Industrial Safety and Health Act

Pursuant to Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, an employer that has appointed a general safety and health supervisor pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1) or (3) of the preceding Article and that has a business undertaking categorized as the construction industry or in any other industry specified by Cabinet Order must appoint a principal safety and health manager from among persons holding the qualifications specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and have that person manage the technical issues that are among the things set forth in the items of paragraph (1) of Article 30.

The provisions of paragraph (2) of Article 11 apply mutatis mutandis to the principal safety and health manager. In such a case, the term "the employer" in that paragraph is deemed to be replaced with "the employer that has appointed the principal safety and health manager".

When the persons engaged in work who are the workers of a principal employer with a business undertaking categorized as the construction industry (including, if there are persons engaged in work associated with the principal employer who are not workers in addition to the persons engaged in work who are its workers, those persons) and the persons engaged in work associated with a related contractor carry out work at one site (excluding sites where the number of those persons engaged in work is less than the number specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and locations where a general safety and health supervisor must be appointed pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1) or (3) of Article 15), the principal employer must, pursuant to Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, appoint an office safety and health manager from among persons holding the qualifications specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, for each workplace at which it has entered into a contract for work in association with the jobs being done at that site in order to prevent industrial injuries from occurring as a result of the work of those persons engaged in work being carried out at the same site, and have that person give guidance to the person who is in charge of the things referred to in the items of paragraph (1) of Article 30 and undertake the other things that are specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare at the site where the job associated with the contract for work it has entered into at that workplace is done.

In a case as referred to in paragraph (4) of Article 30, when the number of all the persons engaged in work as referred to in that paragraph is the number specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare or more (excluding when a general safety and health supervisor must be appointed pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1) or (3) of Article 15), the designated employer that carries out a job involved in an undertaking categorized as the construction industry must, pursuant to Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, appoint an office safety and health manager from among persons holding the qualifications specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, for each workplace at which it has entered into a contract for work in association with the jobs being done at that site, with regard to those persons engaged in work, in order to prevent industrial injuries from occurring as a result of the work of those persons engaged in work being carried out at the same site, and have that person give guidance to the person who is in charge of the things referred to in the items of paragraph (1) of Article 30 and undertake the other things that are specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare at the site where the job associated with the contract for work it has entered into at that workplace is done. In such a case, the provisions of the preceding paragraph do not apply to the designated employer or any other employer.

In a case as referred to in paragraph (1) or (3) of Article 15, a contractor that does not constitute an employer required to appoint a general safety and health supervisor pursuant to those provisions and that carries out the relevant job itself must appoint a safety and health supervisor and have that person communicate with the general safety and health supervisor and undertake the other things that are specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

A contractor that has appointed a safety and health supervisor pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph must inform the employer referred to in that paragraph of this without delay.

At each workplace of the business type and scale specified by Cabinet Order, an employer must establish a safety committee in order to have it investigate and deliberate on the following particulars and submit its opinion to the employer:

things related to the strategy that is to form the basis for preventing the endangerment of workers;

things related to the parts of the safety strategy that concern the causes of industrial injuries and measures to prevent recurrence;

material particulars involved in preventing the endangerment of workers, beyond what is set forth in the preceding two items.

A safety committee is composed of the following persons; provided, however, that only one of the committee members constitutes a person as referred to in item (i) (hereinafter referred to as the "item (i) member"):

the general safety and health manager, or the person that the employer has designated from among persons other than the general safety and health manager who are in charge of comprehensively managing the implementation of the undertaking at the relevant workplace or from among equivalent persons;

persons that the employer has designated from among safety managers;

persons that the employer has designated from among the workers at the relevant workplace who have safety-related experience.

The item (i) member is to be the chairperson of the safety committee.

An employer must designate persons based on the recommendation of a trade union organized by a majority of workers at the relevant workplace, if any, or by a person representing a majority of workers, if there is no such trade union, to constitute half of the committee members other than the item (i) member.

The provisions of the preceding two paragraphs do not apply to the extent of any separate provisions in a collective agreement concluded with a trade union organized by a majority of the workers at the relevant workplace.

At each workplace of the scale specified by Cabinet Order, an employer must establish a health committee in order to have it investigate and deliberate on the following particulars and state its opinion to the employer:

things related to the strategy that is to form the basis for preventing the impairment of workers' health;

things related to the strategy that is to form the basis for helping to maintain and improve the health of workers;

things related to the parts of the causes of industrial injuries and the strategy to prevent recurrence that are related to health;

material particulars involved in preventing the impairment of the health of workers and in helping to maintain and improve workers' health, beyond what is set forth in the preceding three items.

A health committee is composed of the following persons; provided, however, that only one of the committee members constitutes a person as referred to in item (i):

the general safety and health manager, or the person that the employer designates from among persons other than the general safety and health manager who are in charge of comprehensively managing the implementation of the undertaking at the relevant workplace or from among equivalent persons;

persons that the employer has designated from among health managers;

persons that the employer has designated from among industrial physicians;

persons that the employer has designated from among workers at the relevant workplace who have health-related experience.

An employer may designate a worker at the relevant workplace who is an expert in work environment monitoring and is implementing the work environment monitoring, as a member of the health committee.

The provisions of paragraphs (3) through (5) of the preceding Article apply mutatis mutandis to the health committee. In such a case, the phrase "item (i) member" in paragraphs (3) and (4) of that Article is deemed to be replaced with "a member who is a person as referred to in item (i) of paragraph (2) of Article 18".

If an employer is required to establish a safety committee and a health committee pursuant to the provisions of Article 17 and the preceding Article, it may set in place a safety and health committee instead of setting in place each of those separate committees.

A safety and health committee is composed of the following persons; provided, however, that only one of the committee members constitutes a person as referred to in item (i):

the general safety and health manager, or the person that the employer has designated from among persons other than the general safety and health manager who are in charge of comprehensively managing the implementation of the undertaking at the relevant workplace or from among equivalent persons;

persons that the employer has designated from among safety managers and health managers;

persons that the employer has designated from among industrial physicians;

persons that the employer has designated from among the workers at the relevant workplace who have safety-related experience;

persons that the employer has designated from among the workers at the relevant workplace who have health-related experience.

An employer may designate a worker at the relevant workplace who is an expert in work environment monitoring and is implementing the measurement of the work environment, as a member of the safety and health committee.

The provisions of paragraphs (3) through (5) of Article 17 apply mutatis mutandis to the safety and health committee. In such a case, the phrase "item (i) member" in paragraphs (3) and (4) of that Article is deemed to be replaced with "a member who is a person mentioned in item (i) of paragraph (2) of Article 19".

In order to increase the level of safety and health in the workplace, an employer must endeavor to provide education and training or the chance of receiving education and training to safety managers, health managers, safety and health advocates, health advocates, and persons engaged in other operations for preventing industrial injuries, in order to improve these person's competencies relevant to the operations in which they are engaged.

The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare is to release the necessary guidelines to ensure the appropriate and effective implementation of the education and training referred to in the preceding paragraph.

The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare may provide the necessary guidance to employers and associations thereof in accordance with the guidelines referred to in the preceding paragraph.

The State is to endeavor to provide consultations, information, and other necessary support concerning worker healthcare and related duties in order to contribute to ensuring the health of workers at the workplace as provided in paragraph (1) of Article 13-2.