The Government today introduced three legislative amendments in the Legislative Council to impose clear legal obligations and prohibit smoking at all construction sites.
The move aims to reduce fire risks and safeguard the safety of workers and the public.
The three legislative amendments are the Smoking (Public Health) Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 2) Order 2026, the Fixed Penalty (Smoking Offences) (Specification of Authorities and Public Officers) (Amendment) Notice 2026, and the Construction Sites (Safety) (Amendment) Regulation 2026.
The Government will publish the Amendment Order and the Amendment Notice in the Gazette on Friday.
The Amendment Order designates construction sites as no smoking areas and the Amendment Notice specifies that Occupational Safety Officers (OSOs) of the Labour Department will carry out enforcement work in relation to all smoking offences at construction sites under the Fixed Penalty (Smoking Offences) Ordinance.
Any person smoking in a construction site commits an offence. OSOs can issue a fixed penalty notice to offenders with a fixed fine of $3,000.
The Amendment Order is applicable to all types of construction sites, including building maintenance sites. Domestic premises and private quarters occupied by residents are not included.
Meanwhile, the Amendment Regulation requires that contractors and subcontractors must take all reasonable steps to ensure that no person smokes or carries a lighted smoking product, or uses a naked light to light a smoking product, at a construction site.
Those violating the Amendment Regulation are liable on conviction to a maximum fine of $400,000.
The Amendment Order and the Amendment Notice will be subject to the negative vetting procedure, while the Amendment Regulation will be subject to the positive vetting procedure.
The Government will strive to facilitate LegCo’s scrutiny work and looks forward to having the chamber’s support for early passage of the three amendments, enabling the smoking ban at all construction sites to be implemented as soon as possible.
