Occupational Health and Safety : Taiwan Business Bank

Society

Occupational Health and Safety

ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety Management System Worker Participation in Occupational Safety and Health Occupational Health and Safety Risks Health Services Prevention and Mitigation of Direct Impact of Occupational Health and Safety Issues on Business Activities

Employees are the assets of a corporation. The Bank has spared no effort in taking care of its entire employees, including those in the head office, 125 domestic branches and 9 oversease units. In addition to establishing work rules and human resources management rules in accordance with the Labor Standards Act and other relevant labor regulations, the Bank also complies with the law in providing labor insurance, national health insurance, and allocations for retirement funds. Employee health exams are carried out on a regular basis, and group medical care and accident insurance are offered on preferential terms in order to protect the livelihoods of employees so that they can make full use of their professional skills at work

To prevent occupational hazards and protect the health and safety of its employees, TBB has implemented the policies, guidelines, work rules and handbooks for Occupational Safety and Health according to the Occupational Safety and Health Act and related regulations. TBB promotes the implementation of occupational safety and health management systems and follows occupational safety regulations and requirements (ISO 45001:2018) by providing employees with a safe and healthy work environment. All units should work together in preventing and eliminating hazards and reducing occupational safety and health risks. TBB promises to continue to improve and ensure sustainable development and to list these items as major areas of evaluation..

ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety Management System

TBB implemented the ''Occupational Health and Safety Management System-ISO 45001'' standard at the head office building in 2022, with the scope of application covers all units of the Bank. The verification targets include all employees and contractors of the head office building. TBB continuously checks whether the the Occupational Safety and Health Handbook needs to be revised according to the current situation, conducts relevant educational trainings, and consults representatives from all units in the head office building. TBB also hired consultants to visit the head office building and use the results to propose improvements to the responsible departments while considering organizational background and internal/external issues, hazard identification and risk opportunity assessment, target confirmation, internal audit training, and management review. TBB passed the renewal review on July 20, 2023 and July 8, 2024.

Occupational Health and Safety Management System Structure

TBB received BSI ISO 45001 certification and TBB President Chih-Chien Chang (right) accepted the certificate from BSI VP Huei-Lin Chien

With the implementation of '' Occupational Health and Safety Management System - ISO 45001 : 2018 '', TBB set the occupational health and safety targets/performance indicators in 2024 as follows:

Item

Goals

2024 occupational health and safety targets/performance indicators

1

Prevent occupational diseases

Completed the replacement and update of workstations (computers and monitors) at the end of July 2024.

2

Completed the planning of "Entrusting professional psychological counseling agencies to provide counseling services for employees" at the end of October 2024

ISO45001 Occupational Health and Safety Management System certificate

Worker Participation in Occupational Safety and Health

Dedicated Units

To protect employees' safety and health, TBB's Human Resource Department established the Occupational Safety Section to promote safety and health operations. It has a class A occupational safety and health business supervisor and an occupational safety and health administrator. In addition, the Bank has registered with the Labor Inspection Office of Taipei City and appointed temporary service physicians and hired full-time nursing staff to provide employees health consulting services.

Occupational Safety and Health Committee

To adequately process labor safety issues, TBB has set up the Occupational Safety and Health Committee which is chaired by the President. The Committee convenes meetings every 3 months and ad hoc meetings may be held when necessary for the Committee to review, coordinate, and provide recommendations on safety and health matters. The Committee is in charge of deliberating, coordinating, suggesting and evaluating safety and health related matters, such as policies, implementation plans and results. The Committee has 9 committee members, including 3 labor representatives, accounting for 33%. Various occupational safety related operations also meet requirements specified in the collective bargaining agreement signed by TBB and the Union.

Organizational Structure of the Occupational Safety and Health Committee

2024Occupational Safety and Health Committee

Number of meetings	4 meetings
Number of proposals (reports + discussions + extempore motions)	21proposals

Health and safety issues already covered in collective agreements

The collective agreement between TBB and the union (path to the full collective agreement on the TBB website: Home > Sustainable Development > Society > Collective Agreements) contains provisions focusing on health and safety, which can be found in Articles 40 to 42. In addition, provisions in Article 23 contain multiple items superior to regulatory requirements. Other provisions regarding work hours, work shifts, gender equality, and compensation for occupational hazards can be found in the other articles.

