Following an occupational accident in Tucheng, New Taipei City on the 6th, where an 18-year-old employee at a meat import company had his left ring finger amputated after accidentally reaching into a meat slicer, another accident took place on the 11th at a soil and waste cleanup site in Wugu, where a worker's left hand was pulled into a conveyor belt weighing several tons. Despite being rushed to the hospital immediately, he remains in critical condition. According to the previous year's labor inspection statistics, injuries involving "pinching, crushing" and "piercing, cutting, or abrasion" accounted for nearly 3,400 occupational accidents, equivalent to 25.64% of all occupational accidents that year. These hazards can lead to irreversible damage to the victim's physical functions. To prevent them from occurring again, COAPRE (hereinafter referred to as the center) reminds employers that, in addition to providing comprehensive education and training for employees and personal protective equipment (PPE), safety warning signs should be installed in suitable locations. Moreover, employers should prioritize the inherent safety of machinery and equipment in a bid to eliminate risks during the design stage. If risk elimination is not possible, isolation and interlocking methods can be applied to minimize the risks and hazards of machinery and equipment.
 

According to the "Yearbook of Labor Inspection Statistics, 2022" by OSHA of the Ministry of Labor, occupational accidents resulting from "pinching, crushing" and "piercing, cutting, abrasion" accounted for 3,416 occupational accidents, equivalent to 25.64% of all occupational accidents that year. The center’s Machinery and Equipment Technology Division indicated that in the era of industrialization, a wide range of machinery and equipment is used in the workplace to achieve large-scale production, increase productivity, and enhance quality. However, this also leads to various safety risks, while injuries caused by machinery and equipment can result in irreversible physical damage, significantly affecting workers’ working capacity, family life, and society.
 

Safety is of paramount importance in any workplace. According to Article 5-2 of the “Occupational Safety and Health Act”: "Those involved in the design, manufacture, or importation of items such as machinery, equipment, tools, raw materials, and other materials, as well as those engaged in the design and construction of engineering projects shall carry out risk assessments during the design, manufacturing, importation, or construction planning phase, and endeavor to prevent the occurrence of occupational accidents during the usage of such items, or process of engineering and construction." To prevent similar occupational accidents from recurring, priority should be given to ensuring the inherent safety of machinery and equipment. This begins with eliminating risks at the design stage. If risks cannot be eliminated, they should be mitigated by employing isolation and interlocking methods, as elaborated below:

1. Isolation: Install safety enclosures to prevent any part of the body from entering the operating area of the machinery, such as protective covers, enclosures, shields, etc.

2. Interlocking: When safety devices detect abnormal situations, they immediately stop the operation of the machinery. These include interlocking guards, two-hand controls, sensor-based systems, pullback devices, or sweep detectors.
 

The center’s Machinery and Equipment Technology Division urges employers to prioritize machinery equipment with inherent safety designs because occupational accidents may by caused by factors such as employee fatigue or momentary lapses in attention. Furthermore, regular inspections, maintenance, and risk assessment are the very foundation of occupational safety. For the prevention of machinery and equipment-related hazards, the center plans to organize 30 promotional events nationwide this year to enhance workers' familiarity with hazard identification, risk assessment, and safety protection related to machinery and equipment. Everyone is welcome to sign up for the event.