An overview of the Taiwanese occupational health surveillance system: Taiwan in the international context

Occupational health inspection plays an important part in the national worker protection system. The objectives of health examinations are to (1) positively prevent the occurrence of occupational diseases, (2) improve the working conditions, and (3) develop the national occupational surveillance system and prevention strategies for the government.

The occupational health surveillance system has developed for more than three decades in Taiwan, but not many entrepreneurs complied with the regulations. The Taiwanese system followed the Japanese, and the later was influenced by the systems of Western industrialized countries. This article explores the origins of this inspection system in Japan, Western countries and Taiwan respectively. It also presents the policies of the ILO as well as examines the current system in Taiwan.

The understanding of the occupational health surveillance system needs to be located in the process of power struggle between the workers, the employers, and the medical professionals, in that the intervention of the state plays a critical role. The Japanese case shows that small-scale enterprises are not allowed to circumvent the law on the excuse of being small. Necessary government involvement may facilitate the occupational health services in both public and private sections. This also conforms to the modern philosophy proposed by the international organizations. The Japanese lesson may apply to Taiwan, which economy is also mainly constituted by small- and medium-scale enterprises.