After a series of deadly accidents on construction sites in recent days, the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) has decided to step up work site inspections and to crack down on violations of safety rules in the run-up to Lunar New Year.
Council of Labor Affairs Chairman Lee Ying-yuan (
"It is unacceptable to bury five bodies because of accidents that could have been prevented," Lee said.
Lee was referring to the deadly collapse at the Linkou work site of a Farglory Land Development project on Dec. 17.
He also mentioned a railroad construction worker in Nangang who was buried alive on Dec. 21 and another railroad construction worker who fell to his death on Dec. 23.
Responsibility for workplace accidents will not stop with the subcontracting company, said Lin Chin-chi (
"Those who are involved at every level will be liable under the Labor Safety and Health Law [
Lin added that in addition to the Labor Safety and Health Law, individuals whose negligence causes deadly accidents could be be held accountable under Article 276 of the Criminal Code.
Chiang Dai-cheng, (
"The Farglory site was inspected prior to the accident," Chiang said. "But at that point in time the support structure that eventually fell had not yet been erected."
Chiang added that "category one" building projects -- sites that are employing more than 300 workers or costing more than NT$100 million (US$3.06 million) -- are those that attract the most inspections.
"The most common violations are unsecured openings, lack of guardrails or safe means for workers to go up and down the work site," Chiang said. "For every rule they break, we can issue a fine of NT$120,000."
But the fine is not the most effective deterrent at the inspectors' disposal, Chiang said. "If a violation is a source of danger, we can shut the site down immediately until the problem is fixed."
"There's nothing they're more afraid of than that," he said.
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