Comprehensive measures for the prevention of accidents involving woodworking machines have been promoted over three stages. As a result of these measures, the number of fatalities and injuries caused by woodworking machinery that has led to work absences of four days or more has declined to less than half of the figure for 1979, when these measures were first started. However, the number of fatalities and injuries still amounts to over 8,000 people annually, and the incidence of such accidents that cause serious bodily impairments also remains high.

In view of the continuing incidence of such industrial accidents, it may be observed that basic safety measures still haven't taken firm hold. In other words, safety devices to prevent contact with cutting edges, etc., is not fully installed or is not effectively maintained, or woodworking machine operation chief is not appointed or is not fully carrying out his duties. In short, it is necessary to promote comprehensive measures to prevent accidents involving woodworking machine, with an emphasis on continuing to promote the firm establishment of these basic requirements.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Labor shall determine and promote new comprehensive measures to prevent woodworking machine accidents as follows.

I. Emphasized items

In order to prevent accidents involving woodworking machine (hereinafter referred to as "machinery"), it is important to promote effective measures at each stage from the time of manufacturing to the time of usage.

Accordingly, the following items shall be emphasized in implementing the comprehensive measures, and those items that should be specifically implemented by employers manufacturing such machinery (hereinafter referred to as "manufacturers"), employers using such machinery and related organizations shall be listed in Section II.

1 Promoting the design and manufacturing of machinery in consideration of the need for preventing machinery accidents.
2 Fully implementing the correct installation and effective maintenance of proper safety device.
3 Promoting the appointment of woodworking machine operations chief (hereinafter referred to as "operation chief") and safety confirmation personnel as indicated in Section II-1-(1)B, and the thorough fulfillment of his duties.
4 Establishing working procedures for regular work and non-regular work such as cleaning, inspections and repairs, and implementing safety education as required to ensure that such work is appropriately implemented.
5 Promoting the full implementation of measures to prevent machinery accidents in the wooden house construction industry, etc.
6 Promoting the full implementation of voluntary activities by such means as carrying out campaigns to encourage measures to prevent woodworking machine accidents as indicated in Section II-3-(1).
7 Promoting the publicizing and full implementation of the following guidelines (hereinafter referred to as the "circular saw guidelines, etc."). Items A and B should be the most recent revisions of such guidelines.

A. Safety guidelines on the structure, use, etc., of circular saw machines (Attachment 1 of Labor Standards Bureau Notification No. 521 (Safety Guidelines on the Structure, Use, Etc., of Circular Saw Machines) dated September 1, 1998; hereinafter referred to as the "circular saw machine guidelines").

B. Safety guidelines on the structure, use, etc., of band saw machines (Attachment 2 of the above notification; hereinafter referred to as the "band saw machine guidelines").

C. Safety guidelines on the structure, use, etc., of hand-feed planers, etc. (Attachment 1 of Labor Standards Bureau Notification No. 656 (Determining the Safety Guidelines, Etc., on the Structure, Use, Etc., of Hand-Feed Planers, Etc.) dated October 24, 1994; hereinafter referred to as the "hand-feed planer guidelines, etc.," including Items D and E below).

D. Safety guidelines on the structure, use, etc., of wood shapers (Attachment 2 of the above notification).

E. Safety guidelines on the structure, use, etc., of routers (Attachment 3 of the above notification).

II. Implementation items

1 Implementation items at the workplace

(1) Enhancing organization for safety management

Management executives shall make an organization for safety management by such means as appointing safety supervisors, safety and health promoters and those listed in the following, and shall promote the clarification of their responsibilities and authority and the thorough conduct of their duties. In doing so, they shall also pay attention to implementing safety inspections of the machinery as well as pay attention to the organization established to confirm the implementation status. In addition, they shall also hold periodic safety committee meetings, etc., and shall promote the effective utilization of such meetings by bringing up machinery accident prevention measures, etc., as matters for deliberation.

A. Appointing the operation chief

In workplace where the appointment of an operation chief is required, the appointment of such personnel and the appropriate performance of his duties shall be fully implemented.

B. Appointing safety confirmation personnel

In workplace where the appointment of an operation chief is not required, safety confirmation personnel shall be appointed to implement such duties by carrying out the following. It is desirable that safety confirmation personnel be appointed from among those who have completed the woodworking machine operation chief skill seminar.

(a) Providing instructions on work involving the use of such machinery
(b) Confirming the proper use of safety device and tools
(c) Carrying out safety inspection and confirming the implementation status of such inspection
(d) Confirming measures to prevent unauthorized entry onto worksite

C. Fully implementing assigned duties

The name and duties of the operation chief and safety confirmation personnel shall be publicized by posting such information at the workplace, and the thorough performance of said duties shall be promoted by recording the implementation status of said duties by the use of charts detailing inspection results, etc., and by appointing the number of personnel in accordance with the number of machinery unit, etc.

