Over the past week, public prosecutors and agents from the Investigation Bureau have looked into the disaster at the Formosa Fun Coast (八仙海岸) water park in New Taipei City. The results have been astounding.
First, their probes found that the water park operator had little idea whether the organizer of the Color Play Asia party could afford to manage potential risks associated with an event of that scale, or if the organizer had any emergency plans in place for spectators inside and outside the drained swimming pool which was used as the main venue for the party.
It seems the park operator did not think much about public safety issues before leasing the venue to the event organizer.
Second, the investigation indicated that the organizer and its employees had not been prepared or trained in what to do in the event of an accident. Moreover, it appears there was no emergency management system capable of an immediate response nor an on-site medical center equipped with sufficient first-aid equipment and experienced medical personnel. Little wonder most employees panicked and could not respond appropriately to the emergency.
Third, the probes found that both the park operator and the organizer bought public accident liability insurance policies as required by law, but the nearly 500 victims are eligible for just NT$50 million (US$1.6 million) in total compensation, because these policies were taken out in the event of a single occurrence that has an upper limit on liability. This amount — an average distribution of NT$100,000 per person — is simply too low to cover the victims’ current medical care and follow-up treatment, as well as future schooling and employment matters.
The Financial Supervisory Commission has requested that insurance companies actively facilitate claims filed by the victims under either individual insurance policies or student group insurance and the Cabinet is mulling an increase in liability insurance for organizers of leisure activities to ensure spectators are adequately covered. Meanwhile, prosecutors have worked to seize assets of the park operator and the party organizer and some non-profit organizations are offering to file a class-action suit on behalf of the victims.
Surely, some of these efforts will ensure that victims receive sufficient long-term care and rehabilitation services.
If everyone agrees that prevention is more important than post-disaster management, the water park accident is an opportunity to promote risk management strategies in the service sector, as was done in the industrial sector following several petrochemical accidents and food safety scandals in recent years.
That is why some experts have begun to advocate the idea of creating a legal framework of risk management devoted entirely to the service sector, which would require not just service providers’ input to liability insurance coverage, staff training and other precautionary measures, but also comprehensive risk management assessments.
Risk management must take into consideration emergency response plans and the potential casualties and financial damages in a worst-case scenario. That is because there is always one immutable law in life — anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.
Such an undertaking might increase costs for the service sector initially, but if risk awareness prevails over short-term interests, it will eventually benefit the public, businesses and the government.
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