Chapter VIII.  Permission for Manufacturing, etc.

(Procedures for Release of Prohibition of Manufacture, etc.)

Article 46.  The employer who tries to receive the permission as provided in item (1) of paragraph 2 of Article 16 of the Enforcement Order, when he/she manufactures or uses the substances listed in each item of paragraph 1 of the same Article (hereinafter referred to as "substances prohibited from being manufactured") shall submit a written application using the Form No. 4 to the Chief of the Prefectural Labour Standards Office in charge of the district in which the place therein to manufacture or use substances prohibited from being manufactured exists via the Chief of the Labour Standards Inspection Office in charge of the said place. When the employer imports the substances prohibited from being manufactured into the country, he/she shall submit a written application using the Form No. 4 to the Chief of the Prefectural Labour Standards Office in charge of the district in which the place therein to use the imported substances prohibited from being manufactured exists via the Chief of the Labour Standard Inspection Office in charge of the said place.

2.  When the Chief of the Prefectural Labour Standards Office gives a permission in compliance with item (1) of paragraph 2 of Article 16 of the Enforcement Order, he/she shall grant the written permission using Form No. 4-2 to the applicant.

(Standards concerning Manufacture of Substances Prohibited from Being Manufactured, etc.)

Article 47.  The standards established by the Minister of Labour in compliance with item (2) of paragraph 2 of Article 16 of the Enforcement Order are as follows.

(1)   The facilities to manufacture the substances prohibited from being manufactured shall be of a tightly closed structure, provided that this does not apply in terms of the case in which it is extremely difficult to make the facilities with the said tightly closed structure because of working conditions for manufacture of the substances and also in which the said facilities are installed on the insides of draft chambers.

(2)   The facilities to manufacture the substances prohibited from being manufactured shall be installed in places whose floors can easily be cleaned by water washing.

(3)   Those who manufacture or use substances prohibited from being manufactured shall have sufficient knowledge on prevention of health impairment by the said substances.

(4)   In terms of containers into which the substances prohibited from being manufactured are put, the containers shall be firm and hard in order to prevent the possibility that leakage might occur of the said substances from the containers, and the employer shall indicate in writing the contents of the containers on portions of the containers which are easily visible.

(5)   In terms of storing of the substances prohibited from being manufactured, the employer shall store the substances at certain fixed locations or places, and shall indicate in writing the storage location of said containers in places which are easily visible.

(6)   Those who manufacture or use the substances prohibited from being manufactured shall wear impermeable protective clothes and protective gloves.

(7)   The places therein to manufacture the substances prohibited from being manufactured shall be prohibited from being entered into by any other than those who are engaged in work related to the manufacture of the said substances, and the employer shall indicate this prohibition in writing in places which are easily visible.

(Permission for Manufacturing)

Article 48.  The permission, as provided in paragraph 1 of Article 56 of the Law, shall be granted to the employer in terms of each of the substances set forth in item (1) of Attached Table 3 of the Enforcement Order, and also of each of the plants which manufacture the said substances.

(Permission Procedures)

Article 49.   An employer who wishes to receive the permission set forth in paragraph 1 of Article 56 of the Law shall submit a written application using the Form No. 5 attached with written purports using Form No. 6 to the Minister of Labour via the Chief of the Labour Standards Inspection Office in charge of the places or districts therein to manufacture the substances related to the permission.

2.  When the Minister of Labour gives permission to the employer in compliance with paragraph 1 of Article 56 of the Law, he/she shall grant a written permission using Form No. 7 (hereinafter referred to as "written permission") to the applicant.

3.  When one who was granted a written permission loses or damages the said permission, he/she shall submit a written application using Form No. 8 to the Minister of Labour via the Chief of the Labour Standard Inspection Office as provided for in paragraph 1, to be re-granted the said written permission.

4.  When one who was granted the said written permission changes his/her name (in the case of a judicial person, that name), he/she shall submit a written application using Form No. 8 and concerning the change of name to the Minister of Labour via the Chief of the Labour Standard Inspection Office to be re-granted the written permission in which a change is made in its name.

(Standards on Permission for Manufacturing)

Article 50.  From among group-l substances, listed hereunder are the standards established by the Minister of Labour in compliance with paragraph 2 of Article 56 of the Law concerning the manufacture of the substances set forth in items (1) through (5) and (7) in Attached Table 3 of the Enforcement Order and the substances relating to items (1) through (5) and (7) in the same table out of those set forth in item (8) of the same table (hereinafter referred to as "dichlorobenzidine, etc.") (exclusive of the manufacture of the dichlorobenzidine, etc., for experimentation and research).

