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On 31 October 2001, the Legislative Yuan gave its third reading to the Occupational Hazard Protection Law (OHPL), which will come into force on 28 April 2002. The main points covered by the legislation are as follows:
Net revenue of the labor insurance fund from occupational accident insurance will be spe-cifically allocated to implementing the OHPL. As well as giving improved benefits to victims of occupational accidents, special attention will be given to industrial accident prevention work.
The scheme will provide income support, subsidies for purchase of medical equipment, caregiver allowances and death benefits to families, to prevent occupational accident victims and their families from suffering fi-nancial hardship.
Where occupational hazard victims are not covered by labor insurance and their employ-ers fail to pay compensation as required by the Labor Standards Law, the victims or their families may apply for disability or death benefits. Such employers will face increased penalties, and fines imposed will be allocated to the special fund set up under the OHPL.
The OHPL calls for increased training of phy-sicians in the treatment of occupational dis-eases, improved assessment of occupational diseases, and effective resolution of disputes concerning occupational diseases.
Occupational hazard victims whose ability to work is impaired will be entitled employment training benefits.
It is common for engineering projects in Tai-wan to involve many levels of subcontracting. When employees of the final subcontractor become the victims of occupational hazards, they are often unable to obtain compensation from their direct employer. In order to reduce the time required to pursue claims, and to al-low workers to receive compensation rapidly, the OHPL provides that they may seek com-pensation directly from the prime contractor.
April 28 each year is designated as Workers' Memorial Day, to coincide with Workers' Memorial Days in other countries. A health and safety at work week will also be inaugu-rated, to raise consciousness of health and safety issues and instill respect for life. Greater efforts will be devoted to health and safety work, in the hope of gradually reducing occupational hazard to the levels in advanced countries.
