The Hospital Authority of Hong Kong announced late yesterday (10th) a suspected case of forged monitoring vibration instrument calibration certificate, and had already reported the incident to the police the day before. The incident involves the calibration certificate submitted by the subcontractor “Nuohe Engineering Company,” under the main contractor of the Margaret Hospital Lijing Building expansion project, which was not issued by the “Guangdong Zhongzheng Hang Locomotive Measurement and Testing Co., Ltd.” as stated on the certificate.
The Hospital Authority has instructed the main contractor, China Railway Construction Group Limited, to follow up rigorously and investigate the matter thoroughly, and has requested the suspension of work with Nuohe Engineering Company. The Authority stated that they will thoroughly examine and investigate all related projects and services and reserve all rights for legal action.
During the reconstruction or expansion projects, hospitals monitor vibration levels to ensure that the vibrations generated by the construction do not affect the operation of precision equipment such as operating rooms or X-ray rooms. In addition to installing monitoring vibration instruments on-site, engineering personnel will also use handheld instruments when necessary to monitor vibrations. The monitoring vibration instruments are generally calibrated once a year by the contractor to ensure the accuracy of the monitoring data, and the contractor must provide an approved instrument calibration certificate after calibration.
A spokesperson for the Hospital Authority emphasized that monitoring vibration instruments are precautionary in nature, and the main contractor will continue to monitor vibrations with handheld instruments. The Authority will closely monitor feedback from users near hospital construction sites. If healthcare workers report that vibrations from the construction are affecting services, regardless of whether the vibration exceeds regulations, the hospital will prioritize patient safety and medical services and immediately suspend the relevant construction. In the past six months, the Hospital Authority has not received any reports of hospital construction causing vibrations that require the suspension of medical services.
The Authority has conducted a preliminary assessment of the incident and found no impact on medical services and patient safety. However, they will conduct a comprehensive investigation of the construction project, re-verify monitoring data related to the project, and the process of uploading data, etc. Engineering consultants will conduct regular inspections to oversee all contractors’ compliance with relevant regulations and verify related standards.
“Nuohe Engineering Company” is one of the subcontractors for vibration monitoring for several hospital reconstruction and expansion projects. “North Microsensing Technology” provides vibration monitoring instruments and related instrument calibration services for Nuohe Engineering Company.
In addition to the Margaret Hospital Lijing Building expansion project, Nuohe Engineering Company has undertaken vibration monitoring projects for other hospitals, including the Kwong Wah Hospital, the Holy Mother Hospital, the Princess Margaret Hospital, and the North District Hospital. The company is also hired by various main contractors to provide real-time noise and vibration monitoring, upload data systems, as well as noise and dust monitoring instruments.
Yesterday, the Hospital Authority stated that on October 27th of this year, they were notified by North Microsensing Technology that its contractual relationship with Nuohe Engineering Company had been terminated. Subsequently, the Authority contacted the main contractors of various hospital construction projects to ensure that the construction was not affected. They also requested the main contractors to commission qualified professional testing centers to calibrate vibration monitoring instruments and submit certificates.
By November 15th, the Hospital Authority received five calibration certificates submitted by Nuohe Engineering Company earlier to the Margaret Hospital Lijing Building expansion project’s main contractor, China Railway Construction Group Limited. Four calibration certificates were dated October 28th of this year, and one was dated November 25th of last year, with the testing agency being “Guangdong Zhongzheng Hang Locomotive Measurement and Testing Co., Ltd.”
The Authority stated that three days later, they received an inquiry from “Hong Kong 01,” and “due to cautious consideration,” confirmed the authenticity of the calibration certificates with the testing agency listed on the certificates. By this Monday (8th), they received a letter from the main contractor submitting regarding the testing agency, stating that the agency did not issue the calibration certificate, raising suspicions of document forgery.
“Hong Kong 01” reported that as early as August of this year, they received information that the subcontractor “Nuohe Engineering” was suspected of forging vibration monitoring instrument certificates, involving a total of 61 monitoring vibration instruments and an amount of approximately 2.2 million Hong Kong dollars. The five hospitals involved are the Margaret Hospital, Kwong Wah Hospital, Holy Mother Hospital, Princess Margaret Hospital, and North District Hospital.
According to reports, in June and August of this year, Nuohe Engineering received letters from two of its subcontractors, North Microsensing Technology and “Cloud Monitoring Platform Vision Monitoring Technology (Shenzhen),” terminating their cooperation. North Microsensing Technology issued a letter at the end of June, stating that Nuohe Engineering owed 120,000 RMB overdue for half a year, and terminated their collaboration at the end of June. Vision Monitoring Technology indicated that Nuohe Engineering owed approximately 440,000 RMB and ceased providing cloud monitoring data platform services in August.