The magnitude 7.2 earthquake on Wednesday last week caused a fire in the physics and engineering building at National Dong Hwa University in Hualien. An initial estimate report said that there was about NT$500 million (US$15.58 million) in damage, while the cost to rebuild might be as much as NT$2 billion.
The fire might have been sparked by damaged electrical circuits, or improper placing and storage of inflammable chemicals, the report said.
Usually, in school fires, an investigation focuses on the scene, the cause and disaster prevention systems. The first two are the responsibility of local fire departments, while the disaster prevention system is the university’s.
In terms of disaster prevention, the three main problems in disaster prevention at universities are unclear governance and responsibilities, inadequate capacity and insufficient resources.
Regarding disaster prevention responsibilities on campus, universities fall under the Ministry of Education, which has no affiliation with local governments. The ministry’s Higher Education Department is in charge of all university affairs, but that excludes disaster prevention on campuses.
Preventing disasters at universities is dependent on self-governance and the degree to which the university president takes the issue seriously.
Universities’ capacity to prevent disasters needs to be improved. As they are classified as non-profit organizations, they have been crying poor for years, while insufficient personnel and budgets directly or indirectly lead to shortages of disaster-prevention resources.
Companies and factories can count on local fire or labor departments, but university labs can must fend for themselves.
Furthermore, disaster prevention systems at universities are under-resourced. Universities specialize in academic progress, not disaster prevention.
To ensure safety, most universities establish centers of environmental protection and occupational safety and health to manage labs.
However, besides short-staffing issues, universities lack expert knowledge on disaster prevention. Also, because the safety centers are units of the institution, they are not supervised by an independent body.
Disaster prevention on campus is an important issue, but it is difficult to improve unless universities receive external supervision and support.
The fire at Dong Hwa provides an entry point to review disaster prevention systems at universities. The reason for a complete fire investigation is not to provide accountability, but to prevent problems from happening again.
If the focus is on accountability, the investigation might be hindered, making it difficult to determine the truth and implement preventive measures.
Moreover, the report indicates that the problems are not limited to the Hualien institution, but affect the university system nationwide.
Yang Yung-nane is a professor of political science at National Cheng Kung University and an adviser to the Tainan City Government’s disaster prevention advisory committee.
Translated by Chien Yan-ru
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) challenges and ignores the international rules-based order by violating Taiwanese airspace using a high-flying drone: This incident is a multi-layered challenge, including a lawfare challenge against the First Island Chain, the US, and the world. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) defines lawfare as “controlling the enemy through the law or using the law to constrain the enemy.” Chen Yu-cheng (陳育正), an associate professor at the Graduate Institute of China Military Affairs Studies, at Taiwan’s Fu Hsing Kang College (National Defense University), argues the PLA uses lawfare to create a precedent and a new de facto legal
Chile has elected a new government that has the opportunity to take a fresh look at some key aspects of foreign economic policy, mainly a greater focus on Asia, including Taiwan. Still, in the great scheme of things, Chile is a small nation in Latin America, compared with giants such as Brazil and Mexico, or other major markets such as Colombia and Argentina. So why should Taiwan pay much attention to the new administration? Because the victory of Chilean president-elect Jose Antonio Kast, a right-of-center politician, can be seen as confirming that the continent is undergoing one of its periodic political shifts,
In the first year of his second term, US President Donald Trump continued to shake the foundations of the liberal international order to realize his “America first” policy. However, amid an atmosphere of uncertainty and unpredictability, the Trump administration brought some clarity to its policy toward Taiwan. As expected, bilateral trade emerged as a major priority for the new Trump administration. To secure a favorable trade deal with Taiwan, it adopted a two-pronged strategy: First, Trump accused Taiwan of “stealing” chip business from the US, indicating that if Taipei did not address Washington’s concerns in this strategic sector, it could revisit its Taiwan
Taiwan’s long-term care system has fallen into a structural paradox. Staffing shortages have led to a situation in which almost 20 percent of the about 110,000 beds in the care system are vacant, but new patient admissions remain closed. Although the government’s “Long-term Care 3.0” program has increased subsidies and sought to integrate medical and elderly care systems, strict staff-to-patient ratios, a narrow labor pipeline and rising inflation-driven costs have left many small to medium-sized care centers struggling. With nearly 20,000 beds forced to remain empty as a consequence, the issue is not isolated management failures, but a far more
RSS