A fire and explosion occurred at Launch Technologies Co. Ltd. in the Pingtung Park of Technology Industrial Park of the Ministry of Economic Affairs on September 22, 2023, causing injuries and deaths. After the disaster, the Export Processing Zone Administration of the Ministry of Economic Affairs immediately went to the scene to coordinate with the county government to assist in disaster relief. The on-site disaster relief has come to an end. Minister Wang Mei-hua said that in the future, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the county government will cooperate to establish a coordination platform to jointly assist in dealing with the manufacturer's post-disaster matters. The Export Processing Zone Administration of the Ministry of Economic Affairs has also continued to contact the company and assume follow-up responsibilities to assist the casualties and their families.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs pointed out that in the Technology Industrial Parks, the Export Processing Zone Administration of the Ministry of Economic Affairs is the unit for implementing regulations, but it is not the unit for formulating regulations. In other words, whether it is labor inspection, construction management regulations, or fire safety standards, the original regulations must be followed as well. There are no differences between the same regulations inside and outside the parks. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration and National Land Management Agency Ministry of the Interior have annual evaluations of labor inspections and construction management businesses, which are supervised by the competent authorities.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs indicated that since the Pingtung Technology Industrial Park is newly established, fire protection is responsible for the implementation of relevant regulations by the local fire bureau. Various drawings and inspection information held by the Export Processing Zone Administration are also provided to the firefighting units and poison disaster response teams for use during disaster relief.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs stated that under the authorization of the Labor Standards Act, the Export Processing Zone Administration executed various labor inspections by the law, and the company was punished three times for overtime work violations. In addition to continuing to urge the company to take responsibility for compensation, the Ministry of the Interior will hold a disaster accident investigation meeting and start the accident investigation process. The Ministry of Economic Affairs will also rigorously examine the cause of the accident with the local government based on the fire investigation result, and actively cooperate with the firefighting and prosecution units to investigate and provide all the information at the same time.

Spokesman: Mr. Liu Chi Chuan (Deputy Director General, BIP)
Contact Number: 886-7-3613349, 0911363680
Email: lcc12@bip.gov.tw


Contact Person: You, Shu-Huei (Director of Kaohsiung Pingtung Branch of BIP)
Contact Number: 886-7-821-7141 ext 301
Email: yush@bip.gov.tw

Contact Person: Shiu, Jung-Li (Environment and Labor Affairs Divison)
Contact Number: 886-7-361-1212 ext 401
Email: iamidno@bip.gov.tw