After the Meinong Earthquake on February 6, 2016, there was danger of factory machinery, equipment and pipelines being loose or damaged in the earthquake affected areas.  There were also damages in related engineering facilities in construction sites.  To ensure occupational safety for workers after the earthquake, the Ministry of Labor (MOL) issued press releases that call for paying attention to safety during repair works.  The Ministry also telephoned and sent short message services (SMS) to large business entities in southern Taiwan to express concerns and requested them to do voluntary inspections before commencing work.  The MOL sent personnel to 18 large construction sites that have structures with heights of 50 meters or above in the Tainan City districts to do on-site inspections on scaffolds, cranes, lifts for construction work, and so forth.  In addition, the Ministry halted the use of 10 construction site scaffolds with hollowed bases or bent bases or that were tilted and also 2 cranes and 2 construction elevators with structures bent at the ends.  The business entities are requested to improve the conditions of these facilities before resuming their usage.

       The Ministry of Labor reiterates that given the fact that natural disasters such as earthquakes and typhoons occur frequently in Taiwan, business entities should do disaster prevention in advance.  In the aftermath of earthquakes and typhoons, priority must be given to worker safety when doing related disaster rescue work, and inspections must be truly done on the own initiatives of the businesses before work is resumed.   In the aftermath of this earthquake, the Ministry of Labor will implement on-site inspections of work places that are usually affected by earthquakes in southern Taiwan to guarantee safety for workers.  These work places will include tunnel engineering, bridge engineering, sewage works, and piping installations, as well as power plants, natural gas packing plants, gas stations, and so forth.

       For business entities that need to set up scaffolds and use aerial lift vehicles or mobile cranes to carry equipment to do repair jobs on buildings in Tainan that were damaged by the earthquake, the Ministry of Labor calls for these businesses to truly follow relevant occupational safety and health laws and regulations.  This applies in particular for operations that carry workers and equipment using mobile cranes.  In the last 8 years, there were 19 major occupational disasters using equipment that was carried or lifted.  The main reason for the occurrence in as many as 16 of them was due to defects in the equipment which was not signed off and acknowledged for its safety by professional organizations.   The Ministry has made equipment that is carried or lifted the focal point of annual supervision and inspection, and each labor inspection agency will investigate and deal with violations strictly.  Employers should commission practicing and certified mechanical professional engineers or structural engineers to sign off on and acknowledge the safety of such equipment prior to using it.  In addition, employers should require workers carried by it to fasten their safety belts, confirm that safety devices are working properly, and so forth.