A Wider Spectrum in University Research Project to Underpin Safety
Legislation Development
Gary C. H. Ma, Albert W. K. Kwok
Industrial Centre, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Dr. John K.L. Ho
Department of Manufacturing Engineering and Engineering Management
The City University of Hong Kong
Abstract
This paper reports on two research projects that have identified the limitations of
two separate construction safety regulations in Hong Kong Special Administrative
Region. The projects examined their effects on the work process as well as the
safety of the workers and came out with proposals of effective work method and
more comprehensive inspection system. The project results also shined the
direction for the amendment of the regulations to provide a wider and better
safety protection.
Similar research projects by the universities could help to continuously assess the
safety legislation in a wider spectrum and also provide practical recommendations
to the lawmakers without the bias of interest. Government's encouragement and
participation of joint research with the tertiary institutions could improve the
applicability and coverage of the safety legislation.
Key words: safety legislation, industry-based student research, construction industry.
Introduction
In Hong Kong, the MSc program jointly offered by University of Western Sydney,
Hawkesbury and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in Safety Management is offered
through part-time mode studies. The students are working adults, engaging in safety or safety
related industries, with extensive field experiences. They are familiar with and applying the
safety regulations in their daily functions.
The students' dissertation topics of the MSc program are often formulated from their daily
faced-problems in the work. This is followed by individual study guided by a "mentor"
university lecturer. The dissertation projects are particularly beneficial to the students. At one
hand the students can hone their research skills and on the other hand, they can make use of
the project results to improve the workplace safety or work efficiency and recommend
practical solutions to the problems.
This paper reports on two MSc dissertation projects supervised by the authors that critically
reviewed two different construction safety regulations in Hong Kong Special Administrative
Region. The two projects were to study the use of boatswain's chair and to review the
inspection system of bamboo scaffolding in Hong Kong respectively.
A study of using boatswain’s chair in Hong Kong
Boatswain's Chair
A boatswain's chair is primarily a suspended "seat". The rider lowers the suspending rope to
enable him to gain access to the different levels of the external wall. The boatswain's chair is
similar to the swing in the children 's playground.
Boatswain’s chair has been widely used in Hong Kong construction industry for well over 20
years. Comparing with bamboo scaffold and suspended working platform, boatswain's chair is
more cost-effective in terms of cost, manoeuvrability, productivity and convenience,
particularly in the used for external wall cleaning and inspection. Also the legislative control
on the boatswain's chair is looser than on the suspended working platform.
However, following the advancement of technology, suspended working platforms are
gradually replacing boatswain's chairs as they are safer to the riders and allow the riders to
bring along more work tools and material.
The Committee on Occupational Safety and Health (COSH) revealed the risks associated with
the use of boatswain chair:

When work begins, workers have to climb over the roof edge to sit on the seating board.
At this juncture, usually the safety belt has not been fastened. The worker may fall over
the edge of the high-rise building.

Both the pulley system and the independent lifeline are affixed at some points usually at
the rooftop. This kind of anchorage provides no security and depends only on the
experience and the subjective judgement of the worker who is responsible for setting up
the equipment. Any error in their selection of the anchorage or in the way the
suspension rope in the selection of the anchorage or in the way the suspension rope is
affixed to the anchorage may result in the failure of the whole system with serious
consequences.

The knots and the hitches of the pulley system and the independent lifeline that tie to the
anchorage depend very much on the skill of the worker. Any fault in the process may
also result in serious consequences.

The strength of the fibre rope is also critical element in the safe work system. Since the
work is conducted in open areas, the fibre rope is subject to constant wear and tear due
to frictional contact with roof edge if not protected and the hitches as well as contact
with corrosive substances. Any damage to the rope during its use could present grave
safety problems.

When painting of external wall proceeds, it is difficult for the workers to refill their
paints. Hence, buckets of paint are carried with them. Since there is limited space on the
seating board, these buckets are hung at two sides of the seating. They are not well
secured. Any lateral displacement of the board may result in the drop-off of the buckets
from height. This sudden lost of balance may cause the worker to fall off the seat board.
Further more, falling buckets may cause injuries to passers-by.

