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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

Update : 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.

Section 2 Scaffolding
Sub-section 1 Materials, etc.

Article 559 (Materials, etc.)

(1) The employer shall, as regards the materials of scaffolding, not use those having marked damage, deformation or corrosion.
(2) The employer shall, as regards the lumbers used for scaffolding, not use unless they are free from cracks, worm-eaten spots, knars, slant fibers or other defects affecting the strength of the lumber greatly, and of which the bark is removed.

Article 560 (Steel Pipe, etc., for Steel Pipe Scaffolding)

(1) The employer shall, as regards the steel pipes used for steel pipe scaffolding, not use unless they conform to the standards of steel pipes of the Japanese Industrial Standard A 895l, (Steel Pipe Scaffoldings) (hereinafter referred to as the “steel pipe standards”), or conform to the following provisions:

(i) The material is to be of tensile strength of 370 N/mm2 or more and elongation of the value listed in the right column of the following table corresponding to the value of tensile strength listed in the left column of the same table.

Tensile strength (N/mm2)	Elongation (%)
370 or more but less than 390	25 or more
390 or more but less than 500	20 or more
500 or more	10 or more

(ii) The thickness to be one-thirty first or more of the outer diameter.

(2) The employer shall, as regards the fittings used for steel pipe scaffoldings, not use unless they conform to the standards of fittings of the Japanese Industrial Standard A 8951 (Steel Pipe Scaffoldings) or conform to the following provisions:
- (i) Materials (excluding those of parts used in portions that may not be subject to shock) to be rolled steels, forged steels or cast steels.
- (ii) As regards couplings, in the case that they are used to couple steel pipes at the center of fulcrums (meaning fulcrums having the maximum distance between them during work) and the maximum load during work is applied to them as concentrated load, the strain of the said couplings to be 1.5 times or less of that of steel pipes of the same type without such coupling under the same condition.
- (iii) As regards clamps, in the case that they are used to fasten steel pipes at a right angle and a load two times of the maximum operational load is applied onto the fastened portion, the slip to be 10 mm or less.

Article 561 (Structure)

(1) The employer shall, as regards scaffoldings, not use unless they are of sound structure.

Article 562 (Maximum Loading Capacity)

(1) The employer shall determine the maximum loading capacity of a working floor of scaffolding corresponding its structure and materials, and shall not take on exceeding that.
(2) The maximum loading capacity of the working floor set forth in the preceding paragraph shall, as regards hanging scaffoldings(excluding hanging scaffoldings of gondolas; hereinafter the same shall apply in this Section), be so determined as to ensure the safety coefficient of 10 or more for hanging wire ropes and hanging steel wires, the safety coefficient of 5 or more for hanging chains and hanging hooks, and the safety coefficient of hanging steel bands and of fulcrums at the bottom and top of the hanging scaffoldings of 2.5 for steels and 5 or more for logs.
(3) The employer shall make the maximum loading capacity set forth in paragraph (1) known to workers.

Article 563 (Working Floor)

(1) The employer shall provide a work place on scaffolding (excluding single-row scaffolding) having a height of 2 m or more with a working floor as prescribed in the followings:

(i) The floor materials to be with bending stress calculated corresponding to the distance between fulcrums and the load applied during work not exceeding the value of allowable bending stress listed in the right column of the following table corresponding to the type of lumber listed in the left column of the same table.

Type of lumber	Allowable bending stress (N/cm2)
Japanese red pine, Japanese black pine, Japanese larch, hiba, hinoki, Japanese hemlock, Oregon pine, or Port Oxford cedar	1,320
Japanese cedar, fir, silver fir, abies, red cedar, or Western hemlock	1,030
Oak	1,910
Japanese chestnut, Japanese oak, Japanese beech or Keyaki	1,470
Plywood manufactured by gluing apitong or kapur with phenol resin	1,620

(ii) The width to be of 40 cm or more and the clearance between floor boards to be of 3 cm or less, excluding hanging scaffoldings.
(iii) To provide places where is liable to cause dangers to workers due to fall with handrails, etc., prescribed as follows. However this shall not apply to the case that it is extremely difficult to provide the said handrails, etc., due to the nature of the work, or in the case the said handrails, etc., are temporarily removed according to the needs of the work and a protective net is set, safety belts are provided to workers or other measures are taken to prevent the dangers to workers due to a fall this shall not apply.
- (a) To be of sound structure;
- (b) To be made of materials without marked damage, corrosion, etc.;
- (c) To have the height of 75 cm or more.
(iv) To use brackets, ledgers, girders, trestle or other supporting materials for the working floor having strength sufficient to bear the load applied.
(v) To fix the floor boards to two supports or more to prevent displacement or coming off, excluding hanging scaffoldings.