Communication guidelines

TBB has communication guidelines in place. The subjects include internal (full-time employees, contract employees, suppliers, and contractors) and external parties (such as customers, competent authorities, media, and members of the public). Any internal or external recommendations involving occupational health and safety improvements or occupational health and safety awareness campaigns will be handled and communicated by the responsible units according to the guidelines

Occupational Health and Safety Risks

Employees' physical or mental health problems may affect work performance and lead to sick leaves or working while sick. Both can have an impact on the Bank's operational efficiency. Loss in manpower due to health problems based on the number of sick days will be used as one of the health risk indicators. The absentee rate is calculated by using the "percentage of (number of days of injury leave + number of days of sick leave + number of days of personal leave) / number of days of work required" for the year. This method is also used to observe employees' health. The attendance data from the last 4 years are as follows:

Absentee rate in last 4 years

	2021	2022	2023	2024
Absentee rate by sick leave	0.37%	0.53%	0.66%	0.59%
Coverage over all employees	100%	100%	100%	100%

Observations show a drastic increase in the number of infections during the COVID-19 outbreak in 2022 and the number of employees diagnosed with the disease was relatively high. In addition, the quarantine period was changed from 7 days to 5 days and some employees were not fully recovered after 5 days and had to take sick leave, which pushed the absentee rate up.

To effectively identify hazards and risks in the workplace, TBB follows the PDCA cycle to achieve improved workplace safety and better health. TBB uses key indicators such as work environment, health examination, survey results, individual cases (e.g., occupational accident cases), and four workplace health promotion programs (abnormal workload, ergonomic hazards, maternal health care, and illegal infringement) to assess employee health risk. The degree of risk is assessed by incidence and impact on the company's operation as follows:

Risk level	Risk issues	Existing condition	Mitigation measures and results
High risk	Infectious diseases	Many infectious diseases are prevalent, such as influenza. TBB cooperates with government policies to arrange influenza vaccination.	Health education: In order to provide accurate medical, health and vaccination information, TBB employed clinical physicians (3), nurses (4)in total across all regions) and public health professionals to provide vaccination and health consultation to employees.
High risk	Infectious diseases		Government-funded influenza vaccination campaign： There were 137 employees received government-funded influenza vaccination at the head office and the Chongqing South Road building.
High risk	Traffic accidents	Traffic accidents on the way to or from work.	The head office installed anti-slip measures (e.g., anti-slip strips) and signs to prevent employees from falling on slippery roads in the rain on the way to work. Our nurses provided care and first aid after accidents. Invited the Taipei City Government Police Department to conduct traffic awareness courses and recorded course videos to upload them to the e-learning platform. Managers are requested to reiterate the importance of traffic safety.
Medium risk	Metabolic syndrome	People working at banks tend to sit for long hours, have irregular meal times, eat out frequently, and engage in more social acitivties, especially those in the business units. On top of that, the average age of TBB employees is high, making them a highrisk group for metabolic syndrome. Through the biannual physical examination for employees, TBB discovered that most employees have problems with obesity, hepertension, Hypercholesterolemia and hyperglycemia.	Physician consultation is organized every month. When employees have potential metabolic syndrome problems, they may consult the visiting physicians and our nurses. Starting from 2024, TBB has hired a doctor from the Internal Medicine Specialist and Endocrinology and Metabolism Specialist Clinic to serve as the Bank's visiting physician. In 2024, a total of 166 employees received health consultations on obesity and three high conditions through our visiting physician, who taught them how to eat healthy, exercise regularly, and adjust their lifestyle, and emphasized the importance of regular return visits for those who have already seen the doctor.
Medium risk	=Mental health	In recent years, mental health issues have received increasing attention, significantly affecting the mental health of employees and inevitably leading to friction between people.	For employees facing mental problems, our nurses would be able to provide consultation, or make referral to visiting physicians or other professional therapists when necessary. To help employees relieve stress after the earthquake, the Bank designed relevant publicity materials and provided spiritual reading and assistance channels for employees. To promote the well-being of our employees and support work-life balance, the Bank has commissioned a professional psychological counseling center to provide employee counseling services from october 1, 2024, which can help our employees to adjust, relieve work-related emotions and stress, and enhance communication and problem-solving.
Medium risk	Cancer	According to the top 10 causes of death in 2022 published by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in 2023, cancer and related diseases remained on the list, and 87% of deaths occurred at age 55 or higher. 30.2% of TBB employees were between age 50 to over 60 years old at the end of December 2024. This group is at high risk for death by cancer.	Preventive medicine adopts 3 stages and 5 levels of prevention, in which the second stage of prevention focuses on early diagnosis and appropriate treatment. TBB also has related examination items in its employee physical examination, and provides cervical smear (cervical cancer) examinations and mammography (breast cancer) at the Head Office and Chongqing South Road Building. Smoking and secondhand smoking are high risk factors for cancer. TBB continues to post non-smoking signs at the entrances of all business locations (including ATM entrances) to promote the concept of smoking cessation and to provide a smoke-free workplace.
Low risk	Maternal health care plan	The purpose of maternal health care is to ensure the physical and mental health of female employees who are pregnant or have given birth within one year. Based on the male-female ratio at TBB at the end of December 2024, 56.5% of employees was female and 26.9% of them were at childbearing ages (age 20 to 39), all of whom could be subjects covered by the plan.	The maternal health care plan covered hazard assessment and control, physical consultation and guidance, risk classification, adaptive job assignment, and other related measures. The occupational safety officers at the units perform assessments according to the Workplace Hazard Assessment and Maternal Health Protection Checklist. The nurses perform assessments and employee interviews according to the Self Assessment for Employees Who Were Pregnant (including pregnancy and miscarriage) or Gave Birth Less Than A Year Ago. The physicians perform health consultation and advice according to the Adaptive Job Assignment Recommendations for Employees Who Were Pregnant or Gave Birth Less Than A Year Ago. Assignments will be modified (change or update of scope or change of hours) as needed according to the manpower at the respective units and improvements be installed at the work sites to reduce or remove hazards. A total of 100 employees reported in 2024. 82 took pregnancy checkup leave, 5 tocolysis leave, 9 miscarriage leave, and 4 childbirth leave. Follow-up was conducted 110 person-times and 94 cases were closed. The overall completion rate was 94%.
Low risk	Ergonomic hazard prevention plan	The nature of the banking business means a lot of repetitive work that tends to lead to bad postures, overexertion, and high frequency and subsequently muscle or bone injuries or illnesses.	TBB completes the "Employees' Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire" every two years or as needed. Investigation, assessment, improvement, counting and analysis are conducted according to the ergonomic hazard prevention process. In 2024, the employee physical examination included a full e-survey of Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire. The results, when available, will be used to analyze and report risks and hazards
