The 2008 Mazu Tourism and Cultural Festival kicked off recently at Jhenlan Temple in Taichung County’s Dajia Town. Representatives from the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) were there, and took the opportunity of the occasion to propagate the principles of occupational hazard prevention. The CLA activity, dubbed “Warming Sun’s Rays Welcome Mazu – Taiwan Go! for Occupational Safety and Health,” was held in front of the Wunchang Primary School in Dajia on Mar. 30, with representatives from enterprise units, workers, workers’ families, and the public invited to participate and learn about the principles of “Mazu’s protection of all life” and “Worker safety is everybody’s responsibility.” The event was enlivened by “Crash the Gate and Grab a Mazu Gold Plaque Keychain” games.

CLA Chairperson Lu Tian-Lin and Taichung County Magistrate Huang Chung-Sheng raised the curtain on the festivities and jointly hosted “Banner Presentation to the Taichung County Safety and Health Hazard Prevention Inspection and Guidance Team” and “Awards Presentation for the 1st National Safety and Health Creative Exhibit Design Competition” ceremonies. This was followed by safety and health propagation, an exhibition, and educational experience and observation activities. The CLA added excitement to the activities by putting on a song and dance program and bringing out its occupational safety ambassador, Super Bee, to mix with the crowd and exhort listeners not to ignore safety and health on the job. 

The CLA points out that the Taiwan Go! activities emphasize cooperation between the central and local governments, and that the recent effort in Dajia brought safety and health education deeply into the grass roots by combining occupational safety exhibits with the Mazu pilgrimage festivities. In addition to the strong support offered by the Taichung County Department of Labor Affairs, the CLA’s Institute of Occupational Safety and Health helped out by providing exhibits that allowed the public to experience the prevention of falling from heights and by erecting booths that gave workers and the public a chance to experience and learn through occupational-safety exhibits. The exhibits included actual items and models related to safety and health—3D multimedia worker-safety animated virtual reality, safety with electricity, respiratory protective devices, air circulation and exhaust, alleviation of workplace pressures, and physical fitness, among others. Other exhibits encouraged care for the occupational safety of disadvantaged groups such as indigenous peoples, fishermen, and foreign workers. Interpreters were on hand to explain the exhibits and brochures, manuals, and optical disks were available for the taking, helping the concepts of occupational safety to send down roots more deeply among the public.