Ordinance on Prevention of Hazards Due to Dust

(Requirements for Local Exhaust Ventilation Systems)

Article 11.   The local exhaust ventilation system to be installed in accordance with the provisions of Article 4 and the proviso in paragraph 1 of Article 27 shall comply with the following provisions:

(1)  A hood shall be installed for each dust source. For a hood of the outside mounting type, it shall be installed as closely to the dust source as possible.

(2)  Ducts shall be designed with the shortest possible length, the fewest possible number of bends and the installation of holes for cleaning in suitable places, etc., for easy cleaning.

(3)  The exhaust fan of the local exhaust ventilation system installed with a dust collector under the provisions of paragraph 1 of the preceding Article shall be installed at the location where cleaned air flows. However, this shall not apply to the case that there is no possibility of an explosion due to dust sucked in and no possibility of corrosion or abrasion of the fan.

(4)  The exhaust outlet shall be installed outdoors. However, this shall not apply to the movable local exhaust ventilation system or the local exhaust ventilation system to be installed in the specific dust source listed in item 7 of Attached Table 2 with which a dust collector of the filter dust collecting type or electrical dust precipitation type is provided.

(5)   Requirements specified by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare shall be satisfied.

2. A push-pull type ventilation system installed under the provisions of Article 4 or the proviso of paragraph 1 of Article 27 shall comply with the following provisions.

(1)  The ducts shall be designed with the shortest possible length, the fewest possible number of bends and the installation of holes for cleaning in suitable locations, etc., for easy cleaning.

(2)  The exhaust fan of the push-pull type ventilation system installed with a dust collector under the provisions of paragraph 2 of the preceding Article shall be installed at the location where cleaned air flows. However, this shall not apply to the case that there is no possibility of an explosion due to dust sucked in and no possibility of corrosion or abrasion of the fan.

(3)  The exhaust outlet shall be installed outdoors. However, this shall not apply to a push-pull type ventilation system to be installed in the specific dust source listed in item 7 of Attached Table 2 with a filter dust collecting type or an electrical dust precipitation collecting type of dust collector.

(4) Requirements specified by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare shall be satisfied.

(Operation of Local Exhaust Ventilation System)

Article 12.   With reference to the local exhaust ventilation system which has been installed in accordance with the provisions of Article 4 and the proviso in paragraph 1 of Article 27, the employer shall operate such a system during the period of the dusty work concerning the local exhaust ventilation system concerned so as to satisfy the requirements of the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare.

2. The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall apply mutatis mutandis to push-pull type ventilation systems installed under the provisions of Article 4 or the proviso in paragraph 1 of Article 27.

(Dust Collection)

Article 13.  The dust collector to be installed in accordance with the provisions of Article 10, shall be any one of the types listed in the right column of the following Table or those having the equivalent or higher performance corresponding to each type of dust listed in the left column of the same Table.

2.   With reference to the dust collectors specified in the preceding paragraph, the employer shall install, as necessary, a front placed dust collector to collect the dust having a large diameter.

(Operation of Dust Collector)

Article 14.   The employer shall operate effectively the dust collector which has been installed in accordance with the provisions of Article 10 while the local exhaust ventilation system or the push-pull type ventilation system relative to the dust collector concerned is operated.

(Water Feeding to Wet Type Percussion Drill)

Article 15.   The employer shall effectively feed water to the wet type percussion drill which has been installed in accordance with the provisions of Article 4 while specific dusty work relative to the percussion type drill concerned is being carried out.

(Wetting by Wetting Device)

Article 16.   The employer shall keep the dust source wet by using a wetting device for dust sources which has been installed in accordance with the provisions of Article 4 or the proviso in paragraph 1 of Article 27 while the dusty work related to the wetting device concerned is being carried out .