Occupational Health and Safety : Taiwan Business Bank

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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 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 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 45001:2018’’ standard at the head office building on April 8, 2022 and provided 4 months of training to the health and safety officers of the head office departments. The head office departments were consulted on the scope of training. In addition, TBB implemented the Occupational Safety and Health Handbook and devised the Occupational Health and Safety Policy. Apart from identification and compliance audits under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, TBB 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 Stage 1 and Stage 2 audits of BSI system certification conducted by an external institute on July 29, 2022 and August 11, 2022, respectively. Recommendations in the audit reports were given to the responsible departments to make improvement. The president of the bank promised to sign the Occupational Health and Safety Policy. TBB received the Occupational Health and Safety Management System – ISO 45001:2018 certificate on August 23, 2022. It applied to all units of the Bank and the certification subjects included all employees at the head office building and contractors.

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 2022 as follows:

Item	Goals	2022 occupational health and safety targets/performance indicators
1	Protection of job security	The Human Resources Department completed a 50-minute Traffic Safety Training for all employees (with the completion rate of 100% and 5,313 participants) at the end of 2022.
2	Implement risk management	The Loan Supervision Department has conducted all training courses by the end of December 2022 (with 100% of annual training courses completed online).
3	Implement risk management	The Administration Management Department completed replacement of 8 elevators at the head office building on April 30, 2023.
4	Prevention of occupational diseases	The Trust Department purchased air purifiers (2 units per section) before December 31, 2023.
5	Prevention of occupational diseases	The Trust Department will increase utilization of the automated ordering system and reach a coverage ratio of 90% by December 31, 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

2022 Occupational Safety and Health Committee

Number of meetings	4 meetings
Number of proposals (reports + discussions + extempore motions)	19 proposals

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 > Employees and Benefits > Collective Agreements) contains provisions focusing on health and safety, which can be found in Articles 39 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 by sick leave is calculated as (Number of employees who take sick leave * Total number of sick days in the current year)/ (Total number of employees at end of year * Number of work days in the current year). This method is also used to observe employees’ health. The attendance data from the last 4 years are as follows:

Absentee rate by sick leave in last 4 years

	2019	2020	2021	2022
Absentee rate by sick leave	0.19%	0.17%	0.19%	0.32%
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	COVID-19 was still the most prevalent infectious disease in 2022, and it was required to follow the Central Epidemic Command Center’s disease control policy to reduce infection in the workforce. Apart from COVID-19, there were also other prevalent infectious diseases such as influenza. TBB followed the government's policy to provide government-funded influenza vaccination.	Health control and management for employees: It was required that the employees and customers measure their body temperature and wear masks before entering the bank. Crowd control measures and real-name registration system were implemented in the premises of the Bank. Additional budget was allocated for each unit to purchase cleaning supplies such as alcohol, bleach, gloves, etc., and protective supplies such as masks, acrylic partitions, protective vests, isolation suits, etc. Pandemic prevention masks were also distributed for use by employees. In addition, TBB has purchased infrared temperature sensors in the units where there is crowded. In response to the domestic COVID-19 outbreak, in order to protect staff and reduce the risk of infection during commuting, some units were allocated to work offsite or from home and take different shifts and different meal hours. During the pandemic alert period, care services and other organizations would be closed in accordance with the pandemic prevention measures, and TBB employees may apply for “unpaid family care leave” or “family care leave” in response to family care needs. COVID-19 test kits: In response to a drastic increase in confirmed domestic cases and a fast-spreading pandemic, TBB has allocated an additional budget of NT$2 million to purchase 7,602 packs of COVID-19 test kits. These kits were distributed to every unit according to the number of people and regional characteristics as part of the Bank’s emergency response against high-risk cases. Given the fast-spreading COVID-19 pandemic, to care for employees and fulfill CSR, TBB provided a subsidy of NT$500 per person for employees to purchase COVID-19 test kits. The Bank encouraged employees to stock up on disease prevention supplies to protect themselves, their families, as well as customers, and to reduce the risk of infection. If employees show signs of possible infection or have close contact with confirmed cases, they would be able to use COVID-19 test kits right away.
			Disease reporting and related measures: Immediate investigation and rolling review with the actual pandemic situation, and notification of the pandemic is currently the most important notification methods in order to continuously and effectively grasp the health status, immigration and other possible infection risks of employees and the family members living with them. After a risk assessment in the worlplace, rapid tests on the personnel and disinfection of the buildings would be conducted, with protecting employees and customers as our top priority. Nurses provided a total of 3,477 consultations for confirmed cases in 2022. To provide timely care for TBB employees who were confirmed cases and let them rest at home, TBB issued care packages for employees in quarantine and those who subsequently became confirmed cases. Each package contained items worth a total of NT$600, as well as words from TBB’s Chairman and President.
			In line with the pandemic prevention policies and health education propaganda: In accordance with the Central Epidemic Command Center’s pandemic prevention policy, official documents and emails are sent to all units from time to time, asking our colleagues to cooperate and strengthen relevant pandemic prevention measures, such as taking body temperature, wearing masks and washing hands regularly. In order to provide accurate medical, health and vaccination information, TBB employed clinical physicians (2), nurses (4 in total across all regions) and public health professionals to provide vaccination and health consultation to employees. Q&A for the COVID-19 infection control system is made for the convenience of our employees to refer to when they encounter an emergency situation. Promotional videos to explain prevention of infection and side effects after a positive diagnosis were recorded by the physicians.
			COVID-19 vaccination policies: In order to encourage our employees to actively cooperate with the COVID-19 vaccination and enhance the capacity of vaccination prevention for the smooth operation and business development, TBB provided a subsidy of NT$200 for each employee to take out vaccination-related insurance products. Our employees can apply for “Vaccination Leave” for COVID-19 vaccination. To provide the correct vaccination information and pre- and post-vaccination pre-caution notes, a Q&A booklet was produced by TBB for the reference of employees.
			Government-funded influenza vaccination campaign: There were 311 employees received government-funded influenza vaccination at the head office and the Chongqing South Road building.
High risk	Road accidents	The 2022 occupational disaster survey showed a total of 21 traffic accidents on the way to or from work.	TBB completed a 50-minute Traffic Safety Training for all employees at the end of 2022 (with a total of 5,313 participants). 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. Managers are asked to reiterate the importance of traffic safety.
Medium risk	Metabolic syndrome	The nature of work at a bank means sitting long hours on chairs, irregular meal hours, eating out most of the time, and entertaining customers for those in the sales units. On top of that, the average age of TBB employees is higher, making them a high-risk group for metabolic syndrome. Through the biannual physical examination for employees, TBB discovered that most employees have problems with obesity, hepertension, hypercholesterolemia and high blood sugar.	Follow-up on irregularities identified in the 2020 physical checkup: There were 21 people with major abnormalities in physical examination results. The follow-up rate was 100%. Medium to high-risk irregularities were followed up in 478 people. Physician consultation is organized every month. When employees have potential metabolic syndrome problems, they may consult the visiting physicians and our nurses. The physical examination results in 2022 provided a basis for plans for health promotion events.
Medium risk	Mental health	Mental health has been gaining attention in recent years. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2022 put even more weight on employees' mental health. Friction in everyday interaction was unavoidable.	If an employee faced difficulty, our nurses would be able to provide consultation, or make referral to visiting physicians or other professional therapists when necessary. For the psychological aspect of pandemic prevention, we designed relevant literature and propaganda to provide mental reading and assistance channels for all employees.
Medium risk	Cancer	According to the top 10 causes of death in 2021 published by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in 2022, cancer and related diseases remained on the list, and 86% of deaths occurred at age 55 or higher. 32.393% of TBB employees were between age 50 and 60 at the end of December 2022. This group is a high risk for death by cancer.	Cancer is a disease with a high survival rate upon early discovery. As part of the physical examination, TBB provided pap smear to 96 employees and mammogram to 26 employees at the head office and the 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 2022, 55.20% of employees was female and 34.66% 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 74 employees reported in 2022. 52 took pregnancy checkup leave, 8 tocolysis leave, 10 miscarriage leave, and 4 childbirth leave. Follow-up was conducted 126 times and 64 cases were closed. The overall completion rate was 86%.
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 conducts an Employee Self Awareness of Muscle and Bone Disorders Survey every two years or as needed. Investigation, assessment, improvement, counting and analysis are conducted according to the ergonomic hazard prevention process. In 2022, the employee physical examination included a full e-survey of Employee Self Awareness of Muscle and Bone Disorders. The results, when available, will be used to analyze and report risks and hazards. The Employee Self Awareness of Muscle and Bone Disorders Survey in 2020 showed a total of 103 people with a score of 3 or above in the ergonomic bone/muscle scoring (suspected bond/muscle hazard). Administrative and health management were provided, and 99 people were monitored (excluding 4 retirements/terminations). The completion rate for health improvement and recommendation for environmental improvement was 100%. Assessment and follow-up on employees with bone/muscle problems took place 77 person-times in 2022.
Low risk	Abnormal workload-triggered 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. A total of 71 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 examinations, 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 2022 also covered a full e-survey based on the Overwork Assessment Table. The results are used together with the examination reports to analyze risks. 71 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 28 risk free individuals (no consultation required), 34 low risk (no consultation required), 7 medium risk (consultation recommended), and 2 high risks (consultation required). The follow-up completion rate was 100%. Follow-up was conducted 94 times. “Stress Management through Positive Thinking” course was added to orientation training, which introduced stress management through positive thinking and experience with positive thinking in order to help employees handle stress in better ways.
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: Complete the ‘’Work Environment Checklist for Prevention of Illegal Infringement in the Workplace’’ for hazard identification and assessment. Completing the ‘’Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment for Prevention of Illegal Infringement in the Workplace’’ for work environment layout assessment. Complete the ‘’Work Environment Checklist for Prevention of Illegal Infringement in the Workplace’’ for adaptive job assignment assessment. Completing the ‘’Assessment of Preventive Measures Against Illegal Infringement in the Workplace’’ for applicability and validity assessment, so as to provide a basis for future training and measures and be stored for inspection. 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	Office accidents and environmental hazards	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 2022 occupational disaster survey showed a total of 7 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 2022 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.