(2) The provisions set forth in item (v) of the preceding paragraph shall not apply when they fall under any of the following each item:
- (i) When boards having a width of 20 cm or more, a thickness of 3.5 cm or more and a length of 3.6 m or more are used for the floor materials and the said boards are to be moved according to the work, and when the following measures are taken:
  - (a) Scaffolding boards to be supported by three or more supports.
  - (b) The length of projection of scaffolding boards from the fulcrums to be of 10 cm or more, and is one-eighteenth of the length of the said scaffolding boards or less, excluding when there is no possibility that workers will step on the said projections.
  - (c) When scaffolding boards to be lapped longitudinally, they are lapped on their fulcrum, and the length of such lapped portion to be of 20 cm or more.
- (ii) When boards having a width of 30 cm or more, a thickness of 6 cm or more and a length of 4 m or more are used, and the measures provided in (b) and (c) of the preceding item are taken.
(3) A worker shall, in the case of the proviso of item (iii) of paragraph (1), when having been instructed to use safety belts, etc., use them.

Section 2 Scaffolding
Sub-section 2 Prevention of Dangers in Assembling, etc., of Scaffolding

Article 564 (Assembling, etc., of Scaffolding)

(1) The employer shall, when carrying out the work set forth in item (xv) of Article 6 of the Order, take the following measures:
- (i) To make timing, scope and procedure of assembling, dismantling or altering known to workers engaging in the said works;
- (ii) To prohibit workers other than those concerned from entering the areas where assembling, dismantling or altering works are to be carried out;
- (iii) To suspend works when dangers due to strong wind, heavy rain, heavy snow or other bad weather are forecast;
- (iv) When carrying out works of fastening, removing or handling over materials for scaffoldings, to provide scaffolding boards having a width of 20 cm or more, have workers use safety belts or take other measures in order to prevent the danger to workers due to falls.
- (v) When lifting or lowering materials, equipment, tools, etc., to have workers use lifting ropes, lifting bags, etc.
(2) Workers shall, in the work set forth in item (iv) of the preceding paragraph, when having been instructed to use safety belts, etc., use them.

Article 565 (Appointment of an Operations Chief of Assembling, etc., of Scaffolding)

(1) The employer shall, as regards the work set forth in item (xv) of Article 6 of the Order, appoint an operations chief of assembling, etc., of scaffolding from those who have completed the skill training course for operations chief of assembling, etc., of scaffolding.

Article 566 (Duties of an Operations Chief of Assembling, etc., of Scaffolding)

(1) The employer shall have an operations chief of assembling, etc., of scaffolding carry out the following matters. However, the provisions of item (i) shall not apply to the work of dismantling:
- (i) To check defects in material, and remove defective ones;
- (ii) To check the function of an instrument, a tool, a safety belt, etc., and a safety helmet, and remove defective ones;
- (iii) To decide a work method and the arrangement of workers, and supervise the work directly.
- (iv) To monitor the use of a safety belt, etc., and a safety helmet.

Article 567 (Checkup)

(1) The employer shall, when carrying out work on scaffoldings after strong wind, heavy rain, heavy snow or other bad weather, an earthquake of medium shock or heavier, assembling, partially dismantling or altering of scaffoldings, check up the following matters before commencing the said work, and when having found any abnormality, immediately repair:
- (i) Condition of damage, mounting and placing of floor materials.
- (ii) Condition of loosening at the fastening, connecting and mounting portions of standards, ledgers, brackets, etc.
- (iii) Condition of damage and corrosion of clamping materials and clamps.
- (iv) Existence of removal and coming off of handrails, etc.
- (v) Condition of settling and sliding of foot portions.
- (vi) Condition of mounting and existence of removal of diagonal bracings, stays, ties to wall and other reinforcement materials.
- (vii) Existence of damage of standards, ledgers and brackets.
- (viii) Condition of the mounting portion of projected girders and lifting cables, and the function of lifting devices.

Article 568 (Checkup of Hanging Scaffolding)

(1) The employer shall, when carrying out the work on a hanging scaffolding, check up matters listed in item (i) to (iv), item (vi) and (viii) before commencing the work of the day, and when having found any abnormality, immediately repair.

