Authorities in Hong Kong have initiated new prosecutions against contractors following the incident in July last year when a giant video screen fell from the ceiling of a venue where popular boy band Mirror was performing a concert.
The incident happened on July 28, 2022, at the Hong Kong Coliseum, a major performance venue that is used several times per week. Two dancers were injured, with one pinned to the ground under the screen.
Mo Li Kai-yin suffered serious neck injuries and is at risk of permanent paralysis. He is reported to still be in hospital six months after the incident.
The incident caused the remainder of Mirror’s 12-show concert series to be cancelled. The Leisure and Cultural Services has also said that it will also ban suspended stage installations in the territory.
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After an investigation that was completed in November, the government on Friday accused three companies Engineering Impact, Hip Hing Loong Stage Engineering and Studiodanz of breaching the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance and the Employees’ Compensation Ordinance (Cap. 282) and that their offences included failure to provide employees with safe plant and safe systems of work, failure to notify the Commissioner for Labour of an accident and [failure] to take out employees’ compensation insurance for employees.
Last week, the government filed ‘conspiracy to defraud’ charges against a woman and two men employed by Engineering Impact. It explained that they had deliberately made a false declaration about the weight of the giant TV screen in order to speed up the regulatory approval process for the show.
The latest charges bring to 15 the number of prosecutions brought by the Labour Department against the three companies. The department applied to the court on Jan. 17 for summonses. The case has been scheduled for a fresh hearing at the Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts on March 27.
“The LD will not tolerate the above-mentioned illegal acts and will strictly enforce the law and do its utmost to protect the occupational safety and health as well as the statutory rights of employees,” said a department spokesman.
