The government has revealed that 16 contractors received a "poor" or "very poor" rating for site safety in quarterly performance reports between 2021 and 2025.

In a written reply to the Legislative Council on Wednesday, Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn detailed the government's mechanism for monitoring site safety on public works contracts.

Linn said when evaluating tenders, technical competence and past performance account for 40 to 50 percent of the overall score depending on project complexity, with site safety attributes making up about 30 percent of the technical score.

Contractors are monitored through a quarterly performance assessment mechanism, with site safety as a key indicator, she said.

If a contractor's accident rate exceeds 0.3 reportable accidents per 100,000 man-hours worked, their site accident record will be rated "poor".

An accident involving serious bodily injury will result in an overall "poor" or "very poor" rating for the entire site safety performance attribute, while a fatal accident will automatically trigger a "very poor" rating.

Data showed that one contractor was rated "poor" in 2023, while seven others were rated "very poor" in the same year – the highest number during the five-year period.

The figure for "very poor" ranged from one to three in other years.

In serious cases, the Development Bureau can suspend a contractor from tendering for public works contracts or even remove them from the approved lists entirely. The Housing Authority can also deduct marks from contractors' safety performance scores and future tender assessments if they are involved in fatal or serious industrial accidents.

Linn said the government has also been promoting wider adoption of the Smart Site Safety System (4S), which uses technology to identify unsafe acts and potential risks early. The Housing Authority has integrated 4S data into an AI-powered platform to strengthen monitoring of contractors' safety performance.


Edited by Edmond Fong