The seating board restricts movement of the workers concerned. Prolong exposure may
produce adverse chronic effect on the spine of the worker.”
Since the consequence of foreseeable hazard with boatswain's chair is very high and will
normally lead to fatality; therefore, the Hong Kong Legislative Council on March 1999
passed the bill to amend the Construction Site Safety Regulation for prohibiting the use of
boatswain’s chair.
It has estimated that this bill would affect only 240 workers. The social-economic impact was
not large and these workers could easily change their careers to work on suspended working
platform.
Amended Construction Site (Safety) Regulation
The amended Construction Site (Safety) Regulation simply disallows the use of boatswain’s
chair in all situations. Suspended working platform (SWP) is suggested to be the replacement
equipment in situation previously using boatswain's chair.
Exemption will only be granted in circumstances where the use of a suspended scaffold or
suspended working platform is not reasonably practicable or the work is of such short
duration as to make the use of suspended scaffold or suspended working platform
unreasonable.
In applying for exemption, the contractor has to explain the practical difficulties in that
particular situation and the detailed safety precaution to be adopted during the use of
boatswain's chair. Nevertheless, the safety precaution for the use of boatswain's chair must be
to the satisfactory of the Commissioner for Labour before exemption is granted.
Circumstances where boatswain's chair is the only solution
The research conducted a comprehensive review on local high-level construction activities
and identified situations and applications that boatswain's chair was the only solution. The
findings were listed below:
Buildings under the following physical layout or constraints do not favour the use of
suspended working platform:
 the roof floor did not have enough floor area to move the suspended working platform all
around the building and reached every part of external wall.
 building services facilities such as air-conditioning chiller pipes and other building
equipment such as water tank, restricted the use of suspended working platform
 the building roof did not have adequate strength to hold against overturning the suspended
working platform
 parapet wall incurred technical difficulties to install the suspended working platform and
the strength of the parapet wall were not strong enough to withstand the weight of the SWP
and workers.
Other applications, such as: close visual inspection to concrete structure of flyovers or bridges
and external wall works in Correctional Services Department’s Institutions also requires the
use of boatswain's chair as the suspended working platform would cause traffic congestion in
trunk roads and defect the security system respectively.
The research also investigated into the causes of boatswain's chair fatal accidents and found
lifeline was either improperly used or simply not being used (see Table 1).
Table 1: Fatal Accident Analysis by Age and Cause
Case
Year
Age
Cause
1
1981
19
Shackle failure
2
1981
25
Hitch failure
3
1982
22
Rope breakage
4
1984
26
Rope breakage
5
1984
22
Hitch failure
6
1984
32
U-bracket detachment
7
1986
25
Shackle failure
8
1987
25
Hitch failure
9
1998
23
Shackle Failure
Whether lifeline is used
Yes, but not properly used
Yes, but not properly used
Yes, but not properly used
No
No
No
Yes, but not properly used
Yes, but not properly used
Yes, but not properly used
The research argued that should the government have enforced a stringent control on the
setting up of the boatswain's chair and the formal training to the riders on the proper use of
boatswain's chair, these accidents could have been avoided. The research also revealed varies
control methods being adopted by foreign countries in boatswain's chair application that could
be adopted by the Hong Kong government to develop similar legislation control (see Table 2).
Table 2: Boatswain’s Chair Control in Different Countries
America United
Japan
Kingdom
Use of Boatswain Chair covered by law
Yes
Yes
No
Details of the boatswain’s chair covered by
No
No
N/A
law
Details of the boatswain’s chair covered by
Yes
Yes
No
National Standards
Details of the boatswain’s chair covered by
No
No
Yes
Code of Practice
The use of boatswain’s chair is banned
No
No
No
Hong
Kong
Yes
No
No
No
Yes
Research outputs
The research concluded that there were distinctive situations and application where the use of
boatswain’s chair was the only solution, but still the new legislation required the responsible
contractors to apply exemption. While cost-effectiveness was always the major concern in
Hong Kong’s construction industry, the amended regulation caused the responsible
contractors additional administrative costs and delay in the progress schedule. To improve the
safety legislation, the research recommended basket exemption for the following situations in
the regulation:
1)
Inspection of concrete structures such as concrete column of flyovers/bridges where:
(a) No access road is provided;
(b) Access road has been provided but road traffic rendered the use of safe means of
support, such as mobile hydraulic platform, to be impossible;
(c) Current mobile hydraulic platform could not reach such height.
2)
Emergency inspection of building façade that would be required to be carried out
immediately in order to assess the condition of the building and recommend prompt
remedial action to prevent its structure from further deteriorating, causing serious
danger to the public at large or for the benefit of the public.
3)
Emergency inspection of road side slope that would be required to be carried out
immediately in order to assess the condition of the slope and recommend prompt
remedial action to prevent the slope for further collapse, causing serious danger to
public at large or for the benefit of the public.
A Review on the Inspection System of Bamboo Scaffolding in Hong Kong
The objective of this project is to identify the deficiencies of the existing bamboo scaffolding
inspection system with a viewing to recommending some improvement actions.
The elements that the researcher aimed to study:





the sufficiency of the legislation regarding bamboo scaffolding inspection;
the training and experience of competent persons in bamboo scaffolding;
the adequacy of Form 5, the approved from for inspection of scaffolding;
monitoring of the competent persons in bamboo scaffolding; and
management's views in appointing and monitoring of these competent persons.
In the project, he has had extensive discussions on:




the deficiency of existing legislation on safety of bamboo scaffolding ;
the competency of the so-called competent persons in construction of bamboo scaffolding;
the inspection system fails to reflect the actual situation of bamboo scaffolding safety; and
the deficiency in the design of the "Form 5" and its use as a bamboo scaffolding safety
assessment tool;
The research has taken the "Form 5" as a main subject for investigation, as it affects the
effectiveness of the scaffolding inspection system. Without an effective inspection system, the
defects of a scaffold cannot be identified in time.
During the period of the research project, coincidentally the Labour Department of Hong
Kong was preparing amendments on the Construction Site (Safety) Regulations which would
include more stringent safety requirements for scaffolding and working platform. Before the
final version of the law was enacted, the comments given in the research was generally based
on the Regulation 38K(1)(b) of the Construction Sites (Safety) Regulations before the
amendment. However, there is no significant change to the format of "Form 5", but the time
interval for inspection was substantially tightened.
The researcher commented in his project that the design of the Form 5 is too simple. The
form can give little guidance on the following aspects:


how to check a bamboo scaffolding;
what specific defects in the bamboo scaffolding should be checked;



what standards should be used to assess the quality and safety of the erected bamboo
scaffolding;
what particulars on the bamboo scaffolding system should be reported; and
what remedial actions and follow-up procedures should be taken.
Research Method
In studying the inspection system of bamboo scaffolding, the information collected for the
analysis was basically qualitative such as the training, experience and attitude of the
competent person and management. In the simple survey, a questionnaire was designed to
view the attitude of senior management on bamboo scaffolding. The senior management's
attitude is important to make a scaffolding inspection system successful. Besides, a
questionnaire was designed to gather information about the training, experience and the
attitude of the competent person in bamboo scaffolding.
Since the key element of the existing bamboo scaffolding inspection system is the Form 5.
Numbers of "Form 5" were collected and analysed to identify:





if the form had been filled by the appointed competent person;
if the form had been properly filled-in;
could the form reflected the actual conditions;
did the form include any recommendations; and
had there any follow-up actions been taken.
In order to verify the validity and quality of the Forms 5 collected, the researcher has had
physical inspections to the bamboo scaffoldings involved in his study. During his inspections,
he found that all the bamboo scaffoldings needed to be repaired in one way or the other.
When coming to sensitive questions, the competent persons were very cautious. All
competent persons claimed that they would not certify the scaffold safe if they find the
scaffold unsafe. They claimed that they would repair the defective sections and would reflect
the unsafe conditions in the Form 5. All the competent persons opined that experience was
more important than formal training. However, they were quite reluctant to attend formal
training courses.
Regarding the interviews with site management, they generally did not care very much about
the efficiency and effectiveness of the scaffolding inspection system. They would have more
concern on if their competent persons had signed the Form 5, rather than their training
background, experience and competency. It seemed that management had little knowledge of
the training and experience of the competent persons in bamboo scaffolding. At least, all of
respondents agreed that the competent persons should have undertaken certain formal training
and should be experienced in that field.
Critical Findings
The research was intended to explore the deficiencies of the existing bamboo scaffolding
inspection system. It was found that the deficiencies might be due to too vagueness of
legislation. In the existing legislation, training and experience of competent person are not
well defined. The frequency of inspection is not sufficient to ensure scaffolding safety,
although it had been strung in the amended Construction Sites (Safety) Regulations. There are
no requirements for taking follow-up actions.
Another problem is the management’s apathy attitude in the scaffolding inspection system.
They do not care about the competency of their competent persons, but the completion of
Form 5 in time as stipulated statutorily. There is no monitoring of the inspection system and
no follow-up actions will be initiated in response to the inspections. What they really care is
to complete the Form 5 in time.
In the research, it was found that the training for competent persons is not adequate. Many
competent persons still do not have the recognised qualification. Most of the competent
persons did not have any knowledge of the 'Code of Practice for Scaffolding Safety'. They had
no ideas of the current standard for scaffolding safety.
It was concluded that the statutory scaffolding inspection form (Form 5) is too simple and
does not provide adequate guidance for inspection, it does not specify the items for checking
and provide any criteria for assessment as well. The competent person can simply write a few
words on the form in order to discharge his duties. The researcher recommended that a more
comprehensive inspection form is required for the bamboo scaffolding inspection system. The
legislation is suggested to include tighter control in the competency of the competent person
and the frequency of inspection. The criteria for assessment should be stipulated and
guidelines for inspection should be provided in the Form. The follow-up actions after
inspections should be specified.
Conclusion and Recommendation
Nowadays, the Government in drafting the legislation often consults with the trade union and
other interest parties so that the trade practices and public opinions are incorporated in the
legislation.
These two dissertation projects have illustrated the additional benefits of utilising the
university's resources and staff as mentor for the safety advancement. The projects have
applied the students' working experience to critically review and examine the safety
legislation to reveal the situations and application that the legislation do not or improperly
cover. Practical recommendations were then put forward to the industry to improve the work
methods and for the government to enhance the legislation.
These kinds of industry-university research continuously would cover the safety legislation in
a wider spectrum from the application's point of view and also provide practical
recommendations to the lawmakers without the bias of interest. It is alike a review and
feedback loop of a quality system to improve the standard and the coverage of the safety
regulations. The government's encouragement and participation of joint researches with the
universities would enhance the applicability and the quality of the safety legislation.
Acknowledgement
The authors would like to acknowledge Joseph Tam and James Cheung of their MSc
Dissertation research works that greatly contribute to this paper.
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