Recycling plant fined NT$300,000 after worker crushed to death by baling press

Taipei, Oct. 10 (CNA) A Yunlin County recycling plant has been fined NT$300,000 (US$9,230) after a worker was crushed to death by a baling press machine Thursday morning.

Eyewitnesses said that the worker, a 47-year-old Taiwanese woman surnamed Huang (黃), lost her balance and fell into the still-operating press while attempting to fix a mechanical issue.

Lin Tsung-wei, (林聰偉) a Taiwan Occupational Safety and Health Administration official, told CNA that the factory in Douliu had been fined NT$300,000 (US$9,230) over the incident.

Lin said the machine lacked the proper safety railings and should have been turned off before Huang tried to repair it.

According to the Yunlin County fire department, the accident was one of two factory accidents in Douliu on Thursday.

In the second incident, firefighters had to rescue an Indonesian worker at a concrete pole factory who tripped and fell into a 10-meter deep gravel pit.

The worker was buried up to his neck when first responders arrived and was treated at hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, the department said.

Lin said the concrete pole factory had also been fined NT$300,000 for inadequate safety measures.

Both the factories have been ordered to suspend operations, he noted.