Mr Ng has worked for XO Company Limited (`XO') since 2015 as an electrical technician. As no training was given by XO, Mr Ng at his own cost attended a half-day course on construction site safety from which he obtained a `green card' as proof of attendance. A `green card' was necessary to work in construction sites where the pay is much higher which was the main reason why Mr Ng took the course.

XO assigned Mr Ng to work at a construction site in Shatin in 2019 where he was teamed up with his colleague Ms Chow. As is typical of construction sites there were a lot of planks lying around. To speed up his work instead of lifting the plank together with Ms Chow Mr Ng decided to do this all by himself. Unfortunately he twisted his back while trying to lift a plank that was too heavy. Despite the pain he continued to work for a few hours until 6 pm as he did not want to lose any money since he was paid HK$200 per hour by XO.

Mr Ng went to see his doctor for aggravated pain and numbness in his back the next morning and reported this to XO as he was given 3 days sick leave. He was ultimately certified as being unable to return to work for the next six months due to the injury. Mr Ng claimed that XO had negligently failed to provide him with safe and proper working conditions to enable him to carry out his job; that they had failed to provide adequate training on safety measures and/or failed to provide appropriate equipment.

There is no dispute that the only instructions that XO gave to its employees was "You must be careful and take good care of your own well-being and safety." There was no evidence that XO had arranged any means of inspection to ensure that proper working conditions were provided or that any safety measures were in place on the building sites. Question: Can Mr Ng sue XO?