Taipei Issues Guidelines to Prevent Solo Work After Escape Room Employee's Suffocation Death

(CNA, by reporter Chen Yu-ting, Taipei, 21st) After an employee at a Taipei escape room suffocated to death while playing a "hanged ghost," the Department of Culture today issued safety guidelines for the related industry, requiring that dedicated personnel monitor the business premises during activities to prevent staff from working alone. The Taipei City Department of Culture stated in a press release that to protect the safety of escape room employees and the rights of consumers, the city government has launched a series of improvement measures. These include taking the lead nationwide in establishing the "Taipei City Immersive Content Experience Industry Safety Guidelines" and recommending that the central government set a unified national standard to provide a legal basis for mandatory enforcement. The guidelines cover four aspects: public safety, event procedures and props, operator and employee regulations, and consumer protection. They require dedicated personnel to monitor the business premises via surveillance equipment or on-site to avoid staff working alone, thereby protecting the work safety of on-site personnel while allowing consumers to have their experience in a safe environment. However, there are no penalties for non-compliance. The Department of Culture said that yesterday it had convened a meeting with relevant city government units and the Immersive Content Experience Industry Association to listen to industry opinions and practical experiences, establishing a smooth communication channel. In the future, they will jointly establish a self-regulation mechanism to assist the healthy development of this emerging industry in Taipei. Furthermore, the Department of Culture stated that the city has also established the "Matters to be Disclosed Regarding Consumer Information for Taipei City Escape Room Operators." To obtain a legal basis and binding force for these regulations, it sent a letter on the 18th asking the central government to stipulate the required and prohibited clauses for standardized escape room contracts in accordance with Article 17 of the Consumer Protection Act, hoping for cooperation between central and local governments to protect legitimate operators and create a favorable environment for industry development. A female employee of "Logic-unlocked" suffocated on the 10th while playing a hanged ghost and passed away on the 15th. The Taipei City Government subsequently launched a city-wide joint public safety inspection. Among 34 operators, 12 were found to have issues such as incomplete closure of fire doors, faulty exit sign lights, lack of residential fire alarms and fire extinguishers, and unauthorized interior renovations. A total of 15 penalty notices were issued, with total fines amounting to NT$1.04 million.