Cabinet passes fire safety reform amendments

Taipei, Nov. 30 (CNA) The Cabinet on Thursday passed a slew of draft amendments to improve fire safety in the workplace that would impose a jail sentence of up to seven years on company officials whose failure to formulate and implement a fire safety management plan is deemed responsible for fire-related deaths.

The draft amendments to the Fire Services Act which were proposed by the Ministry of the Interior will be sent to the Legislative Yuan for review, according to the Cabinet.

The draft bill adds a provision that stipulates any business administrators who fail to devise a fire prevention plan or to implement evacuations in accordance with a fire emergency evacuation plan in the event of a workplace fire, resulting in deaths in the workplace, will be subject to a jail term of no less than one year but no more than seven years or/and a fine ranging from NT$1 million-NT$5 million (US$31,937-US$159,687).

Storing excessive dangerous materials in the workplace in contravention of related rules resulting in fire-related deaths will result in the same penalties, according to the bill.

In the event of serious injuries resulting from a workplace fire, company officials will be liable to a prison term ranging from six months to five years, or/and a fine of NT$500,000 to NT$2.5 million.

To facilitate firefighting work, the draft bill also specifies that in the event of a fire at a chemical raw material manufacturing plant, the administrators of the factory, chemical warehouse or storage facilities shall provide necessary information and send staff to the site to assist firefighting and rescue work.

Those who fail to provide necessary information face a fine ranging from NT$30,000 to NT$3 million, and those who fail to assign staff to assist firefighters will be fined between NT$500,000 and NT$10 million, according to the proposal.

The administrators of facilities that fail to have fire safety equipment such as signs at their premises as legally required can be fined between NT$20,000 and NT$1.5 million, according to the draft.

The bill also stipulates that if the property managers of buildings of a certain scale that are used to manufacture, store or dispose of hazardous substances and flammable materials at a level of 30-times the stipulated control standard and fail to establish a fire prevention plan, they can be fined between NT$20,000 and NT$300,000.

On Thursday, the Cabinet also approved an amendment to the Factory Management Act that raises the fine from NT$50,000 to NT$5 million for factories that fail to file a report that they are manufacturing, processing and using dangerous substances at a level in excess of the control standard with the competent authority.

The law amendments were proposed after a fire at a golf ball factory at Pingtung Technology Industrial Park in September resulted in multiple explosions that left 10 people dead. The factory operator was fined NT$2.4 million for violations of related statutory regulations, including storing 30 times the legal standard for flammable materials in the workplace.