Latest Fatal Factory Fire in Taiwan Puts Focus on Government Policy

TaiwanPlus News

The latest in a string of deadly industrial blazes in recent years has some fire safety experts and firefighters questioning how effective the current policy of fining factory owners may be.

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00:00When firefighters arrived at the Far Eastern Chemical Fibre Plant in Hsinchu early Thursday,

00:08they faced a familiar scene, a blazing factory building and a sky choked with smoke.

00:13And then something else familiar happened, a deadly explosion.

00:20Killing two and injuring 19, but it's far from the worst industrial disaster to hit

00:25Taiwan in recent years.

00:29A 2023 explosion at a Pingdong County plant killed 10 and injured over 100, but despite

00:34changes to the law in response, deadly industrial fires haven't stopped, from a 2023 food processing

00:41plant fire that killed nine, to a warehouse fire in December that also took nine lives.

00:47The Factory Management Act was amended last May.

00:51As it stands, the law sets forward a range of possible fines, including a maximum of

00:56over US$150,000 for failing to accurately report hazardous materials on site.

01:03But some observers say making sure factories are fire-safe to begin with could be just

01:07as important as handing out punishments after the fact.

01:29Meanwhile some health and safety advocates doubt the threat of punishments outweighs

01:33factory owners' self-interest.

01:56And then there were firefighters themselves.

01:58This time none of the dead were first responders, but that's not always the case.

02:03Some want the system changed, as they say the current fine regime just doesn't work.

02:34But there aren't any signs of change at the government level yet, and this may not be

02:39the last fatal fire to hit Taiwan's factories.

02:43Howard Zhang and John Ventriest for Taiwan Plus.

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