Low risk	Abnormal workloadtriggered diseases prevention plan	Some employees need to work in shifts, at night, or for long hours because of the nature of their duties, such as security guards, drivers to managers, IT server room, credit card department, customer service center, and auditing department employees on business travel. At the end of December 2024, a total of 116 employees were included in a high-risk group for health hazard due to work and listed as subjects for care and follow-up.	TBB uses an Overwork Assessment Table to assess TBB employees exposed to overwork and stress risks from shift work, night work, and long hours every year in order to identify high risk groups. The Framingham Cardiac Risk Score, work patterns, and environmental risk factors are used to classify the risk of brain and cardiac diseases. Prevention and improvement are implemented based on the results. Examples include physician consultation and health guidance, adjustment of work hours or change of duties, physical examination, and health management and promotion. Improvement in high-risk groups is followed up regularly. Employees with risks that cannot be improved in the short term or continue to deteriorate will undergo further assessment, interview, and health guidance. The physical examination in 2024 also covered a full e-survey based on the Overwork Assessment Table. The results are used together with the examination reports to analyze risks. 116 employees including security guard, driver to manager, IT server room, credit card department, customer service center, and auditing department underwent workload assessment. The risk analysis determined 95 risk free individuals (no consultation required), 19 medium risk (consultation recommended), and 2 high risks (consultation required). The follow-up completion rate was 100%.
Low risk	Prevention of Illegal Infringement at Work Plan	To prevent illegal infringement on employees' physical or mental health while performing their duties from actions of another ("illegal infringement in the workplace"), TBB protects employees' safety and mental and physical health at work and keeps them from illegal infringement in the workplace.	Hazard identification and risk assessment as well as adaptive job assignment and work design inventory are performed according to the work plan. The occupational health and safety officers of the units are required to perform the following every year: Completing the ''Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment for Prevention of Illegal Infringement in the Workplace'' for work environment layout assessment. Completing the ''Work Environment Checklist for Prevention of Illegal Infringement in the Workplace'' for hazard identification and assessment. Completing the ''Work Environment Checklist for Prevention of Illegal Infringement in the Workplace'' for adaptive job assignment assessment Constructing behavioral norms and filling out the "Self-check Form for Illegal Infringement in the Workplace – Manager Level. Effectiveness evaluation and improvement. Completing the ''Assessment of Preventive Measures Against Illegal Infringement in the Workplace'' for applicability and validity assessment. This will be used as a reference for future training and related measures, and will be kept properly for review at any time. Conduct the assessment and inventory of the TBB Prevention of Illegal Infringement at Work Plan and set up the online course, Hazard Prevention and Communication Training, to help employees improve friendly communication skills and knowledge of the law.
Low risk	Occupational Safety and Health Risks Taiwan Bus	TBB provides employees with a safe and healthy work environment and installed central air conditioning systems, sufficient lighting equipment, and comfortable work areas in the offices. We set up emergency escape routes and exits, regularly organize elevator equipment maintenance, prepare fire safety facilities, and organize regular fire drills, carry out disinfection of the work environment, and implement access controls. We also provide necessary health and first-aid facilities and work hard to reduce hazards to employees’ safety and health in order to prevent occupational accidents. The 2024 occupational disaster survey showed a total of 12 office accidents such as falling down at work.	The occupational health and safety officers of the units at the head office building perform hazard identification regularly and propose corrective measures for improvement as needed. TBB has set up the "Occupational Safety and Health Work Rules", including work safety and health standards as well as maintenance and inspection methods for different equipment. TBB assigns dedicated personnel to implement regular occupational safety and health inspections to ensure that related equipment can operate normally, reduce accidents, and protect the personal safety of employees. For any irregular (including accidents and false alarms) incidents (such as falling and injury) involving employees in the work environment, TBB will record the process as required and review and correct the cause of irregularity in order to avoid similar incidents. Carbon dioxide concentration and illuminance monitoring in conducted regularly. The monitoring reports issued by the monitoring institution for the first and second halves of 2024 showed that both carbon dioxide concentration and illuminance results complied with the requirements Workplace environment improvement in recent years： Air-conditioning retrofitted with anti-bacteria equipment in the 1st floor and the 18th floor restaurant at the Head Office AED installed in offices with a larger number of workers (80 or more). Environmental improvement and management plans installed for work environment safety and food health and safety at the 18F cafeteria at the head office building, cafeterias and food, and related equipment and warehouse. Work environment safety improvements installed in nonworking areas (e.g., rooftop and server rooms) in the head office building. Repairs were carried out on the door frame of the head office's business hall to ensure a safe working environment. Recent workplace environment awards： The breastfeeding room in our head office building was awarded "Excellence" in the "2023 Taipei City Government Department of Health's breastfeeding room certification and performance evaluation". The head office building received the "2023 Healthy Workplace Certification - Health Promotion Certificate". The Information Technology Department at Chongnan Building, North 3 Regional Operation Center, and South 1 Regional Operation Center received the "2023 Healthy Workplace Certification - Health Initiation Certificate". The Central Regional Operation Center and South 2 Regional Operation Center renewed their certification for the "2023 Healthy Workplace Certification - Health Initiation Certificate". The North 1 Regional Operation Center and North 2 Regional Operation Center renewed their certification for the "2024 Healthy Workplace Certification - Health Initiation Certificate".

