The Labour Department inspected 1,721 construction sites and issued 44 fixed-penalty notices for smoking-ban violations by August 8, according to figures reported by Star Headline. The department also issued 12 improvement notices to contractors and planned prosecutions over two alleged violations.
The 44 fixed-penalty notices covered 26 new construction sites and 18 renovation and maintenance sites. The 12 improvement notices were issued to contractors for failing to take all reasonable steps to ensure that nobody smoked on construction sites; eight concerned new sites and four concerned renovation and maintenance sites.
The department received 111 complaints about smoking at construction sites between July 17 and August 8. The two planned prosecutions involved alleged violations at renovation and maintenance sites, and the reported figures did not state whether the cases had proceeded or resulted in convictions.
The smoking ban took effect on July 17, 2026. Star Headline reported the enforcement figures on August 17, when the ban had been in force for one month.
Zhou Si-kit, chairman of the Construction Industry General Union, said smoking at construction sites had substantially decreased. He said workers who smoked would be dismissed immediately and that some workers had chosen to quit smoking.
Zhou also expressed concern that contractors might put workers on blacklists and stop hiring them. This was reported as his concern, not as confirmation that workers had been blacklisted. The figures reported for August 8 were 44 fixed-penalty notices, 12 improvement notices and two planned contractor prosecutions.