Measures to Establishing a Comprehensive Service Network for Workers Suffered from Occupational Accident
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Ministry of Labor
Legal Basis
Taiwan's regulations regarding the protection of workers suffered from occupational accidents are divided into separate laws: (1)the Labor Standards Act covers employer liability, (2)the Labor Insurance Act covers insurance payments for various occupational accidents, and (3) the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the Labor Inspection Law cover employers' responsibility for providing safer and healthier workplace. In order to further strengthen the protection of workers suffered from occupational accidents, the government additionally enacted the Act for Protecting Worker of Occupational Accidents on October 31, 2001, and enforced on April 28, 2002.
Measures to Strengthen the Protection of Workers Suffered from Occupational Accident
Based on the needs of promoting a healthier and safer workplace, and safeguarding the rights of workers suffered from occupational accidents, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) incorporates three major systems of occupational accident prevention, rehabilitation and compensation, to facilitate (1) treatment and evaluation of occupational diseases and injuries, (2) rehabilitation services and (3) compensation services for the workers suffered from occupational accidents.
1. Treatment and Evaluation of Occupational Diseases and Injuries
The OSHA has established nine centers for prevention and treatment of occupational injuries and diseases, and a quality service management center to provide healthcare services for workers with occupational injuries or diseases. In order to facilitate the services, those centers have collaborated with 64 regional hospitals to construct a Networks Hospitals and Clinics of Occupational Disease and Injury Service, so as to provide convenient work-relatedness diagnosis, investigation, return-to-work evaluation, rehabilitation referral services and consultations of related laws.
2. Rehabilitation and Return-to-Work
Rehabilitation services for workers suffered from occupational accidents include social rehabilitation, occupational rehabilitation and occupational reconstruction services etc. The priority goals are re-integration of the original work or adjusting work from the original employer. If workers are unable to re-integrate the original work, they will be assisted through the vocational rehabilitation services for re-integration.
(a)Family Assistance Program (FAP)
The OSHA has set up case management service helpdesks, spread across counties and municipal governments nationwide, for workers affected by occupational accidents (Family Assistance Program, FAP). Through individual case management and resources integration, case managers are able to provide counseling and assistance services of medical care, occupational rehabilitation and occupational re-integration, mitigating employment disputes and lawsuits.
(b) Occupational Rehabilitation Services
The business entities, vocational training institutions, and relevant institutions involved in occupational rehabilitation may apply to the OSHA for subsidization of the costs required to implement occupational evaluation, work reinforcement and occupational rehabilitation for workers suffered from occupational accidents.
(c)Vocational Rehabilitation Services
For those workers suffered from occupational accidents who have received the disability certificate, the government (the Workforce Development Agency) provides access-free and individualized vocational rehabilitation services according individual need. “vocational rehabilitation” means occupational guidance assessment, vocational training, employment services, occupation redesign, and entrepreneur guidance, etc. For those who have not received the disability certificate, the public employment centers provide the specialized, individualized job services through consultation, job searching, and temporary employment subsidies.
3. Compensation
The compensation schemes for workers suffered from accidents is primarily composed of the Labor Standards Act, the Labor Insurance Act, and the Act for Protecting Workers Suffered from Occupational Accident. According to the provisions of the Labor Standards Act, as long as an employer employs a worker to engage in work, it shall be liable for compensation for occupational accidents regardless of whether or not there was negligence involved. Compensation must be provided for medical expenses, lost wages, disability, death, and funeral costs paid. However, for a single accident, the employer may deduct any payments already made to the worker according to the provisions of the Labor Insurance Act or other laws.
Workers suffered from occupational accidents, in addition to labor accident benefits, may receive living allowances for occupational diseases, physical impairment, vocational training, and subsidies for devices or care-taking necessitated by physical impairment, as well as a subsidy for the family of a deceased worker, all provided for by the Act for Protecting Workers Suffered from Occupational Accident.
Future prospects
The OSHA has already formulated the Draft Amendments to the Act for Protecting Workers Suffered from Occupational Accident, with the focus of the amendments including the establishment of a system for reporting occupational injuries and diseases; expanding the standard of living guarantees to workers affected by occupational accidents; strengthening and integrating medical and rehabilitation services; financing of a robust rehabilitation and occupational accident protection fund, and other measures. These measures are intended to establish a comprehensive service network for effectively ensuring the well-being of workers affected by occupational accidents.