Handling of irregular incidents

Incident classification

Right to refuse unsafe work

When the work environment is exposed to immediate danger, the manager should order to immediately cease operation and ask employees to take refuge in safe places. When an employee discovers potentially immediate danger while performing his/her duty, the employee may cease activity and retreat to a safe place and report immediately to his/her direct supervisor.

Health Services

To provide correct medical and health information to its employees, TBB hired 1 doctor specialized in occupational health and safety from a city hospital, 1 doctor specialized in neurology from a regional hospital, and 1 doctor from the Internal Medicine Specialist and Endocrinology and Metabolism Specialist Clinic to serve as the Bank's visiting physicians. TBB also hired 4 nurses with clinical and practical experience with the workplace. The nurses are stationed in the north, central, and south regions to provide health services, such as counseling and first aid, for employees.

Occupational health services

Regular physical examination for employees above the statutory requirement	Managers have one day of official leave per year to visit hospitals cooperating with TBB for physical examination subsidized by the Bank. Other employees regardless of age receive free physical examination every 2 years. Family members of employees can also participate in physical examination at their own costs.
Health consultations	To keep employees healthy in the workplace, TBB arranges for visiting physicians to provide health consultations every month. Employees who need health advice can make an appointment with the nurses. Employees unable to visit the physicians' location may make an appointment for phone or email consultations In 2024, the visiting physicians provided advice 405 person-times, and the nurses performed 41 follow-ups.
Health education and first aid	Health education, advice, consultation, body temperature and blood pressure measurements, and first aid services were provided by our nurses a total of 3,663 person-times in 2024. First aid is provided for customers and non-employee workers in the TBB workplace.

Worker Training in Occupational Health and Safety

The Bank has installed occupational health and safety officers, first aid staff, and fire prevention administrators in various units according to laws, and has obtained certificates and conducted relevant training. Training in 2024 is as follows.

2024 Occupational Safety and Health Training

	Number of people	Number of hours
Occupational Safety and Health Affair Manager Training	81	1,211
Trainings for First Aid Personnel	95	829
Fire Prevention Manager Training	53	529

TBB provided training for occupational health and safety officers of the units required to implement the Occupational Health and Safety Management System-ISO 45001 for a total of 202 person-times and 744 hours. To raise health and safety awareness among employees, TBB conducts health and safety training for general workers regularly in order to make the work environment safer. A total of 5,317 employees participated in the training in 2024. Furthermore, earthquake exercises, safety exercises, and AED and CPR training are organized regularly in response to other forms of emergencies. Related response measures are given in orientation training.

Protection team

There is a protection team set up at TBB’s Head Office building, with the President as the head of the team and the Executive Vice President as the deputy head of the team, as well as the chief executive officer and the executive officers. The protection team is composed of 4 teams (including the protection team, fire team, supply team and ambulance team) and 2 communication team members. Each team has a team leader and a deputy team leader, with a total of 192 people. Necessary contingency measures will be taken to ensure the safety of employees in the event of a situation, and trainings shall be arranged every year according to the law. A total of 186 people participated in the year-round training in 2024. The Datong Branch of the Taipei City Government Police Department rated our bank as the No. 1 perennial training unit.

Organizational Chart of the Protection Team

Prevention and Mitigation of Direct Impact of Occupational Health and Safety Issues on Business Activities

TBB has established the "Supplier Management Regulations" and an "Implementation Plan for Supplier Management Guidelines" that require business partners/suppliers to sign a "Human Rights and Environmental Sustainability Commitment" before procurement. They are also required to evaluate their performance in key areas such as integrity in operations, data security, environmental protection, corporate social responsibility, and legal compliance through a "Corporate Social Responsibility Self Assessment Form."

For suppliers exceeding a certain amount, in 2024, the Bank reviewed whether they have any violation cases of environmental, labor, and human rights risks (149 suppliers queried/149 total suppliers = 100%). The proportion of suppliers with the aforementioned risk was 0%. The Bank has conducted irregular visits to suppliers with risks to assess their improvement progress. Throughout the collaboration, the Bank conducts due diligence to understand the supplier/business partner's response and whether mitigation measures have been implemented. In 2024, the proportion of suppliers taking remedial measures was 100%.

TBB formulated the "Supplier Management Regulations" and implementation plans. The contents of the Regulations include basic labor rights, occupational safety and health, environmental protection, social welfare protection, ethical operation, and disclosure of corporate social responsibility information, so as to guide suppliers to jointly promote the sustainable development of economy, environment, and society. TBB's procurement contracts contain explicit ethical corporate management and CSR provisions as well as provisions requiring compliance with occupational safety regulations. For better supplier management, the plan divides the procurement process into pre-purchase risk assessment, interim management, and post-purchase assistance. Suppliers that provide energy saving equipment, IT equipment and maintenance, or construction and renovation and have signed a contract worth NT$10 million or more should provide the inquiry information against regulations of the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Labor or disciplinary actions in the last year. Where search results contain a violation, the supplier will be required to provide documented improvement. For failure to submit improvement documents by the given deadline, the Bank may suspend the supplier's right to bid for TBB's procurement projects. The Bank incorporated occupational health and safety factors into contracting agreements, such as: The engineering contracts signed with contractors specify that the contractors shall comply with the provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and Construction Safety and Health Facilities Standards. Contractors are required to fill out a "Contractor's Operational Environment Hazard Analysis Notification Form" before commencing construction, informing about relevant hazards at the construction site to reduce the occurrence of occupational accidents.