TNAG-1725-FCO40-2438-Minutes-and-Hansards-of-the-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-1988 — Page 119

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HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL-20 January 1988

SECRETARY FOR EDUCATION AND MANPOWER: Sir, some teachers may have found the standard lower perhaps than they expected but I do not think this can be a real problem. These teachers have in fact been trained to teach English as a foreign language, in fact their training envisages that the pupils have no knowledge of English whatsoever. So the kind of standard found in our schools cannot be worse than envisaged in their training.

Measures to prevent accidents on escalators

5. PROF. POON asked: In view of a recent accident at the Hung Hom Railway Station which caused injuries to seven people when an ascending escalator suddenly went into reverse, will Government inform this Council what measures will be taken to prevent the recurrence of similar accidents, bearing in mind the large number of commuters using escalators during rush hours?

SECRETARY FOR LANDS AND WORKS: Sir, the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department is still investigating this unfortunate accident. The direct cause of the accident seems fairly clear. In simple terms the braking system failed after an emergency stop button was apparently pressed by someone unknown, and the escalator rolled backwards under the weight of the passengers. The injuries occurred because, although the escalator was descending slowly and stopped after reversing about 10 steps, the persons on the lower steps were carried back into the oncoming passengers. The investigation into why or how the braking system failed is continuing and may last several weeks more.

In the meantime all escalators of the same model have been checked by the registered escalator contractor responsible for maintaining them, who is the sole supplier of this model, and they have been found to be in safe working order. He will continue weekly inspections on brakes of all these installations pending the outcome of the investigation.

Also, a circular letter has been sent by the Director of Electrical and Mechanical Services to all registered escalator contractors and engineers reminding them of the importance of proper brake maintenance.

PROF. POON: Sir, would the Secretary inform this Council whether the brake failure is due to the poor quality of the braking system or due to poor maintenance?

SECRETARY FOR LANDS AND WORKS: Sir, I understand that the brake was found to be improperly adjusted.

MR. LIU (in Cantonese): Sir, for escalators which have been in service for over 10 years, will the Government conduct more frequent maintenance schedules and will there be more stringent requirements?