68% of Taiwan hypermarkets have safety problems: survey

Sixty-eight percent of Taiwan's hypermarkets surveyed by a consumer protection group recently had safety problems, including lack of fire extinguishers on every floor and unclear escape routes, according to results of the study released yesterday.
Among the most common safety deficiencies detected, 28 percent of the hypermarkets failed to set up emergency escape maps and 20 percent had their emergency exits blocked, the survey conducted by the Consumers' Foundation showed.

Also, 15 percent of the mega stores had narrow passageways, while 15 percent had the pressure on their fire extinguishers set improperly, and 12 percent had their emergency exit doors looked, according to the survey.

Other deficiencies found included fire hydrants being obstructed by other objects and the absence of any emergency lighting system, signposts guiding consumers to emergency exits, fire detection devices or fire alarm systems.

Some hypermarkets also had failed to install fire extinguishers on every floor, set up safety signpost at escalators or maintain a smooth flow at elevator exits, results showed. The survey was conducted between Dec. 25, 2007 and Jan. 16, 2008 on 60 hypermarkets islandwide, including 27 in northern Taiwan, 18 in central Taiwan, two in the eastern areas of Hualien and Taitung, eight in southern Taiwan's Tainan region and five in the Kaohsiung and Pingtung areas.

By brand, 31 of the stores are operated by Carrefour, 12 by RT-Mart, 10 by Geant, two by Save & Safe, two by Costco, two by Megaful and one by Taisuco.

Safety deficiencies were detected in 41 of the surveyed stores, with all seven surveyed stores in Hualien, Taitung, Kaohsiung and Pingtung having such problems.

The percentage of hypermarkets with safety deficiencies stood at 74 percent among Carrefour stores, 70 percent among Geant stores, 67 percent among RT-Mart stores and 50 percent among Costco, Megaful and Save & Safe stores.

The only Taisuco store surveyed passed in all safety categories.