Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health
Ministry of Labour Ordinance No. 32 of September 30, 1972
Latest Amendments:
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Ordinance No. 47 of March 30, 2007
In Japanese
掲載日：2008.03.28
Part II Safety Standards
Chapter X Passage, Scaffolding, etc.
Section 1. Passage, etc.
Article 540 (Passage)
- (1) The employer shall provide places leading to a workshop and inside of the workshop with safe passages for workers, and maintain the said passages effectively at all times.
- (2) Of the passages prescribed in the preceding paragraph, the main ones shall have a sign indicating they are passages in order to maintain their effectiveness.
Article 541 (Illumination for Passage)
- (1) The employer shall provide passages with measures of lighting or illumination to the extent that they may not stand in the way of normal passage. However, this shall not apply to tunnels, basements normally not used for passage, etc., when passing workers are provided with an appropriate illumination tool.
Article 542 (Indoor Passage)
- (1) The employer conform indoor passages to the following provisions:
- (i) To ensure sufficient widths corresponding to the purpose of use;
- (ii) To maintain the surface of the passage in a condition that causes no stumbling, slips, treading on a prick, etc.;
- (iii) Not to place obstacles within a height of 1.8 m from the floor.
Article 543 (Passage between Machines, etc.)
- (1) The employer shall, as regards passages provided between machines or a machine and other facilities, provide a width of 80 cm or more.
Article 544 (Floor surface of a Workshop)
- (1) The employer shall ensure that the floor surface of a workshop is in a condition that causes no stumbling, slips or other dangers, and shall maintain the said floor surface in a safe condition.
Article 545 (Footstool)
- (1) The employer shall, when a lathe, a rolling mill or other machines are too high as compared with the height of the workers engaged in an operation pertaining to the said machines, provide footstools that are safe and have an appropriate height.
Article 546 (Workshop, etc., Handling Dangerous Substances, etc.)
- (1) The employer shall provide a workshop where dangerous substances or other explosive or ignitable substances are manufactured or handled, and the evacuation floor (meaning a floor having an entrance directly leading to the ground; the same shall apply hereinafter) of a building having the said workshop with two or more entrances through which workers may escape to a safe place on the ground easily in an emergency.
- (2) The doors of the entrances set forth in the preceding paragraph shall be sliding doors or those that can be opened by pushing to the outside.
Article 547
- (1) The employer shall provide the floors other than the evacuation floor of a building having the workshop set forth in the preceding Article with two or more direct stairs or slope passages that lead to the evacuation floor or to the ground. In this case, one of the said direct stairway or slope passage may be substituted for by a chute, an escape ladder or other evacuation tool.
- (2) One of the direct stairs or slope passages set forth in the preceding paragraph shall be provided outdoors. However, this shall not apply to when a chute, an escape ladder or other evacuation tool is provided.
Article 548
- (1) The employer shall provide the workshop set forth in paragraph (1) of Article 546 or an indoor workshop where 50 or more workers are regularly engaged with automatic alarm facilities, emergency bells or other alarming facilities or portable loud-speakers, manual sirens or other alarming tools to give a warning to workers promptly at an emergency.
Article 549 (Indication, etc., of Evacuation Exits)
- (1) The employer shall provide indications to emergency exits, emergency passages or evacuation tools that are not used regularly showing that such exits, etc., are for emergency use, and maintain such exits, etc., in a readily available condition.
- (2) The provisions of paragraph (2) of Article 546 shall apply mutatis mutandis to the doors of the exits or passages set forth in the preceding paragraph.
Article 550 (Railway Crossing with Passage)
- (1) The employer shall, when using vehicles on a rail tracks crossing with a passage, arrange a watcher, ring an alarming bell or take other appropriate measures.
Article 551 (Passage between Vessel and Quay, etc.)
- (1) The employer shall, when workers pass between a vessel and a quay or between a vessel and another vessel alongside such a vessel, provide footboards, ladders or other appropriate facilities for passage. However, this shall not apply in the case where safe vessel-side stairs are provided.
- (2) Workers shall use the facilities for passage or the vessel-side stairs set forth in the preceding paragraph.
Article 552 (Temporary Passage)
- (1) The employer shall not use temporary passages unless they conform to the following provisions:
- (i) To be of sound structure;
- (ii) To make the gradient 30 degrees or less. However, this shall not apply to those are equipped with stairs or those are equipped with handrails with the height of less than 2 m.
- (iii) For those having the slope exceeding 15 degrees, to provide step pieces or other slide-proof measures;
- (iv) To provide sound handrails with the height of 75 cm or more at a place where is liable to cause falling dangers to workers; However, in case where it is unavoidable due to the nature of work, only necessary parts of such handrails may be removed temporarily.
- (v) For a temporary passage in a vertical shaft having a length of 15 m or longer, to provide a landing at an interval of 10 m or less;
- (vi) For an ascending pier for construction work having a height of 8 m or more, to provide a landing at an interval of 7 m or less.
Article 553 (Shelter in a Tunnels, etc., Equipped with a Rail Tracks)
- (1) The employer shall, when workers pass a tunnel, a bridge, etc., in which a rail tracks is laid, provide shelters at appropriate intervals. However, this shall not apply to when there is sufficient space on both sides of the said rail tracks and there is no danger of being hit by vehicles travelling on the said rail tracks.
- (2) The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall not apply to tunnels, etc., under construction.
Article 554 (Measures for Monitoring Works on Rail Tracks, etc.)
- (1) The employer shall, when carrying out the work on a rail tracks or at a place near a rail tracks, provide a monitoring device or arrange a watcher to prevent the dangers that workers may be hit by a vehicle travelling on the said rail tracks.
Article 555 (Maintenance of Illumination in Rail track Maintenance Work, etc.)
- (1) The employer shall, when carrying out the work of rail track maintenance, or work of exchanging, connecting or disconnecting vehicles travelling on a rail tracks, maintain the illumination necessary to carry out the said works safely.
Article 556 (Ladder Paths)
- (1) The employer shall not use ladder paths unless they conform to the following provisions:
- (i) To be of sound structure;
- (ii) To provide step pieces at equal intervals;
- (iii) To maintain appropriate clearance between a step piece and the wall.
- (iv) To take measures to prevent displacement of the ladder.
- (v) To project the top end of the ladder from the floor by 60 cm or more.
- (vi) For a ladder path in a pit having a length of 10 m or more, to provide a landing platform shall at an interval of 5 m or less.
- (vii) To make the gradient of a ladder path in a pit 80 degrees or less.
- (2) The provisions of item (v) to (vii) of the preceding paragraph shall not apply to ladder paths in a caisson, etc.
Article 557 (Passages, etc., in a Pit)
- (1) The employer shall provide a passage or a ladder path installed in a pit where it is liable to cause dangers due to contact between hoisting devices and workers with partition boards or other barriers.
Article 558 (Use of Safety Shoes, etc.)
- (1) The employer shall, corresponding to the structure of passages, etc., or the condition of the work, determine appropriate footwear such as safety shoes for workers, and have workers use the said footwear.
- (2) Workers set forth in the preceding paragraph shall, when having been instructed to wear footwear pursuant to the provision of the same paragraph, wear them.
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