They had violated several conditions, including providing exam questions and answers before the test and not properly invigilating the exam, allowing trainees to discuss answers with each other.

This episode will not be lost on the public. How many other government-mandated training courses – not just those for construction industry workers – are similarly cutting corners?

The role of the government is not limited to pushing out grand projects such as the Northern Metropolis. As that project has already shown, there is much to reckon with in terms of execution and understanding the obstacles faced by people on the ground. Simply throwing taxpayer money at problems will not make them go away.

  

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