D. Utilization of those who have completed the operation chief skill seminar

In work involving large machinery such as automatic-feed band saw, etc., and requiring more than one person, efforts shall be made to ensure that those who have completed the operation chief skill seminar take command of such work, even in cases that would not otherwise fall under the requirements for appointing an operation chief.

(2) Making the machinery safe

A. Improving the safety of the machinery

Efforts shall be made to promote the improvement of machinery safety by the following.

(a) Promoting the introduction of machinery for which essential safety improvement measures have been taken so that worker safety is secured even if the worker engaged in machinery operation (hereinafter referred to as the "operator") makes a mistake in machinery operation.

(b) Promoting work automation by means such as the installation of automatic feeder device in the machinery, the introduction of exclusive machinery suitable for specific work such as circular saw with a sliding table for ripping for cutting plywood and panels, and the introduction of woodworking machinery with automatic control.

B. Designing safety device and the thorough conduct of effective maintenance

Efforts shall be made to use the following methods in fully implementing the proper installation and use of safety devices to prevent contact with cutting edge, rebound prevention devices and covers, as well as the equipment or tools prescribed in the proviso of Paragraph 1, Article 127 of the Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health (hereinafter referred to as "safety device, etc.").

(a) Reviewing work contents, workplace layout, etc., and machinery usage by classifying machinery into unit for exclusive use and unit for general purpose use in order to reduce the frequency of adjusting safety device.

(b) In the case of conducting work such as processing small objects, preparing all the proper safety device in advance depending on the material shape, processing method, etc., and selecting and using the appropriate safety device in accordance with the material shape, processing method, etc.

C. Measures by type of machinery

Efforts shall be made to take the following steps by type of machinery.

(a) Circular saw machine

Many accidents involving circular saw machine occur due to such reasons as not using devices to prevent contact with the teeth of the saw blade. Therefore, the only teeth guards that shall be used are those that conform to laws and regulations. Furthermore, efforts shall be made to promote the introduction of those that specifically conform to the structure specified in I-2-(21) of the circular saw guidelines, and to strictly observe the usage standards outlined in I-3.

When portable circular saw machine is used, it is desirable that they be equipped with split blades to prevent rebound. In particular, in cases in which a portable circular saw machine is used by affixing it to the work floor, stand, etc., safety devices that conform to laws and regulations, and a split blade to prevent rebound as outlined in II-2-(2) of the circular saw machine guidelines, shall be installed and used.

Moreover, in case of difficulties in using a teeth guard as prescribed under Items A~D of I-2-(21) of the circular saw machine guidelines due to the nature of work such as cutting decorative laminated panels and the processing of small objects, safety shall be secured by observing the provisions of Item E of I-2-(21).

(b) Band saw machines

As there have been a number of band saw machine accidents caused by becoming sandwiched between the feeder roller, the automatic-feed device and the band saw machine, etc., efforts shall be made to introduce not only those safety devices that conform to laws and regulations, but also those that conform to the standards on feeder rollers specified in 2-1-(4) and 2-1-(5) of the band saw guidelines and the standards on automatic-feed devices in 2-2, and to thoroughly observe the standards on the usage in 3.

(c) Planing and molding machine, wood shaper and router

As many accidents involving planing and molding machine, wood shaper and router are caused by coming into contact with the cutting edges, efforts shall be made to introduce guard device that prevent such contact and not only conform to laws and regulations, but also conform to the structure specified in 2-(6) of the hand-feed planer guidelines in particular, and to promote the strict observance of the standards on the usage in 3.

(3) Establishing proper working procedures and implementing safety education

A. Establishing proper working procedures

Efforts shall be made to establish proper working procedures through the following.

(a) In accordance with the machinery, materials, etc., establishing in advance the respective work procedures for regular work and non-regular work, and taking steps to ensure that operator are made thoroughly aware of such procedures through periodic announcements by the operation chief and safety confirmation personnel.

In particular, in case of conducting non-regular work such as machinery cleaning, inspection and repair, establishing work procedures concerning stopping the operation of said machinery, locking the startup device, posting a sign, etc., and providing guidance on conducting such work in accordance with said work procedures.

(b) Using equipment and tools in accordance with work contents when processing small objects.

Moreover, when processing materials that are excessively large in comparison to the machinery table, such as long and/or wide materials, using extension table, roller conveyor, etc.

