Health and Safety

Public health, workplace, and public safety

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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Foreign journalist’s tweet leads to crackdown on riding scooters on sidewalks in Kaohsiung City

police hand out penalty tickets to scooter rider on sidewalk in Kaohsiung City
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

Kaohsiung City police handed out more than 400 tickets to people riding their motor scooters on the sidewalk yesterday after a Polish journalist who resides in the city complained about the problem on Twitter. On Monday morning, March 7, Aviation business correspondent Tomasz Śniedziewski tweeted: “I don’t like to use Twitter to complain but really, the plague of scooter racing on #Kaohsiung pavements is seriously wrong and I wish @KaohsiungCity finally noticed and addressed the problem.” Śniedziewski uploaded a video

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Fireworks factory explosion leaves one injured: second incident in less than a year

damaged factory building after explosion
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , , ,

An explosion at a fireworks factory in Chiayi County left one man injured this afternoon, and it is the second explosion incident at the factory in less than one year. The Chiayi County Fire Department said that it received reports of an explosion at the Yongfeng pyrotechnic factory in Yongtun Village, Dongshi Township at 1:23 pm. Firefighting units were dispatched from Puzi, Xianghe, Dongshi and Budai fire stations. No fire followed the explosion, but one man was found injured. The

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Crane overturns on metro construction project in Taoyuan City

overturned crane
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , ,

A large mobile crane overturned while working on an MRT construction project in Taoyuan City yesterday, but fortunately nobody was injured in the accident. According to reports, the crane was being used to lift steel molds during the dismantling of formwork on the construction site of station G13 on the Taoyuan MRT Green Line on Zhongzheng Road in Luzhu District when it tipped over at 1:25 pm. The crane’s boom hit the truck carrying the steel molds, damaged traffic signal

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Road fatalities in Taiwan exceeded that of Japan’s last year: Basic traffic safety law proposed

composite image showing four traffic accidents
Health and Safety Traffic Accidents 
Phillip Charlier 2 Comments ,

A group of legislators from the opposition KMT party is calling for the establishment of a basic traffic safety law in order to reduce the number of fatal traffic accidents, after statistics showed that Taiwan’s traffic accident death toll exceeds that of Japan – a neighboring country with a population more than five times that of Taiwan. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) representative Yeh Yu-Lan (葉毓蘭) told Taiwan’s Central News Agency that the number of traffic fatalities in Taiwan in 2020

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Hiking group attacked by hornets: 5 airlifted to hospital

NASC black hawk helicopter and ambulance
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

Five members of a hiking group were airlifted to hospital after they were stung by hornets in a mountain district of Hualien County today, Thursday. The 11-member group had just departed on the first day of a planned 3-day hike to Dahui Mountain, and Nanerzi Mountain when the hornet attack occurred at around 11:00 am, 3.5 kilometers from the carpark at the trailhead near Xilin Village, Wanrong Township. The team leader used a satellite phone to make contact with emergency

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Drinking on construction sites leads to 2 separate drunk driving arrests in one day in New Taipei City

drunk driver and forklift
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

Two men who were drunk by lunchtime on separate construction sites in New Taipei City were arrested for drunk driving yesterday, Friday, December 7. Shortly after noon, police in Tamsui District stopped a man driving a forklift to check if he had a permit to drive the vehicle on a public road. The 63-year-old driver, named Lan, did not have a permit, and police noticed that Lan reeked of alcohol. An alcohol breath test revealed that Lan had a blood

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Two sanitation workers injured by exploding gas canister in New Taipei City

garbage truck and gas canisters composite image
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , ,

Two men working on a garbage truck in New Taipei City were injured when a gas cylinder tossed out with general trash exploded in the back of the truck this afternoon. New Taipei City Fire Department said that it received a report of an explosion and fire in the back of a garbage truck on Yongfeng Road in Tucheng District at around 3:00 pm. According to Taiwan’s Central News Agency, the two workers, named Lin and Yang, helped a resident

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Record COVID vaccine injury payout approved for patient who suffered Guillain–Barré syndrome, thrombosis, and thrombocytopenia

Chen Shizhong, Minister of Health and Welfare
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program of the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced today that a resident of Taitung County will receive a compensation payment of NT$1.2 million, the highest on record for a suspected COVID vaccine injury, after a determination at the committee’s most recent meeting, December 16. According to a report by Taiwan’s Central News Agency, the Taiwanese citizen, who is unnamed in the announcement, developed Guillain–Barré syndrome, suspected thrombosis, and thrombocytopenia after being administered the AstraZeneca vaccine

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Toddler survives fall from 32nd-floor apartment

Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

A three-year-old girl fell from the 32nd floor of a high-rise residential building in Taichung City, Wednesday, December 8, and survived after landing in a safety net on the second floor. According to reports in United Daily News, the toddler fell from her family’s residence on Zhongxing Road in South District shortly after 1:00 pm. The Taichung City Fire Department received a report of the incident at 1:19 pm and dispatched one fire truck, one ambulance, and 6 personnel to

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