Section 2 Scaffolding
Sub-section 3 Log Scaffolding

Article 569

(1) The employer shall, as regards log scaffoldings, not use unless they conform to the following provisions:
- (i) The interval between standards to be of 2.5 m or less, and to provide the first ledger over the ground at a place having a height of 3 m or less.
- (ii) For the leg of standards, , to burry the foot of standards, provide bridge batten of foot posts, and use sills or take other measures in order to prevent standards from sliding or settling.
- (iii) In the case that the couplings of standards are lap joints, to band the jointing portion at two locations or more with overlapping of 1 m or more; in the case that the couplings of standards are butt joints, to construct the standards with two logs, or band the jointing portion at four locations or more with a splint having a length of 1.8 m or more.
- (iv) The jointing portions and crossing portions of standards, ledgers, brackets, etc., to be firmly bound with wires or other strong materials.
- (v) To reinforce by diagonal bracings.
- (vi) For single row scaffolding, double row scaffolding and cantilever scaffolding, to provide ties to wall or stays prescribed as follows:
  - (a) The interval to be of 5.5 m or more in the vertical direction and 7.5 m or more in the horizontal direction.
  - (b) To make the scaffolding strong with steel pipes, logs, etc..
  - (c) When the scaffoldings are composed of tension members and compression members, the interval between these members to be within 1 m.
(2) The provision of item (i) of the preceding paragraph shall not apply to the case that it is difficult to conform to the said provision due to the necessity of the work and the said portions are reinforced with bent ledgers, two logs combined, etc.
(3) The provision of item (vi) of paragraph (1) shall not apply to the case that ties to wall or stays are removed for the works of mounting of window frames and finishing of walls, or it is unavoidable due to necessity of the works, and when taking a measures in order to prevent the said scaffoldings from collapsing, such as providing diagonal members to standards or ledgers instead of the said ties to wall or stays.

Section 2 Scaffolding
Sub-section 4 Steel Pipe Scaffolding

Article 570 (Steel Pipe Scaffolding)

(1) The employer shall, as regards steel pipe scaffoldings, not use unless they conform to the following provisions:

(i) For the leg of scaffolding (excluding movable scaffoldings with casters), to take measures such as providing bridge batten of foot posts with base fittings, and plankings, square timbers, etc., in order to prevent the scaffolding from sliding or settling;
(ii) For movable scaffolding with casters, to take measures such as securely fixing the casters with a brake, or other brakes, pawl, etc. or fastening a part of the scaffolding to a sound building, in order to prevent scaffoldings from moving unexpectedly, ;
(iii) To joint or fasten the jointing portions or crossing portions of steel pipes securely with suitable fittings.
(iv) To reinforce the scaffolding with bracings.

(v) For single row scaffolding, double row scaffolding or cantilever scaffolding, to provide ties to wall or stays prescribed as follows:

(a) The interval to be the value listed in the right column of the following table or less corresponding to the type of steel pipe scaffolding listed in the left column of the same table.

Type of steel pipe scaffolding	Interval (m)
Type of steel pipe scaffolding	Vertical direction	Horizontal direction
Tube and coupler scaffolding	5	5.5
Prefabricated scaffolding (excluding those having height of less than 5 m)	9	8

(b) To make the scaffolding strong with materials such as steel pipes and logs.
(c) When the scaffoldings are composed of tension members and compression members, the interval between these members to be within 1 m.

(vi) When a scaffolding is installed near an overhead power line, to take measure to prevent contact with the said overhead power line such as moving the said overhead power line or installing protecting equipment for insulating.

(2) The provision of paragraph (3) of the preceding Article shall apply mutatis mutandis to the application of the provision of item (v) of the preceding paragraph. In this case, the term “item(vi) of paragraph (1)” in paragraph (3) of the preceding Article shall be deemed to be replace with “item (v) of paragraph (1) of Article 570”.

Article 571 (Steel Pipe Scaffolding Conforming to the Steel Pipe Standards)

