A concern group representing scaffolding workers on Friday said they opposed the idea of stopping the use of bamboo scaffolding in construction.

A scaffolding collapse at a construction site in Kai Tak injured 11 workers earlier this week, sparking conversations about completely replacing bamboo with metal scaffolding.

At a press conference on Friday, the group said they believe the many incidents involving scaffolding were caused by poor site safety management, not the safety of bamboo scaffolding structures.

Ho Ping-tak, from the Hong Kong and Kowloon Bamboo Scaffolding Workers Union, noted that currently more than 80 percent of sites use bamboo scaffolding and thousands of workers would be affected if it were banned.

"We have to think about the sustainable development of bamboo scaffolding in the construction industry. If people insist on hindering our development, it could cost some 4,000 scaffolding workers their jobs, hurting the livelihood of some 4,000 households,” he said.

He urged the government and various stakeholders to join hands and come up with a long-term plan to improve construction procedures.

Meanwhile, the Federation of Hong Kong and Kowloon Labour Unions called for more training for safety inspectors at construction sites.

The federation said more than 16 percent of 310 respondents to a recent survey said they had been injured at least once in industrial accidents.

Under current regulations, one safety supervisor should be appointed to every 20 workers at a construction site.

But lawmaker Lam Chun-sing, who also chairs the federation, said many supervisors receive inadequate training and were not qualified to guide workers.

"From our survey, many workers believe that there's nobody to supervise them and monitor them and tell them about their occupational health and safety issues,” he said.

“The supervisor may be a general worker and they do not receive professional training and so in fact they cannot play the function of the safety supervisor... So we hope that the government can strengthen their professional training and also strengthen their role.”

Reacting to the Kai Tak incident, Lam said it was not optimal that a serious accident occurred just months after the government published a revised safety code.

Lam said other than enhanced inspections, the government should also consider whether sites can use other materials to replace bamboo scaffolding at construction sites.