Authorities rule out smoking areas at construction sites under proposed ban

Hong Kong labour authorities have ruled out setting up designated smoking areas under a proposed ban on lighting up at construction sites due to “enforcement difficulties”, while pledging to deploy drones with heat sensors to strengthen inspections.Commissioner for Labour Sam Hui Chark-shum also said on Monday that the planned smoking ban – which was proposed in the wake of the deadly Tai Po fire last November – would apply to all areas of construction sites, replacing the existing restrictions for specific locations.The Labour Department’s proposal would not include designated smoking areas, given that it could create “operational grey areas” for inspectors enforcing the law, he said.“We believe that setting up smoking areas at construction sites would actually complicate everyone’s work,” Hui said.The proposal was presented to a meeting of the Legislative Council’s manpower panel on Monday as part of efforts to improve safety following the deaths of 168 people in the fire at Wang Fuk Court.Earlier this month, an evidential hearing was told that the blaze was “most likely” to have been caused by someone lighting a cigarette, which ignited flammable materials stacked in a lightwell at the estate.