Chapter I.  General Provisions

(Definition of Terms)

Article 1.  Terms used in this Ordinance shall comply with the definitions in the following items:

(1)   Organic solvents shall be defined as those listed in Attached Table 6-2 of the Enforcement Order of the Industrial Safety and Health Law (called "the Enforcement Order" hereinafter).

(2)   Organic solvents, etc., shall be defined as organic solvents or those substances which contain organic solvents (mixtures of organic solvents with substances other than organic solvents which contain organic solvents of more than 5% by weight; same applies to item (6)).

(3)   First-class organic solvents, etc., shall be defined as those which are listed below from among organic solvents, etc.:

a) Substances listed in items 14, 23, 27, 28, 32, 36 or 38 of Attached Table 6-2 of the Enforcement Order.

b) Mixtures consisting of those substances specified in a).

c) Mixtures of those substances specified in a) with other substances which contain substances specified in a) of more than 5% by weight.

(4)   Second-class organic solvents, etc., shall be defined as those which are listed below:

a) Substances listed in items 1 through 13, 15 through 22, 24 through 26, 29 through 31, 33 through 35, 37 or 39 through 47 of Attached Table 6-2 of the Enforcement Order.

b) Mixtures consisting of those substances specified in a).

c) Mixtures of those substances specified in a) with other substances which contain substances specified in a) of this item or a) of the preceding item of more than 5% by weight (excluding those which are specified in c) of the preceding item).

(5)   Third-class organic solvents, etc., shall be defined as organic solvents, etc., other than those which are defined as being of the first and second classes.

(6)   Organic solvent work shall be defined as those types of work listed below:

a) Work to filter, mix, agitate, heat or pour organic solvents, etc., into containers or equipment in the processes of manufacturing organic solvents, etc.

b) Work to filter, mix, agitate or heat organic solvents, etc., in the processes of manufacturing dye stuff, medicinal chemicals, agricultural chemicals, chemical fibers, synthetic resins, organic pigments, oils and fats, perfume, sweeteners, explosives, photographic chemicals, rubber, plasticizers and intermediates thereof.

c) Work of printing, making use of organic solvents, etc.

d) Work of drawing letters or pictures, making use of organic solvents, etc.

e) Work of glazing, water proofing or other surface processing, making use of organic solvents, etc.

f) Work of applying organic solvents, etc., for adhesion.

g) Work of adhering materials applied with organic solvents, etc.

h) Work of washing or purging, making use of organic solvents, etc. (exclusive of the washing work specified in  l).

i)  Work of coating with organic solvents, etc. (exclusive the coating work specified in l).

j)  Work of drying materials that have had organic solvents applied, etc.

k) Work of testing or research making use of organic solvents, etc.

l)  Work inside of a tank which once contained organic solvents, etc. (exclusive of those which have no possibility of emitting a vapour of organic solvents, etc.; same applies hereinafter).

2.  Given below are the locations defined by the Ministry of Labour Ordinance provided for in item (22) of Article 6 and item (6) of paragraph 1 of Article 22 of the EnforcementOrder:

(1)   Inside of a ship.

(2)   Inside of a vehicle.

(3)   Inside of a tank.

(4)   Inside of a pit.

(5)   Inside of a gallery or shaft (of a mine). 

(6)   Inside of a tunnel.

(7)   Inside of a covered conduit or manhole.

(8)   Inside of a box girder.

(9)   Inside of a duct.

(10) Inside of a water pipe.

(11) Places where ventilation is insufficient other than Indoor workshops and those which are listed in the preceding items.

(Exemptions of Application)

Article 2.  Provisions of Chapter II, Chapter III and Article 19, Article 19-2, Articles 24 through 26 of Chapter IV and Chapter VII and Chapter IX shall not be applied to the work if the said work comes under any of the following classifications when the employer has workers engage in any of the work listed in c) through k) of item (6) of paragraph 1 of the preceding Article.