B. Implementing education

Safety education for operator, operation chief, safety confirmation personnel and management executive shall be systematically implemented as follows in accordance with the provisions outlined in Labor Standards Bureau Notification No. 39 (Promotion of Safety and Health Education) dated January 21, 1991.

(a) Safety education for operator

Safety education for operator is particularly important in order to ensure the full implementation of work procedures and to establish proper working procedures. Accordingly, safety education for operators shall be systematically implemented with respect to the proper use of safety device, the observance of work procedures, etc. In particular, such education shall be implemented on an intensive basis for operator who carry out the processing of small objects, etc., operators who use rip saws, gang rip saw and edger, operator who operate automatic-feed band saw machine, etc.

(b) Operation chief skill improvement education

In workplace where an operation chief is appointed, skill improvement education for operation chief shall be systematically implemented on the basis of Labor Standards Bureau Notification No. 536 (Skill Improvement Education for Woodworking Machine Operation Chief) dated September 6, 1991.

Moreover, it is also desirable to conduct such education for safety confirmation personnel in conformity with that for operation chief.

(c) Safety education for management executive

Management executives shall participate in safety education implemented by related industrial accident prevention organization as indicated in 3-(2).

(4) Implementing safety inspection

In order to maintain the safety and functions of machinery, etc., the personnel to implement safety inspections and the personnel to confirm the implementation status shall be clarified for the thorough conduct of safety inspection.

A. Inspection before work start

Machinery, safety device and attached equipment shall be inspected prior to starting work.

B. Periodical inspection

Machinery, safety device and attached equipment shall be periodically inspected at least once within a year, and the results of such inspection shall be recorded and kept. In the event any abnormalities are observed, appropriate steps such as repairs shall be implemented.

C. Inspection items, etc.

With respect to the inspection items, etc., in A and B, the respective inspection standards in 4 of the circular saw machine guidelines, 4 of the band saw machine guidelines and 4 of the hand-feed planer guidelines, etc., shall be used as a reference.

(5) Promoting machinery accident prevention measures in the construction industry

A. The master employer in the construction industry shall take the following steps to ensure the proper condition of machinery used at worksite, etc.

(a) Thoroughly carrying out safety management to ensure that related subcontractor do not bring any machinery that is in an unsafe condition onto the site by confirming the presence, functions, etc., of safety device for machinery brought onto the site by employee of the related subcontractor.

(b) In the course of conducting worksite patrols, confirming the proper use of machinery, the installation and effective maintenance of safety device.

B. Making efforts to establish proper work procedures by implementing Items (1) ~ (4) above at the wood processing workplaces of construction company offices.

2 Items to be implemented by manufacturers

(1) Designing and manufacturing machinery in consideration of safety

Efforts shall be made to design and manufacture machinery and safety device in consideration of safety and operability, and which conform to the standards on structure outlined in the circular saw machine guidelines, etc.

In addition, efforts shall be made to provide workplace with the necessary information in terms of machinery accident prevention by such means as posting the following items in the manuals, etc.

A. Fully implementing effective maintenance procedures for safety device.
B. Giving careful attention to establishing respective work procedures in advance for regular work and non-regular work in accordance with the machinery, materials, etc., and making such procedures known to operator.
C. In case of conducting work such as machinery cleaning, inspection and repair, taking steps such as stopping the operation of said machinery, locking the startup device, and posting a sign.
D. Implementing inspection prior to starting work, and also implementing periodical inspection at least once within a year.

(2) Efforts shall be made to develop machinery for which essential safety improvement measures are taken, so that operator safety is secured even if operator makes predictable mistakes in operation or if the machinery malfunctions.

3 Items to be implemented by related organizations

(1) Implementing promotion campaigns

Related industrial accident prevention organization and industry organization shall implement woodworking machine accident prevention measures promotion campaigns (hereinafter referred to as "promotion campaigns"), whose contents include the publicizing of the comprehensive measures and the circular saw machine guidelines etc., implementing patrols, implementing voluntary inspections, widely spreading "woodworking inspection day" and other creative voluntary activities.

(2) Implementing safety education

Related industrial accident prevention organization shall systematically implement safety education that targets the management executive of workplace where such machinery is installed, as based on Labor Standards Bureau Notification No. 217 (Promoting Safety and Health Education) dated February 20, 1976.

(3) Establishing accident prevention conferences

Related industrial accident prevention organization, industry organization such as the lumber industry, wood product manufacturing and fixture manufacturing organization, machinery manufacturing and sales organization, etc., shall serve as the main constituents in establishing machinery accident prevention conferences to be organized by prefecture and by district, with the participation of related administrative organization, etc., in order to discuss machinery accident prevention measures including promotion campaigns and to conduct effective safety activities based on the annual plans.