Hazardous workplace review program in Taiwan

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.