Taiwan’s Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) is carrying out an ongoing series of activities designed to promote industrial safety in all of the island’s 23 counties and municipalities. The 10^thevent of the series was held at the Central Taiwan Science Park in Taichung on June 30, and the 11^th in the Taipei County Government’s Citizens Plaza in the city of Banciao on July 4.

The Taichung event was jointly organized by the CLA, Taichung City Government, Central Taiwan Science Park Administration, and National Museum of Natural Science for the purpose of publicizing the concept of vocational accident prevention in the central Taiwan area and, especially, the Central Taiwan Science Park. In addition to a “Go Taiwan! Vocational Accident Prevention Exhibition,” the event also included the founding celebration of the Central Taiwan Science Park Industrial Safety and Health Promotion Association, a presentation of research results by the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (an agency of the CLA), and an industrial safety exhibit. Participants who joined a variety of fun games and tests were rewarded with souvenirs.

With government officials and representatives from companies, industrial safety organizations, and the public in attendance, the event kicked off with the founding celebration for the new industrial safety and health promotion association; this was followed by safety and health propagation, displays, and the presentation of research results. A bit of extra excitement was added by Super Bee, Taiwan’s industrial safety and health mascot, who mingled with the crowd urging workers to keep their personal health and safety in mind every minute on the job. 

The CLA notes that this series of Go Taiwan! activities emphasizes cooperation between the central and local governments, and that the integration of the industrial safety publicity activities of Taichung City and the Central Taiwan Science Park into the Taichung event helped to instill the essential concepts of safety deep into Taiwan’s industrial parks and the public consciousness. The presentation of the achievements of 27 research projects by the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, plus the industrial safety exhibit by the National Museum of Natural Science, added a great deal of substance to the occasion.

The organizers used the principles of industrial safety marketing in planning their occupational accident prevention exhibits. In addition to the rich array of displays in the mobile exhibition trailer, there was a display that gave participants an idea of how it feels to fall from high places, 3D multimedia animated shows, and a smoke-experience tent. Other displays included exhibits of actual items and models related to industrial safety, on themes such as electricity safety, protective breathing gear, air circulation, stress relief in the workplace, and care for disadvantaged groups (indigenous peoples, fishermen, foreign workers, etc.). Among the “soft” methods used to instill the concepts of industrial safety were on-site verbal explanations as well as brochures, manuals, and optical disks free for the taking.

The 11^th event in the series, organized in cooperation with the Taipei County Government and with strong support from the county’s Labor Affairs Bureau, came north to Banciao. Held on July 4, it offered generally the same rich variety of activities and attractions as the Taichung event along with displays covering construction safety, nanotechnology, and the occupational stresses and fatigue that have become issues of such deep concern to the people of Taiwan.