Engineer gets community service over Queen Mary lift case
HK01 · 4 SOURCESabout 1 hour ago5 MIN
Summary
A registered lift engineer was sentenced at Eastern Magistrates’ Courts on Wednesday to 160 hours of community service after being convicted of two summons offences tied to lift failures at Queen Mary Hospital’s new building. The defendant, Lo Wing-chai (羅永齊), had earlier been found guilty after trial of submitting a false or misleading document and issuing a safety certificate despite safety concerns.
Key Points
- Acting Magistrate Ho Tsz-chun said the case was serious because the public relies on engineers to safeguard lift safety, especially in a hospital used by patients and visitors
- The court said there was no evidence Lo sought personal gain, and took into account his remorse and willingness to accept responsibility before imposing 160 hours of community service.
- The Electrical and Mechanical Services Department prosecuted Lo on two summons charges, and the case numbers were ESS25361 and ESS25362 of 2025.
- Queen Mary Hospital’s Clinical Block 1 began phased operations in November last year, but 24 of its 28 lifts repeatedly malfunctioned during the maintenance period.
- Government investigators found some components, including circuit boards and sensors, were damaged, while dimensional deviations in some lift shaft outer walls made installation much more difficult
Why It Matters
The sentence underlines the legal and professional consequences when lift certification fails to meet safety standards in critical public facilities such as hospitals. The wider lift failures also disrupted the rollout of clinical services in the new building and led authorities to suspend the contractor and subcontractor from tendering for public works, with repair costs to be borne by the Architectural Services Department.