KAOHSIUNG - Labour inspectors ordered work stopped at a Kaohsiung MRT extension site after a 36-year-old Indonesian migrant worker was pinned by a steel sheet pile and hospitalised.

The accident occurred on Sept. 10 at the RKC02 work area of the Gangshan–Luzhu extension in Gangshan District. Kaohsiung’s fire department said it received the emergency report at about 9:43 a.m.

CNA reported that crews had been unloading steel sheet piles when workers heard a cracking sound and found the man beside a flatbed vehicle with a steel sheet pile on him.

Workers at the site moved the steel sheet pile off him before emergency crews arrived. Fire officials said the worker had a head injury, limb fractures and impaired consciousness before being taken for treatment.

A later local report said he received initial treatment at Kaohsiung Medical University Gangshan Hospital before being transferred to Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital for further examination and treatment.

Kaohsiung’s Labor Affairs Bureau said inspectors preliminarily found that the employer had failed to establish required control measures for the steel-sheet-pile hoisting operation.

The Labour Inspection Office ordered the accident site to stop work. The bureau said the suspected violation of Article 6(1) of Taiwan’s Occupational Safety and Health Act could result in a fine of NT$50,000 to NT$3 million.

The bureau said employers using cranes for hoisting must prevent workers from entering beneath suspended loads or areas where loads pass overhead. Lifting attachments and their connection to a load must also be capable of bearing the object’s full weight, it said.

The Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit Bureau said on Sept. 10 that it had also suspended hoisting operations at other work areas, restricted access to the accident scene and said the construction team would review steel sheet pile procedures and worker-protection measures.

It said bureau staff, the project supervisor and the turnkey contractor had sent personnel to the hospital and would continue following the worker’s treatment and related rights.

The MRT bureau’s project page identifies RKC02 as a roughly 7.75-kilometre civil engineering and track contract covering five planned stations, RK2 through RK6. The RKC02 contract was 37.23% complete as of Aug. 31.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Labor has said migrant workers injured in occupational accidents can access legal assistance and interpretation services, including legal consultations, help with settlements and mediation, and litigation support.

The MRT bureau said the construction team would cooperate with labour inspectors in determining the cause of the accident and reviewing corrective measures.