Hazardous Workplace Review Program in Taiwan

Abstract

In Taiwan, relevant mid-term plans and projects of mitigating occupational hazards have been launched in recent years in the hopes of lowering the incidence of occupational hazards. In light of the lack of objective methodologies for researches on issues pertaining occupational safety and health, this research aims to explore the priorities of safety and health issues through focal groups, expert questionnaires and interviews on relevant issues such as hazard installations identified in R181 Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents Recommendation, 1993 proposed during the 18th World Congress on Safety and Health at work in Seoul 2008. Results revealed that distribute reports of major domestic/foreign occupational disasters to relevant sectors for the prevention of major accidents is needed, both from the importance and feasibility analysis. It is the only topic that scored over 4 points in average for expert and focal group consensus. Furthermore, the experts and focal groups came to consensus in the ranking of priority for 4 items, namely: 1) Installations containing/using large quantities of hazardous materials should be prioritized for inspection, 2) Incorporation of hazard installation review/inspection into OSH management system accreditation, 3) Impose operation shutdown as a means of penalty) and 4) Prioritize the promotion of preliminary PHA.

Comprehensive Evaluation System of Occupational Hazard Prevention and Control in Iron and Steel Enterprises Based on A Modified Delphi Technique

“…For the comprehensive evaluation system, the next step of analysis is calculating the reliability coefficient (also known as structural validity), namely, Cronbach's α and split-half reliability, which are used to measure the internal consistency of the system. The result of this coefficient is in general higher than 0.7 [17,33]. Thus, the scale is considered to have high internal consistency.…”

“…In view of the abovementioned issues, formulating a specific system for appraising occupational hazards in iron and steel facilities in a scientific and comprehensive manner is imperative to mitigate predominant and recognized hazardous threats. The system will be of great practical significance in reducing the morbidity and mortality of occupational hazard-induced diseases [17]. However, to date, a specific study on a comprehensive evaluation system for hazardous working conditions in the Chinese context remains lacking.…”

“…Therefore, based on the full consideration of the mechanisms and features of occupational hazards, the study aims to establish a comprehensive evaluation system for hazardous working environments from certain aspects, such as inherent occupational hazards, offset factors of occupational hazards and workers' health conditions. In addition, we collected data on advanced experience from domestic and foreign assessment involving workplace occupational hazards [17][18][19][20][21]. Ultimately, the study intends to focus on formulating a comprehensive, dynamic, objective, effective as well as scientific system to mirror the status on the prevention and control of occupational hazards in the iron and steel industry based on the modified Delphi technique.…”