Legislative amendments on enhancing the safety requirements of road work
Road works safety
Mr CHAN Chun-ying indicated support to the Proposal. He referred to a fatal traffic accident in Hung Hom in March 2018 in which a Senior Police Constable was hit and killed by a truck when he was collecting traffic cones at the scene of a traffic accident. Mr CHAN enquired whether government departments, including the Police, were required to comply with the requirements set down in the Code. DDHy replied that the Police had a set of guidelines to be observed by Police officers handling cases on the roads.
Mr CHAN Chun-ying further said that, in order to minimize the risks faced by road workers in carrying out mobile operations, the Administration should further improve the safety protection measures for road works, such as introducing equipment for erecting/collecting warning signs, road hazard warning lanterns and traffic cones. Sharing Mr CHAN’s view, the Chairman pointed out that specialized equipment for erecting/collecting traffic cones had been in use in the Mainland. He requested the Administration to draw reference from the Mainland’s experience.
In reply, DDHy said that the revised Code had included enhancement of guarding requirements (such as extending the application of shadow vehicles equipped with truck mounted attenuator with enhanced associated technical requirements, and the use of other temporary guarding equipment) to further minimize the risk of a vehicle crashing into a work site during accident and to reduce the consequential damage or injury.