The Council of Labor Affairs has notified major convenience store chains throughout the country that microwave ovens must be placed at a safe distance from store clerks to protect them from harmful radiation.
Microwave ovens are a necessity in local convenience stores, where lunch boxes or other food purchased by customers are heated as a popular convenience.
However, microwave ovens are not beneficial to the health of workers who often stand too close to them because of the nature of their job, the council said.
The Taiwan Electromagnetic Radiation Hazard Protection and Control Association recently released the results of its investigation of microwave ovens in convenience stores nationwide and found that more than half of the stores did not place the microwave a safe distance from store clerks.
Since many store clerks work behind the counter or cash register, they might stand too close to the microwave ovens, which poses a health risk because of the radiation that is emitted.
In response to the report, Council of Labor Affairs Minister Jennifer Wang (王如玄) said yesterday that official notices were sent to the four major convenience store chains — 7-Eleven, Family Mart, OK-Mart and HiLife — so they could make corrections if the microwave ovens are located too close to where store clerks are usually stationed.
In addition to the notices, the council will send inspectors from local labor departments to check that the stores are not violating the regulations. Those who have not made the requested improvements will face fines of between NT$30,000 and NT$60,000, said Fu Huan-jan (傅還然), chief of the council’s Department of Labor Safety and Health.
In related news, the council yesterday also reminded employers that since Workers’ Day tomorrow falls on a Sunday, employers are required to schedule an additional day off for those whose regular day off is also on Sunday.
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday appealed to the authorities to release former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) from pretrial detention amid conflicting reports about his health. The TPP at a news conference on Thursday said that Ko should be released to a hospital for treatment, adding that he has blood in his urine and had spells of pain and nausea followed by vomiting over the past three months. Hsieh Yen-yau (謝炎堯), a retired professor of internal medicine and Ko’s former teacher, said that Ko’s symptoms aligned with gallstones, kidney inflammation and potentially dangerous heart conditions. Ko, charged with
Taiwan-based publisher Li Yanhe (李延賀) has been sentenced to three years in prison, fined 50,000 yuan (US$6,890) in personal assets and deprived political rights for one year for “inciting secession” in China, China's Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) said today. The Shanghai First Intermediate People’s Court announced the verdict on Feb. 17, Chen said. The trial was conducted lawfully, and in an open and fair manner, he said, adding that the verdict has since come into legal effect. The defendant reportedly admitted guilt and would appeal within the statutory appeal period, he said, adding that the defendant and his family have
RSS