Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene November - December 2016 vol.11 No.6 | Page 36

Hygiene

Hong Kong high rise window cleaning
deaths spark protest

rule’ whereby domestic workers must leave Hong Kong
14 days after they leave a job, unless they can find other
employment within that time.
So far the government has shown no indication it will relax
either rule.

Revealed: one in seven UK takeaways have
failed food hygiene tests
More than 7,000 takeaways and 8,000 restaurants have
not passed inspections, with huge hygiene disparities
nationwide

Domestics in Hong Kong marched in protest on Sunday
after what the Hong Kong Free Press reports as ‘several’
maids falling to their deaths from tower block windows as
they tried to clean them. The protestors are calling on the
government to ban employers from asking maids to clean
the outside of windows.
“For us it’s hard to say ‘no’, when employers ask us to
clean windows, but it’s scary,” said Dolores Balladares,
a spokeswoman for the Asian Migrants’ Coordinating
Body. “It’s about time for the government to protect the
workers.”
There are 300,000 maids in Hong Kong, mostly from the
Philippines and Indonesia, with concer n growing among
human rights groups over their welfare, following several
abuse cases.
Thai domestic worker Waen Takruerat, 42, said the
majority of maids were expected to clean windows inside
and out.
“It’s scary and dangerous so I told my boss I can’t do it,”
she told AFP.
Organisers of Sunday’s rally said they believed that at least
three maids had died falling from windows this year. A
35-year-old Filipina domestic, for example, fell to her death
last month as she was reportedly cleaning the outside of
the windows of her employer’s flat.
The plight of those working as maids in Hong Kong was
thrown into the spotlight by the case of Indonesian helper
Erwiana Sulistyaningsih, who was beaten and starved by
her employer Law Wan-tung, in a case that made world
headlines. Law was jailed in February 2015 for six years.
Campaigners have long sought reforms, including ending
the requirement for maids to live with their employers.
They say this naturally makes it difficult for them to escape
abuse.
They also want the government to abolish the ‘two-week
34

Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene • November - December 2016

Photograph: Newham borough council
Kate Lyons,Helena Bengtsson,Monica Ulmanuand Carlo Zapponi

Golden Dragon Chinese restaurant in Newham, east
London, was described by inspectors as the worst they had
seen. One in 13 restaurants and one in seven takeaways
in the UK have failed food hygiene inspections because
they are dirty or have poor procedures, Guardian analysis
shows.
Examination of the food hygiene reports for more than
460,000 businesses found that almost 30,000, or 6.4%,
had failed their inspections, including more than 7,000
takeaways and 8,000 restaurants.
The Food Standards Agency data also reveals huge
food safety problems in some areas of the country, with
some local authorities failing more than 20% of food
establishments and about 50% of takeaways and sandwich
shops.
The FSA ranks all food providers with a score of zero to
five. A zero rating signifies that the establishment “urgently
requires improvement”: about 1,400 businesses currently
have this score. Between zero and two is considered a
failing grade, and three to five is satisfactory.