It will be looking at the performance rating scheme and its enforcement inspection system following an incident this month that saw seven people injured when a lift failed. The contractor involved has been suspended. The contractor involved will shortly start a six-month suspension.
Secretary for development Paul ChanChan said that review includes considering more inspections for lifts maintained by registered contractors with low performance ratings, and audit visits to these contractors to check if their facilities, resources and manpower can provide the level of service needed to comply with the Lifts & Escalators Ordinance.
As at February, there were about 5,000 workers servicing around 60,000 lifts and 8,200 escalators in Hong Kong. Although the number of types of works requiring at least two workers has increased from 10 to 15 under the Code of practice for lift works and escalator works, this change has only had a minimal impact on manpower, he said.
“The number of lifts increased only slightly by about 1% annually on average over the past several years and it would not cause too much pressure on the overall manpower demand,” he added.
The department currently conducts about 750 inspections on lifts and escalators a month on average. Since 2009, the department has raised the ratio of spot checks. It has also adopted a risk-based approach and prioritised lifts that are older, are models with frequent breakdowns, or are maintained by contractors with poor performance records.
“To make our inspection work more focused, the administration will consider factoring in flexibility and specific targets to the ratio of spot checks,” said Chan. “For instance, the contractors or lifts that have the above-mentioned problems would be subject to more frequent inspections.”
He also said the Construction Industry Council is talking with the Federation of Electrical & Mechanical Contractors, the Lift & Escalator Contractors Association and the Vocational Training Council about ways to provide more training in the electrical and mechanical trade.
Got a story? Email news@theconstructionindex.co.uk
