Health and Safety

Public health, workplace, and public safety

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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3 workers dead after crane boom touches power lines in Tainan City

truck on fire after contact with power lines
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

Firefighters found the charred remains of three men after extinguishing a fire that consumed a crane truck in Qigu District, Tainan City this morning, September 6. Tainan City Fire Bureau received reports that a truck was on fire after the crane boom came into contact with high voltage electricity lines on a fish farm 500 meters from the Liukong Wharf at 7:56 am. Firefighters arriving at the scene waited until Taipower personnel turned off the power before deploying water to

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Train driver dies after being hit by freight train while crossing the tracks

police at scene of fatal train accident
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 2 Comments , , ,

A train driver about to start his shift died after he was hit and run over by a freight train while he was crossing the tracks at Yilan Station yesterday, Wednesday evening, July 27. Liberty Times reported that the 51-year-old freight train driver, named Wu was crossing the tracks from Platform 2 to reach his train No.7,557 when he was hit by freight train No.7,556 as it entered the station at 8:33 pm. Firefighters said that Wu was obviously dead

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8-year-old boy develops myocarditis after second COVID shot

screenshot from CTI news story
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , , ,

An eight-year old boy was diagnosed with myocarditis two days after receiving the second dose of a COVID vaccine, and his condition may have been triggered by the vaccine, Taiwan’s Public Service Television (PTS) news reported yesterday, June 24. The second-grader in Kaohsiung City was administered the second dose of the Moderna shot on June 17, and developed a fever and chest pain on June 19. Doctors at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital diagnosed the boy as suffering from myocarditis and

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Gourmet restaurant couple suspected to have died of carbon monoxide poisoning: stove found not turned off properly

La Foresta restaurant facade
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 2 Comments , , ,

A couple found dead in their Italian style restaurant in New Taipei City yesterday died of carbon monoxide poisoning due to an improperly turned off stove, according to a preliminary investigation. An employee of the restaurant who had been resting at home after finishing the lunch shift at around 2:00 pm, returned shortly before 5:00 pm to find the restaurant locked, and the couple not responding to his phone calls. The 22-year-old man, named Shen, eventually called a former employee

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Video shows excavator operator run for his life as silo collapses the wrong way on demolition site

excavator operator running for his life as silo collapses
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

Video footage emerged today showing the driver of an excavator using a wrecking ball to demolish a silo in southern Taiwan abandoning his vehicle and running for his life as the 52-meter-tall structure started to fall in his direction yesterday, April 1. Contractors working on the demolition project at the Southeast Cement Corporation site in Nanzi District, Kaohsiung City appear to have seriously breached regulations and safety standards in the lead up to the accident, Kaohsiung Public Works Bureau said

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Gas cylinder explodes on back of truck and launches like a missile in Kaohsiung City

composite image showing gas cylinder launching from back of truck
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

An acetylene cylinder being carried on a truck suddenly exploded and flew the height of a five-storey building before plummeting back to the ground outside a gas station in Kaohsiung City yesterday, March 21. The truck was stopped behind cars at an intersection on Jiangong Road in Sanmin District at around 2:00 pm when the cylinder suddenly launched itself like a missile, emitting flames and smoke as it flew into the air. The cylinder crashed back onto the truck before

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4 slightly injured after crowded metro escalator collapses

crowded escalator collapses
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , ,

One person suffered a sprained ankle and three other people were bruised but did not need medical treatment after an escalator with around 30 people on it collapsed at Hsinpu MRT Station in New Taipei City’s Banqiao District, Friday, March 11. Taipei Metro administrators said that the ascending escalator suddenly stalled and slid backwards at 10:26 pm. Taipei Metro expressed its deep apologies to the affected passengers. Taipei Metro said that the escalators in MRT stations have strict maintenance schedules.

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