Taiwan tightens safety measures in aluminum industry

TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan's Minister of Labor, Hsu Ming-chuin, announced Monday (March 25) that the aluminum industry will be classified as high-risk, with specialized labor inspections planned for related factories.

The decision follows an explosion at an aluminum factory in the Hunei District of Kaohsiung City on March 23, causing the deaths of two migrant workers and drawing the attention of legislators.

Hsu was invited to present a special report to the Legislative Yuan Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee today, where the discussion focused on strengthening safety and health management systems, operational procedures, and necessary education and training in business units, as well as implementing workplace disaster management.

Kuomintang (KMT) legislator Wang Yu-min questioned whether the industry had been penalized multiple times, to which Hsu responded that the industry had improved its safety violations. Still, these were unrelated to the cause of the recent explosion.

Wang expressed concern about the high-temperature explosion risk in the aluminum casting industry and asked if it should be considered high-risk. Hsu agreed and promised to implement specialized labor inspections in related factories.

According to the Ministry of Labor (MOL), there are approximately 473 businesses related to aluminum, with 243 in the aluminum casting industry. Tainan City has the most, followed by Changhua County, Taichung City, and New Taipei City.

Wang pointed out that the annual number of significant occupational deaths nationwide still hovers around 300, with the construction industry accounting for half, primarily due to falls from height.

Hsu stated that local governments must implement management measures for high-risk industries, increase inspection rates, and strictly enforce regulations to reduce occupational accidents.

In response to Wang's question about whether the MOL should promote visible safety measures similar to Japan, Tsou Tzu-lien, Director of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, said that they will make safety planning visible on-site, especially in the construction industry, to enhance safety for high-altitude operations.

Hsu reiterated that each company's construction supervisors must implement inspections to ensure safety equipment is available and properly used.

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