“A potential conflict between ensuring workers’ safety and minimising fire risks surfaced the previous day, as a senior occupational safety officer from the Labour Department said laws prohibiting workers from climbing on scaffolding led to movable boards being installed in the buildings’ emergency staircases to facilitate their entry and exit.”

“But the judge-led panel previously heard that such installations, which replaced fireproof windows, had caused smoke to fill the emergency staircases, preventing some residents from evacuating and complicating firefighting efforts.”

“Another Labour Department officer said that days before the blaze, renovation contractor Prestige Construction and Engineering had sent the same scaffolding mesh fire retardancy report it submitted the year before to prove that nets it installed after September 2025 were safety compliant.”

“But the department did not notice that the new report was dated July 2024, and focused only on the test results, the officer admitted before the committee.”