The legislature’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee will seek to extend protections contained in the Labor Safety and Health Act (勞工安全衛生法) to all workers, including volunteer workers and taxi drivers, the -Chinese-language United Evening News reported yesterday.
During an initial review of the act yesterday, the committee proposed amendments to several articles as well as renaming the act the Professional Safety and Health Act.
The proposed amendments would widen the application of protections contained in the act, ensuring the number of people covered rose from 6.7 million to 10.6 million, including employed personnel, self-run businesses such as taxi drivers and stall vendors, dispatch workers, volunteer workers, interns and students in vocational training programs.
The amendments passing an initial review included the “anti--overwork” clause, requiring employers to introduce mandatory health inspections, to prevent over-working in certain high risk categories of workers, such as shift workers or late-night workers.
In the event that employees develop such work-related ailments as high blood-pressure or other cardio-vascular ailments, the amendments stipulate that employers can be fined up to NT$300,000. In addition, when a doctor determines an individual is not fit for his or her original position, employers will be required to change the work environment, change the job or shorten working hours. Failure to do so could result in a fine of up to NT$150,000.
This constitutes the most significant amendment to the act in two decades, as it incorporates ideas about the work environment, physical and mental health imported from Europe and the US.
In addition, whereas the current act stipulates that businesses with more than 300 workers are required to set up an on-site clinic or have an on-site doctor, the amended act says that businesses with 50 or more workers should hire or contract on-site medical personnel to monitor the physical well-being of employees, prevent work-related ailments and enhance general laborer health.
Employers in the fields of medicare, security or social work are also required to take all measures necessary to ensure personnel are not subject to violence at work.
The Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) said that the main change introduced by the amendments was granting labor organizations permission to conduct safety checks at the workplace and the inclusion of the general responsibility clause that makes workers responsible for environmental safety, including protective gear, clear pathways, good lighting, laborer health inspections, and safety and health education.
Future employers of reporters, sales personnel, or nightclub workers should all remain on alert for potentially dangerous situations, the council said.
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