Rapid industrialization over the past twenty years in Taiwan has resulted in many changes in the workplace, and this has had a considerable affect on the quality of life (QOL) of Taiwan’s workers. QOL has a profound effect on workers’ ability to adapt and function in the workplace. The objective of this study was to evaluate workers’ QOL with regard to conditions in the workplace. 1,726 workers were selected using proportional probability sampling from the Labor Insurance Bureau’s registry (7,597,386 Taiwanese workers) and interviewed using a structured questionnaire. The demographic profiles of the workers in this study were very similar to those of the general worker population in Taiwan. The QOL of workers was determined using the modified WHO Quality of Life (WHOQOL) questionnaire– Taiwanese version. The results showed that workers were most concerned about the following: career promotion, workload and nature of the work, salary and benefits. The most frequently reported methods of coping with stress were sleep, exercise and complaining to colleagues. The perceived number of hazards in the workplace, safety conditions, managerial ability to deal with occupational hazards, and satisfaction with workplace all had significant effects on workers’ QOL. The authors recommend that workers be educated to care about the safety conditions in the workplace and that companies try to improve workers’ QOL and their working environment.
