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August 9, 2026 will be remembered as the day Hong Kong set a record high temperature. The Observatory logged 36.9 degrees Celsius, the highest since records began in 1884, while Sheung Shui reached 39.8 degrees.

For most residents, the answer is straightforward: stay indoors with air conditioning. But for the many thousands who work on construction sites, clean our streets, make deliveries and maintain our infrastructure, that is not an option.

The Labour Department’s Heat Stress at Work Warning system and guidance notes are a solid foundation, and officials face the genuine challenge of balancing worker safety with the practical realities of major infrastructure programmes. Simply halting work is neither feasible nor desirable – projects fall behind, costs rise and workers themselves may lose income. The real question is how to keep people safe while keeping sites productive.