Taipei City Government’s Department of Labor held the 2019 Taipei City Labor Safety Award Ceremony on September 3, 2020, to recognize the achievements of departments and staff that have excelled in the promotion of occupational health and safety. National Yang-Ming University (NYMU; which merged with National Chiao Tung University and became National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University on February 1, 2021) was the only academic institution present at the event, and it won awards for its outstanding departments and staff, particularly with respect to the promotion of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 8, that is, the achievement of decent work and economic growth.
NYMU is primarily a medical school, and it has a more diverse range of laboratories relative to other universities. Therefore, laboratory and personnel safety is a key priority for the NYMU. Since its establishment 45 years ago, NYMU has been ensuring the operational safety of its faculty, students, and employees in laboratories by promoting laboratory health and safety management systems, establishing laboratory risk assessment and control mechanisms, and cultivating laboratory workers’ health and safety competencies.
NYMU has received numerous awards and accolades throughout its history. For example, NYMU received the Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) 18001 certification for occupational health and safety management systems in 2016, and it earned a commendation from the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control in 2017 for building a CEN Workshop Agreement 15793 laboratory biorisk management system. In 2019, NYMU was also recognized by the Ministry of Education for its excellence performance with respect to campus occupational health and safety management systems.
In the future, NYMU will continue to uphold ISO 45001 standards, which are the new standards that will replace OHSAS 18001. The university’s plan to build a digitized intelligent occupational health and safety management system, with the aim of establishing a more robust occupational health and safety management system and enhancing expertise, competence, and awareness among faculty, students, and staff members. The ultimate goal is to create a safe and healthy environment for work, research, and learning and provide convenient, safe, and friendly environmental safety and health services for everyone.
