Working without a Net

Visitors to Hong Kong are amazed when they see high-rise buildings under construction surrounded by bamboo scaffolding.

Assembled from nothing more than long bamboo poles and plastic ties, all development projects use this type of scaffolding instead of metal, and for the most part it works very well.

Except when workers fall. From 1998 to 2007, more than half of the 149 workers who fell to death did so from bamboo scaffolding. According to the Labour Department, "Falling from height" is the number one cause of death in the construction industry. Weather is a major factor; when it rains the bamboo becomes slippery and few of the workers wear safety harnesses because they're not allowed to drill an anchor into the new concrete. Now imagine you're working on a 40-story building, scuttling about on slick, round poles because no one stops the project when the rain comes.

If your palms are getting clammy just thinking about it, consider the courage of the guys who do this day in and day out.

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