(1)   The workshops installed with facilities thereby to manufacture dichlorobenzidine, etc., or to handle dichlorobenzidine, etc., manufactured by the said facilities shall be separated from other workshops, and the former workshops shall have floors and walls made of impermeable materials.

(2)   The facilities to manufacture dichlorobenzidine, etc., shall be of a sealed-construction type and designed so that the workers to engage in the supply, transfer or carriage of the raw materials, etc., can be protected from direct contact with the said substance.

(3)   The joints of reactors shall be joined tightly using gaskets, etc., to prevent gas or vapour from leaking through the ground of the stirrer, etc., during the exothermic reaction process or the heating process, and condensers shall be supplied with adequate cooling water to prevent the overflow of raw materials or the reactants from the reactor if an abnormal reaction should occur.

(4)   The sieving machine or vacuum filtering machine requiring observation of its interior during operation shall be provided with a sealed cover which permits the inside of the machine to be observed in a sealed condition, and, if necessary, the sealed cover shall be locked in order to prevent it from being opened accidentally.

(5)   The workers to handle the dichlorobenzidine, etc., shall be provided with an isolated room for remote-control operation except where powdery dichlorobenzidine, etc., are moistened.

(6)   Where conforming to the provision of the preceding item is extremely difficult in carrying out the work for weighing, putting into containers or packing in bags the dichlorobenzidine, etc., such work shall be carried out by a method which enables the workers to be protected from direct contact with the said substances and in the workplace where local exhaust ventilation systems with enclosed hoods are installed.

(7)   The local exhaust ventilation system set forth in the preceding item shall meet the following requirements:

a)   Installation of a hood for each of the sources of gas, vapour and dust produced from the dichlorobenzidine, etc.

b)   Reduction of the length of bends in the duct as short as possible and the number of bends in the duct as small as possible, and provision of covered openings at appropriate locations of the duct for easy cleaning.

c)   Provision of a local exhaust ventilation system for exhausting the gas containing the dust of dichlorobenzidine, etc., with a dust exclusion device conforming to the appropriate dust removing method and the particle size of the dust designated respectively in the right  column and left column of the table in paragraph 1 of Article 9 or the equivalent, provided that a prior dust exclusion device for the dust of larger particle size shall be installed if necessary. 

d)   Installation of the fans of a local exhaust ventilation system with the dust exclusion device designated in c) at a location at which the air passes after the dust exclusion, except where there is no fear of the explosion of the dust drawn into the ventilation system with the dust exclusion device designated in c) and no fear of corrosion of its fan.

e)   Opening to the outdoors the outlet of the ventilation system.

f)   Installation of a local exhaust ventilation system with a capacity conforming to the requirements designated by the Minister of Labour.

(8)   The exhaust duct for exhausting gas containing the dust of dichlorobenzidine, etc., shall be provided with the dust exclusion device set forth in c) of item (7).

(9)   The local exhaust ventilation system set forth in item (6) and the dust exclusion device set forth in c) of item (7) and the preceding item shall be kept in operation while the work relating to the dichlorobenzidine, etc., is in progress.  

(10) The discharged fluid from manufacturing facilities of the dichlorobenzidine, etc., containing the substances listed in the left column of the table in paragraph 1 of Article 11 shall be treated by a discharged fluid disposition device conforming to the appropriate disposition method designated in the right column of the said table or equivalent, and such disposition device shall be operated efficiently.

(11) In manufacturing or handling dichlorobenzidine, etc., a work procedure intended for preventing leakage and the contamination of workers with dichlorobenzidine, etc., shall be established with respect to the following items, and be followed when the manufacturing or handling work is carried out:

a)   Operation of the valves, cocks, etc. (restricted to those to be used in supplying the raw materials to the manufacturing or handling facilities of dichlorobenzidine, etc., and those to be used in taking out the products from the said facilities).

b)   Operation of cooling, heating, stirring and compressiondevices.

c)   Monitoring and adjustment of measuring instruments and controllers.

d)   Adjustment of safety valves, emergency shutoff devices, other safety devices and automatic alarm devices.

e)   Checking for the possible leakage of dichlorobenzidine, etc. at joints of covers, flanges, valves, cocks, etc.

f)   Sampling and treatment of sampling devices.

g)   Measures to be taken at the time of emergency.

h) Use, inspection, storage and maintenance of personal protectiveequipment.

i)   Other necessary measures for preventing the leakage of dichlorobenzidine, etc.