(1)   Of the indoor workshops, etc. (which shall be defined as indoor workshops and the places specified in every item of paragraph 2 of the preceding Article; same applies hereinafter), when workers are engaged in work in places other than inside of a tank, etc. (which shall be defined as inside of a cellar and other insufficiently ventilated workshop, inside of ship hatches, and the other insufficiently ventilated places within a ship, inside of refrigerated freight cars and the other insufficiently ventilated places within freight cars, and those which are specified in (3) through (11) of paragraph 2 of the preceding Article; same applies hereinafter) and when the quantity of the organic solvents, etc., to be consumed in one working hour does not exceed the quantities obtained by the equations specified in the right column of the following table corresponding to the classifications given in the left column in the same table (the quantity shall be called "permissible consumption of organic solvents, etc." hereinafter).

Remarks:   W and A in the above-stated table stand for the following figures:

W:    Permissible consuming quantity of organic solvents, etc. (Unit: g)

A:    Gas volume of the workshop (whereas a space located higher than 4 m from the floor is not included; unit:cubic meter), where gas volume exceeding 150 m³ shall be deemed as 150 m³.

(2)   When workers are engaged in the said work inside of a tank, and the daily consumption of organic solvents, etc., does not exceed the permissible consumption of the organic solvents, etc.

2.  Consumption of organic solvents, etc., Per working hour provided for in item (1) of the preceding paragraph and the daily consumption of organic solvents, etc., provided for in item (2) of the same paragraph shall be specified in the following items corresponding to the respective work classifications. When work specified in g) of item (6) of paragraph 1 of the preceding Article is to be continuously conducted in the same place following the work specified in f) of   the same item and when the work specified in j) of the same item is to be continuously conducted in the same place following the work of applying organic solvents, etc., to the material to be dried, the quantities of organic solvents, etc., consumed in the work specified in g) and j), respectively, shall be exempted from the consumption.

(1)   For the work specified in any of c) through f) or h), i) or k) of item (6) of the preceding Article: quantity obtained by multiplying a figure separately stipulated by the Minister of Labour by the consumption of organic solvents, etc., during one working hour in the cases of item (1) of the preceding paragraph and during one working day in the cases of item (2) of the same paragraph.

(2)   For the work specified in either g) or j) of item (6) of the preceding Article: quantity obtained by multiplying a figure separately stipulated by the Minister of Labour by the quantities of organic solvents either applied to or sticking to materials to be coated or adhered during one working hour in the cases of item (1) of the preceding paragraph and during one working day in the cases of item (2) of the same paragraph.

Article 3.  This Ordinance (exclusive of Article 27 of Chapter IV and Chapter VIII) shall not be applied to work coming under any of the following classifications in the cases that an employer engages his workers in the work listed in c) through k) of item (6) of paragraph 1 of Article 1. In such cases, the employer shall be so recognized by the Chief of the Labour Standards Inspection Office who governs the location of the workplace (hereinafter called "the Chief of the competent Labour Standards Inspection Office").

(1)   In cases that workers are engaged in the said work in indoor workshops other than inside of a tank, and when the consumption of organic solvents, etc., per working hour does not exceed the permissible  consumption of organic solvents, etc., under a normal situation.

(2)   In cases that workers are engaged in the said work inside of a tank or the like, and when the daily consumption of organic solvents, etc., does not exceed the permissible consumption of organic solvents, etc., under any situation.

2.  The provisions of the paragraph 2 of the preceding Article shall be applied to the quantity of organic solvents, etc., consumed in one working hour specified in item (1) of the preceding paragraph, and the quantity of organic solvents, etc., consumed in a day specified in item (2) of the same paragraph.

(Procedure of Applying for Recognition)

Article 4.  The employer who wants to be recognized as provided for in paragraph 1 of the preceding Article (hereinafter called "recognition") shall file with the Chief of the competent Labour Standards Inspection Office a Petition for Recognition for Partial Exemption of Applying Ordinance on the Prevention of Organic Solvents Poisoning (Form No. 1) attached with a sketch of the workshop.

2.  The Chief of the competent Labour Standards Inspection Office who receives such a petition shall notify the said employer whether or not such an exemption was recognized in writing as soon as the decision is made.

3.  An employer who receives such recognition, when the recognized work ceases to fall under the stipulation of paragraph 1 of the preceding Article, shall report the fact in writing to the Chief of the competent Labour Standards Inspection Office without delay.

4.  The Chief of the competent Labour Standards Inspection Office shall revoke the said recognition as soon as the recognized work does not come under any stipulation of paragraph 1 of the preceding Article or the report as provided for in the preceding paragraph is filed with his office.