Constructor in Yunlin scaffolding collapse fined NT$300,000

Taipei, July 7 (CNA) The contract constructor at a building site in Yunlin County, where a scaffolding collapse on Saturday resulted in two deaths and three serious injuries, has been fined NT$300,000 (US$9,251), a regional occupational safety official said Sunday.

The deadly scaffolding collapse occurred at a Formosa Advanced Technologies Co. construction site in Douliu, Yunlin on Saturday afternoon.

An inspection of the overall structure of the scaffolding was conducted Sunday, according to Lee Wen-Jinn (李文進), head of the central Taiwan center of the Ministry of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

As a result, it was found that the formwork and construction racks of the exterior wall on the seventh floor of the site were not designed according to maximum load regulations, causing the formwork and the scaffolding to collapse.

As such, the center imposed a maximum fine of NT$300,000 on Jio Mu Construction Co. which was responsible for construction, in accordance with the Occupational Safety and Health Act, Lee said.

A preliminary inspection by the central region occupational safety center also found that the steel pipe scaffolds used in the construction project did not comply with Taiwan national standard CNS4750, which could be the main cause of the accident, according to Lee.

Criminal liability related to suspected involuntary manslaughter will be determined by prosecutors, Lee added.

Yunlin fire department received a call about the incident at around 4 p.m. Saturday. After arriving on site, they found the scaffolding for the tech company's new factory partially collapsed, trapping more than a dozen workers.

One 40-year-old man and a 45-year-old woman had OHCA (Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest) when the rescue teams arrived and were declared dead after being taken to hospital, according to the fire department.

The three injured, all women in their 40s, were taken to another hospital where they received treatment for head trauma, it added.

According to Yunlin fire department, 15 people were trapped as a result of the falling scaffolding, of which five were rushed to hospital and 10 did not require treatment.