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 one doctor specialized in occupational health and safety from a city hospital and one doctor specialized in neurology from a regional hospital to act as 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. Physical examination was provided to a total of 4,625 bank employees and annual checkup to a total of 145 managers in 2022. Irregularities found in these exams were managed and followed up with health advice and physical or mental care.
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 2022, the visiting physicians provided advice 274 times, and the nurses performed 33 follow-ups.
Health education and first aid	The nurses provide health education, advice, and consultation and measure body temperature and blood pressure, and other first aid a total of 9,870 times in 2022. 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 2022 is as follows.

2022 Occupational Safety and Health Training

	Number of people	Number of hours
Occupational Safety and Health Supervisor Training	105	1,710
Trainings for emergency care personnel	288	1,397
Trainings for fire prevention management	66	636

TBB provided training for occupational health and safety officers of the units required to implement the Occupational Health and Safety Management System-ISO 45001:2018 for a total of 350 person-times and 1,615 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 5,091 employees participated in the training in 2022. 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. Each team has a team leader, a deputy team leader, and several team members so that they can take the necessary contingency measures to ensure the safety of employees in the event of a situation, and arrange trainings every year according to the law. The total number of participants in 2022 was 174.

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, the Bank reviews whether they have any violation cases of environmental, labor, and human rights risks (20 identified suppliers out of 137 total suppliers = 15%). In 2022, the proportion of suppliers with the aforementioned risks was 15%. 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 2022, 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 Environmental Protection Administration 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.