Mak Kee International H.K. Limited Responds to the Direct Investigation Operation Report of the Office of The Ombudsman
16-04-2025
The Report on “Government’s Regulation of Occupational Safety and Health in Construction Industry”, released by The Ombudsman exposed critical regulatory gaps and enforcement deficiencies in high-risk operations, highlighting persistent safety challenges in the sector. Mak Kee International H.K. Limited (“Mak Kee”) attaches great importance to the issues raised in the report and the recommendations for improvement. As a key player in Hong Kong's lifting and rigging industry, we deeply understand the importance of safe operation to safeguard the lives of workers, and we call on the industry stakeholders to respond to the Government and the Ombudsman by taking practical actions to further enhance the safety standard of the industry.
In recent years, frequent severe industrial accidents in construction projects have endangered workers’ lives. The report reveals systemic flaws in safety certification processes, including cases where “qualified personnel” pre-signed multiple inspection forms, approved equipment safety without proper checks, and falsified records. Such procedural violations, long existing in the industry, disregard worker and public safety, jeopardizing project integrity and Mak Kee considers that great attention must be paid to it and improvements must be made.
Safety is the core lifeblood of the lifting industry, particularly in high-altitude operations and equipment testing, which must be carried out with a “zero-compromise” attitude. In order to strengthen the credibility and effectiveness of the monitoring mechanism, we believe that the Government should implement The Ombudsman’s reform recommendations. Apart from implementing a mandatory uploading of inspection records on an electronic platform, the Government should also mandate real-name authentication, on-site visual documentation, geolocation, and real-time timestamps via it, and adopt RFID technology to ensure transparent, traceable inspections. Thereby eliminating the pitfalls of “formality checking” once and for all and ensure the authenticity and rigor of the inspection process.
Mak Kee always regards “Safety First” as the core, we have established a strict “Competent Person” inspection mechanism to ensure t All lifting equipment undergoes professional load testing before use, with full digital records retained for checking. Our team of certified engineers and advanced tensile testing machines ensure compliance with technical and regulatory standards. Moving forward, Mak Kee will strengthen oversight through partnerships with professional bodies, regular audits of safety auditors and engineers, and internal random checks to guarantee report authenticity.
We will continue to work with the Government, the industry and all sectors of the community to implement the 40 recommendations in the report, and to build a sustainable safe working environment driven by innovation in technology, training and systems, with a view to realizing the vision of “Zero Accidents” in the construction industry.
*Photo Source: Information Services Department
