Health and Safety

Public health, workplace, and public safety

COVID vaccine injury payouts exceed all vaccines combined for previous 30 years: only 45% of claims processed so far

KMT caucus press conference
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 1 Comment ,

With only 45% of claims processed so far, more than NT$153 million has already been paid out to those injured by the COVID shots, more than the NT$129.6 million paid to victims of injury from all vaccines combined in the previous 30 years, it was revealed yesterday when Taiwan’s CDC responded to criticism by the opposition party legislative caucus. At a press conference yesterday, September 6, the opposition party Kuomintang (KMT) urged the government to expedite the review process for

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Longest-surviving kidney transplant patient in Taiwan has a 115-year-old kidney

medical personnel and patient celebrate 50 year transplant survivor
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

A hospital in Hsinchu held a birthday party for an 81-year-old man to celebrate the 50th anniversary of him receiving a kidney transplant, and it was revealed that the kidney he carries is now 115 years old. National Taiwan University Hospital Hsinchu Branch held a press conference as part of the celebration to share the story of Taiwan’s longest-surviving kidney transplant recipient, Chen Ming-hsiung and the pioneering surgical team who performed some of the first organ transplants in Taiwan. Tsai

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10-year-old suffers 2nd-degree burns after smart watch explodes on his arm

injured arm
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

A ten-year-old boy in New Taipei City is likely to require skin graft surgery after a smart watch he was wearing exploded and caught fire, Friday, June 30. According to reports, the boy was on his way to a cram school in Tucheng District Friday afternoon when his watch suddenly exploded and instantly ignited. A street vendor immediately came to the boy’s assistance and applied ointment to the resulting wound, and the boy continued to the cram school. Once he

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1 passenger dead, 8 injured after construction crane collapses, hits MRT train in Taichung City

composite image of damaged train and collapsed crane
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

One person died at the scene, and eight people were injured, after a crane from the top of a 30-storey building under construction collapsed onto an elevated section of Taichung’s MRT system, hitting a moving train. According to reports, the crane collapse happened at 12:25 pm near the Feng-le Park Station on Wenxin Road in Nantun District. Pictures from the scene showed the front of a metro train and the interior of a train compartment badly damaged. Taichung City Fire

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Female friend now main suspect in Australian student Alex Shorey poisoning case

Australian student medivaced out of Taiwan
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 2 Comments ,

A 45-year-old Taiwanese woman is being investigated as a suspect in the Alex Shorey poisoning case after an empty bottle of rat poison was found in her home, where the 24-year-old Australian student was staying. According to reports in multiple Taiwanese media outlets, the Taipei District Prosecutor’s Office brought the woman in for questioning after finding an empty bottle of rodenticide in the woman’s Taipei City home during a search on May 3. The woman confessed to having put the

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Crane topples over on Kaohsiung City construction site

crane truck suspended in air after boom collapse
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , , ,

A mobile crane truck was left suspended in the air after the crane toppled over on a construction site in Kaohsiung City’s Xiaogang District this morning, but fortunately nobody was injured. According to a preliminary investigation by the Kaohsiung City Labor Bureau, the crane toppled over at around 8:45 am due to the outrigger not being placed on firm ground. Inspectors found that the operator had placed the outrigger on a drain cover, and the cover broke when the operator

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Taiwan traffic deaths in 2022 up year on year and highest since 2013

traffic accident data 2022
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

The Ministry of Transport and Communications today released data on traffic accidents in 2022, and the report shows that there were 4% more deaths from traffic accidents than the previous year, and the highest number of deaths since 2013. According to the MOTC report, 3,085 people died on Taiwan’s roads in 2022, with the number of accidents, injuries, and fatalities all up more than 4% year on year. The total number of accidents reported was 375,632, and there were a

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Maritime pilots face mandatory alcohol testing following container ship accident at Taiwanese port

composite image showing ship's bow and damage to wharf pier
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

A pilot who was found to be drunk on the job after a container ship slammed into a wharf at the Port of Kaohsiung, Monday, March 20, will not be charged by police, but all maritime pilots in Taiwan will face mandatory alcohol breath testing before starting work following the incident. According to Taiwan’s Chinese language press, Mr Hsu, the pilot in charge of guiding the 74,651-ton vessel Hyundai Tokyo, was found to have an alcohol level of 0.19 mg/l

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Daredevil gardener on 5th-floor rooftop draws concern of neighbors in Taipei City

woman gardening on fifth-floor rooftop
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment

A woman in Taipei City’s upscale Tianmu neighborhood was seen perched precariously on a 5th-floor balcony rooftop tending her garden recently, and concerned neighbors uploaded pictures to social media. The post went viral, and drew attention of TV reporters who went to interview the woman yesterday, Tuesday, March 21. The daredevil gardener, who remains unnamed in reports, and is said to be in her 70s, told reporters that she had been growing vegetables on the rooftop outside her balcony ever

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Japan ends distribution of AstraZeneca COVID vaccines with the last of the shots destroyed

Covidian helmets and holy vaccine
Health and Safety Regional 
Phillip Charlier 1 Comment , ,

Japan has discarded some 13.5 million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, as all of the remaining shots supplied by the British pharmaceutical company have expired, the health ministry announced on Sept. 30, according to Japan’s leading daily newspaper, The Mainichi , October 1, 2022. “Japan is officially ending the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine,” the report said, while explaining that the Japanese government had signed up to purchase 120 million doses of the product in December 2020. Only 200,000 doses

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