Health and Safety

Public health, workplace, and public safety

One worker dead, three injured after construction site ground collapse

excavators at site of ground collapse
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

A female worker’s body was recovered 13 hours after she was buried alive on a construction site in Taoyuan City yesterday afternoon, April 30. Four people were trapped after the ground collapsed at the site of an underground car park construction project in Pingzhen District shortly after 4:00 pm. Three of the trapped workers were rescued and two were treated for cuts and bruises, but a 62-year-old woman remained missing. Firefighters worked all night in a search and rescue operation

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Man spends 81 days in hospital with no symptoms of COVID-19

central epidemic command center Taiwan
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 1 Comment , , , ,

A Taiwanese businessman who was put into a negative pressure isolation ward in January ,after breaching quarantine on his return from Wuhan, China, then testing positive for COVID-19, was finally released today, Taiwan’s Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) confirmed. The man, who is not identified in media reports, but described as in his fifties, returned to Taiwan from Wuhan in January. However, instead of self-quarantining at home as required by anti-epidemic regulations, he went out to nightclubs in Kaohsiung City.

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Why Taiwan hasn’t implemented universal COVID-19 screening: false positives would overwhelm medical resources

medical worker about to swab inside somebody's mouth
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 1 Comment ,

If universal screening for COVID-19 were implemented, people who tested positive, but who are not sick, would vastly overwhelm resources available for people who actually need them, according to experts at Tunghai University. SETN reports that The Department of Applied Physics at Tunghai University posted on Facebook that no matter how powerful the testing technology is, there will always be false positives, as well as false negatives. Statistics applied, even assuming the accuracy of the test method is so high

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In the midst of viral panic, everybody ignores the problem of false positives, and they call for more tests

medical worker about to swab inside somebody's mouth
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 1 Comment , , ,

To get a more complete picture of how widespread the virus is in the United States, “we’re going to need millions and millions and millions of tests,” said Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Bethesda, Md., during a CNN town hall on March 5, reported Science News. Yesterday, March 18, Taiwan reported a record daily number of “confirmed cases” of Covid-19 at 23, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 100. Eleven

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Father charged with negligent manslaughter after second of two children drowned

river where two children of the same family drowned one year apart
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

A resident of New Taipei City’s mountainous Wulai District has been charged for negligent manslaughter after an investigation into the drowning death of his son, just one year after his daughter drowned in the same stream. See previous article: Boy’s body found in same stream his sister drowned last summer Mr Jian, a 40-year-old bus driver, and single father, went fishing in the fast-flowing Nanshi River in August 2019, accompanied by his six-year-old son. Jian told his son to stay

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Police will summon foreigner and issue a fine of NT$300 after dangerous skateboard stunt in Taipei City goes viral

skateboard stunt performed in Taipei City
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

Police will identify and summon a man who performed a dangerous skateboard stunt in Taipei City recently, and he will be fined NT$300 (US$9.84) for breaching traffic regulations, according to reports in Taiwan’s Chinese language media today, December 4. Red Bull skate squad members 23-year-old Jamie Foy, Zion Wright, 20, and Alex Midler, 21, visited Taiwan some time in the last year as part of a trip exploring skate spots around the world. The trio spent around one year putting

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Government urged to speed up regulations on laughing gas after recent death caused by recreational use

New Power Party representative Hsu yong-meng speaks to the Economic Committee at the Legislative Yuan November 18, 2019.
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

The Industrial Development Bureau of the Ministry of Economic Affairs was urged to speed up tightening regulations on the sale of nitrous oxide today, after a recent fatality related to its use as a recreational drug brought the issue to public attention. New Power Party legislator Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明), speaking to the Economics Committee of the Legislative Yuan urged the Industrial Development Bureau to not be idle on the task after fatality in Taoyuan City on November 11 was revealed

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American involved in fatal rc glider accident released on bail: exit restricted

American arrested for negligent homicide
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

An American man who lost control of his remote-controlled glider during an international competition in Kenting National Park, resulting in the death of a woman yesterday, was released on bail while being investigated on charges of negligent homicide. [Correction: November 5, 2019. Previous report said “Charged with negligent homicide]. See previous story: Woman killed by remote controlled glider: American taken in for questioning  David Cortina, 57, was held in custody overnight after refusing to make a formal statement without consulting

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Woman killed by remote controlled glider: American taken in for questioning

scene of tragic accidental death in Kenting National Park
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

A woman carrying her two-year-old child was killed instantly after a remote controlled glider struck her in the head as she strolled along a boardwalk in Kenting National Park, Saturday, November 2. Ms Lin, 36, from Tainan City, was enjoying a day trip in Longpan Park with her family when the approximately 5 kilogram model glider being flown by a competitor in the Taiwan leg of an international slope soaring competition slammed into her and the child at around 4:50pm.

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11 students injured after gas canister explodes at school camp

students apply cold water to burns after gas canister explosion
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

Eleven girls aged 13-15 were sent to hospital yesterday after a gas canister exploded during a camp dinner in Tainan City. The students from Stella Matutina Girl’s High School in Taichung City were enjoying the first evening meal during a two-night, three-day camp-out at the Zengwen Youth Activity Center, when the gas canister on a portable stove exploded, causing burn injuries to the students’ faces and hands. Six ambulances were dispatched to the scene of the accident, and the students

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Boy’s body found in same stream his sister drowned last summer

firefighters search for missing boy in Wulai District
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

The body of a 6-year-old boy was found wedged under a rock in Wulai District’s Nanshi River this morning, 10 days after he went missing August 26. The incident occurred at the same spot his 6-year-old sister drowned last year. On July 29, 2018, a 6-year-old girl from the Jian family sneaked away from her grandmother’s home with her 7-year-old cousin. The two girls went to the riverbank 30 meters from the house to play in the water of the

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