New year, new look - Labor Health Centers get a makeover! As of January 1, 2024, COAPRE will rename the "Labor Health Service Center", which provides free services such as Work-Related Diseases (WRDs) prevention, health consultations, and guidance to workers and businesses, as the "Labor Health Service Office". Although the name has changed, the office’s enthusiasm to serve the public remains the same. In addition to existing services, public and private resources will be consolidated in the future to strengthen horizontal linkages and expand the scope of occupational healthcare, thereby realizing one-stop services.

To provide workers with a safe, healthy, and comfortable work environment, as well as care for their physical and mental well-being, the Ministry of Labor has established the North Taiwan, Central Taiwan, South Taiwan, and East Taiwan Labor Health Centers since 2014. The centers are responsible for promoting regional labor health service networks to let workers access the nearest health-related consultation services, as well as assist small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with limited resources to process labor health issues and occupational hazard improvement measures.

Now, 9 years have passed since then, and the Ministry of Labor established COAPRE in 2022, which is responsible for coordinating the prevention and rehabilitation of occupational accidents. At the same time, the Ministry has planned the creation of 4 regional Labor Health Centers to be managed by the center starting in 2024. The goal is to devise a comprehensive system for occupational accident “prevention”, “compensation”, and “rehabilitation” services. By leveraging businesses' stable funding and integrating resources from the public and private sectors, the center can offer more flexible and proactive services that meet the needs of workers and employers. This helps to effectively prevent occupational accidents and exert a positive impact on workplace sustainability.

Beginning this year, the 4 regional Labor Health Centers have been rebranded as “Labor Health Service Offices”. These offices will continue to provide their existing services including free health consultations for workers, guidance for health checkups, assistance to enterprises for occupational hazard assessments and improvements, and on-site health services for businesses with fewer than 49 employees or those not legally required to have medical personnel. More importantly, the main responsibilities of the offices will focus on providing occupational health and safety services that are not covered by the existing Occupational Safety and Health Act. These services will include proactive health monitoring for workers to prevent occupational diseases, contracted psychological counseling, and so on. The offices will adopt an active and approachable stance to entering workplaces, collaborating with various institutions to increase service capacity, and effectively implement occupational accident prevention management.
       
Although the center has been renamed, its services will remain unchanged and the Labor Health Service Office will still be the “best buddy” of people and businesses. Whether you are concerned about your work environment affecting your health or if your health check report shows abnormalities, call the toll-free number 0800-068-580 during business hours, and the Labor Health Service Office will be glad to assist you.