(1) The employer shall, as regard the steel pipe scaffoldings composed of steel pipes conforming to the steel pipe standards, in addition to the provisions of paragraph (1) of the preceding Article, not use unless they conform to following item (i) to (iv) for single pipe scaffoldings and item (v) to (vii) for prefabricated scaffoldings:
- (i) The intervals of the standards to be of 1.85 m or less in the direction of the crossbeam and 1.5 m or less in the direction of the beam;
- (ii) To provide the first ledger above the ground at the height of 2 m or less ;
- (iii) The standards exceeding 31 m measured from the highest point of the standards to consist of the combination of two steel pipes;
- (iv) To limit the loading capacity between the standards to 400 kg.
- (v) To provide the horizontal members at the top level and at every fifth level or less.
- (vi) To take measures to prevent the beam frames and bracket frames from moving laterally with horizontal bracings.
- (vii) When the scaffolding having a height exceeding 20 m, and when the work involves carrying heavy material are carried out, the main frame to be with the height of 2 m or less, and the intervals of 1.85 m or less.
(2) The provisions of item (i) or item (iv) of the preceding paragraph shall not apply to the case that it is difficult to comply with the said provisions due to necessity of works and when the employer takes the measures prescribed by the next Article as to the value of the maximum bending moment obtained by the calculation supposing that members between each fulcrum are those of simple beams.
(3) The provision of item (ii) of paragraph (1) shall not apply to the case that it is difficult to comply with the said provisions due to necessity of works and when the said portions are reinforced with two steel pipes combined, etc.

Article 572 (Steel Pipe Scaffolding Constructed by Steel Pipes Other Than Those Conforming to the Steel Pipe Standards)

(1) The employer shall, as regards steel pipe scaffoldings composed of steel pipes other than those conforming to the steel pipe standard, in addition to conform to the provisions of paragraph (1) of Article 570, not use them unless the value of the maximum bending moment between fulcrums calculated by assuming as simple beam structure does not exceed the value obtained by multiplying the section modulus of steel pipe with 1/1.5 of yield point of material of steel pipe (for the yield point is not known, 1/2 of the tensile strength) and coefficients listed in the right column of the following table (in the case that the yield point is unkown, joints are used, 3/4 of the value of the factor) corresponding to the ratio of thickness to outer diameters listed in the left column of the same table.

Ratio of thickness to outer diameter of steel pipe	Coefficient
Thickness, 1/14 or more of outer diameter.	1
Thickness, 1/20 or more and less than 1/14 of outer diameter.	0.9
Thickness, 1/31 or more and less than 1/20 of outer diameter.	0.8

Article 573 (Distinction of Strength of Steel Pipes)

(1) The employer shall, when using steel pipes of the same or similar outer diameter and thickness which differ in strength in the same workplace, in order to prevent dangers to workers due to confused use of such steel pipes, take measures to distinguish the strength by colouring on pipe surface, affixing symbols, etc.
(2) The measure in the preceding paragraph shall not be the distinction by color only.

Section 2 Scaffolding
Sub-section 5 Hanging Scaffolding

Article 574 (Hanging Scaffolding)

(1) The employer shall, as regards the hanging scaffoldings, not use unless they conform to the following provisions:
- (i) To not use hanging wire ropes falling under any of the following provision:
  - (a) Those with10% or more of element wires (excluding filler wires) of which are cut in one strand of wire ropes.
  - (b) Those with reduction ratio of a diameter exceeding 7% of the nominal diameter.
  - (c) Those with kink.
  - (d) Those with marked deformation or corrosion.
- (ii) To not use hanging chains falling under any of the following provision:
  - (a) Those with the elongation exceeding 5% of the original length at the time of manufacture.
  - (b) Those with a reduction ratio of a diameter of links of the said hanging chains exceeding 10% of the original diameter of the said links at the time of manufacture.
  - (c) Those with cracks.
- (iii) Not to use hanging steel wires and hanging steel belts with marked damage, deformation or corrosion.
- (iv) Not to use hanging fiber ropes falling under any of the following provision:
  - (a) Those with cut strand
  - (b) Those with marked damage or corrosion
- (v) To fasten securely one end of hanging wire ropes, hanging chains, hanging steel wires, hanging steel belts or hanging fiber ropes to the scaffolding girder, stirrup, etc., and other end to projected girders, anchor bolts, girders of building, etc.
- (vi) The working floor to be with width of 40 cm or more, and without clearance between floor boards.
- (vii) To fasten the floor materials to the scaffolding girder, stirrup, etc., in order to prevent them from displacing or coming off.
- (viii) To take measures in order to prevent movement or displacement such as providing of stays to the scaffolding girders, stirrups, working floors, etc.
- (ix) For shelf scaffoldings, to connect or fasten securely the jointing portions and crossing portions of girders with steel wires, couplings or clamps.
(2) The provision of item (vi) of the preceding paragraph shall not apply to the case that measures are taken to prevent dangers to workers due to fall or falling objects such as installing a net or a sheet under the working floor or beside the working floor.

Article 575 (Prohibition of Work)

(1) The employer shall not allow workers to use a stepladder, a ladder, etc., on hanging scaffolding.

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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