The Taoyuan city government released a report on migrant laborers’ working conditions on Friday, and one workplace was ordered to halt production until it makes improvements.
The Office of Labor Inspection examined every workplace in the city that employs 30 or more migrant workers, China Times reported on the weekend.
The findings were largely unsatisfactory, with a total of 37 counts of irregularities, including health hazards from potentially harmful operations (54%), fall hazards (13%), rotating or reciprocating parts of machines without sufficient protective gear in place (22%), and electrical hazards (11%).
Another 80 violations resulted from substandard business management, 30% of which involved failing to deliver occupational health and safety education to workers, while 26.25% involved health management.
The Office of Labor Inspection said it would re-examine the problematic workplaces and if improvements were not in place, the offenders would be fined between NT$30,000 and NT$300,000 (US$1,000 to $10,000), depending on the seriousness of the irregularities.
As of July, 77 cases of occupational health hazards had been reported by workers this year, 40% of whom were migrant laborers.
Alarmed by this trend, the office plans to hold five seminars on occupational health and safety in various foreign languages, hoping to enhance workers’ awareness.