Hong Kong’s Labour Commissioner, Sam Hui Chark-shum, stated on Saturday, August 1st, 2026, that changing the smoking culture on the city’s construction sites will take time. This comes after authorities completed 1,200 site inspections and issued 36 fixed-penalty notices within the first two weeks of enforcing a smoking ban at construction locations.

The ban was introduced following the devastating fire at Tai Po’s Wang Fuk Court in November 2025, which killed 168 people and was suspected to have been caused by workers smoking during renovation work. Under the new legal amendments, individuals caught smoking at construction sites face a fixed penalty of HK$3,000 (US$380), while contractors can be fined up to HK$400,000 if they fail to maintain smoke-free sites.

In addition to the penalty notices, Labour Department officials issued nine improvement notices to contractors and are considering prosecution in two cases. Commissioner Hui acknowledged that the situation is not ideal and emphasized that most fixed-penalty cases were discovered through surprise inspections, with some arising from public reports.

“This shows that there are still workers who have not fully adapted to the new regulations,” Hui said during a radio programme, underscoring the ongoing challenge of shifting entrenched behaviors on construction sites.

Sources