1 worker dies, 3 injured after inhaling noxious gas at Kaohsiung factory

Taipei, March 3 (CNA) One worker died and three others were injured on Tuesday after they inhaled a noxious gas during operations at a Chang Chun Plastics plant in Kaohsiung's Daliao Township.

The Kaohsiung City Labor Affairs Bureau said the accident happened Tuesday morning at a factory in the Ta Fa Industrial Park, when four workers who were replacing activated carbon in a pipeline began to experience respiratory difficulties.

The four workers, who are believed to have accidentally inhaled an unknown noxious gas, were taken to an area hospital, where one of them, a 69-year-old man surnamed Chen (陳), later died, the bureau said in a statement.

The other three male workers -- a 61-year-old surnamed Shang (尚), a 51-year-old surnamed Hsieh (謝), and a 47-year-old surnamed Yu (于) -- all remained conscious and were released from the hospital after their blood tests came back normal, the bureau said.

After the incident -- which local media revealed had occurred at a Chang Chun Plastics plant -- the bureau ordered the facility to suspend operations and sent officials to carry out an inspection.

The bureau said it would wait for the results of Chen's autopsy to investigate whether the employer bears any legal responsibility.

If the employer is found to have violated the Occupational Health and Safety Act, they will be punished severely in accordance with the law, it added.

Under Article 40 of that law, an employer's failure to follow regulations aimed at preventing machine, equipment or tool-related hazards resulting in a worker's death is punishable by a maximum of three years imprisonment, detention, and/or a fine of up to NT$300,000 (US$9,454).