(12) When collecting sample products from the facilities to manufacture dichlorobenzidine, etc., the following requirements shall be observed.

a) Use of exclusive containers for sampling

b)   Taking of samples from predetermined points, exercising adequate care not to cause samples to be scattered

c)   Thorough washing with warm water of the containers used for sampling and storage of them at a predetermined place.

(13) The employer shall have the workers wear working clothes, impermeable protective gloves and boots when they are to handle dichlorobenzidine, etc.

2.  The provisions given below are established by the Minister of Labour in compliance with paragraph 2 of Article 56 of the Law in respect to the manufacture of dichlorobenzidine, etc., for experimentation and research. 

(1)   The facilities thereby to manufacture dichlorobenzidine, etc., shall be of a tightly closed structure, provided that this does not apply in respect to the cases that the said facilities are installed inside the draft chambers when it is extremely difficult to make the said facilities with a tightly closed structure because of characteristics inherent to the said work.

(2)   The floors of the facilities thereby to manufacture dichlorobenzidine, etc., shall be easily cleaned by water washing.

(3)   Those who manufacture dichlorobenzidine, etc., shall have sufficient knowledge on prevention of health impairment by dichlorobenzidine, etc.

(4)   Those who manufacture dichlorobenzidine, etc., shall wear impermeable protective clothes and protective gloves.

Article 50-2.  The standards established by the Minister of Labour conforming to paragraph 2of Article 56 of the Law concerning the manufacture of beryllium, etc. (exclusive of the manufacture of beryllium for experimentation and research) shall be conforming to the next paragraph and also be as follows:

(1)   The facilities for sintering or calcinating beryllium, etc. (exclusive of the facilities in the process of manufacturing high-purity beryllium from beryllium hydroxide; same as in the followingitem) shall be installed indoors isolated from other workplaces, and the site of the said facilities shall be provided with a local exhaust ventilation system.

(2)   The manufacturing facilities of beryllium, etc. (exclusive of the facilities to sinter or calcinateberyllium, the facilities in the process of manufacturing beryllium alloy from beryllium, etc., melted by an arc furnace, etc., and the facilities in the process of manufacturing high-purity beryllium oxide from beryllium hydroxide) shall be ofa tightly closed structure, or be with the covers enclosing the top, bottom and sides of the facilities.

(3)   Of the manufacturing facilities with a tightly closed structure, or with covers enclosing the top, bottom and sides of those facilities, conforming to the provision of the preceding item (2) , those required to have their interiors observed while they are in operation shall be provided with top, bottom and side covers which permit their interiors to be observed either in sealed condition or in the condition enclosed by the top, bottom and side covers. If necessary, such covers of the manufacturing facilities shall be locked so that they cannot be opened accidentally.

(4)   The floors and walls of the work site where beryllium, etc., are manufactured or handled shall be made of impermeable materials.

(5)   The places where the following work is to be carried out in the processes of manufacturing beryllium alloy from beryllium, etc., melted by an arc furnace shall be provided with local exhaust ventilation systems.

a)   Work to be carried out on  the arc furnace, etc.

b)   Work to discharge molten material from the arc furnace, etc.

c)   Work for removing the gas from molten beryllium

d)   Work for removing the slag from molten beryllium

e)   Work for casting molten beryllium

(6)   A sand seal shall be used to reduce the gap between the electrode and the electrode insertion hole of the arc furnace.

(7)   The facilities in the process of manufacturing high-purity beryllium from beryllium hydroxide shall meet the following requirements:

a)   Installation of the thermal decomposition furnace indoors isolated from other workplaces

b) Use of the sealed type facilities enclosed with top, bottom and side covers or facilities which can be enclosed with covers when installation of other facilities is necessary.

(8)   Taking out of the sintered or calcined beryllium, etc., from the container by suction force.

(9)   Breaking up of the container used for sintering or calcined at the site isolated from other workplaces in the building. The site of the breaking work shall be provided with a local exhaust ventilation system.

(10) The supply, transfer or carrying of the beryllium, etc., by the method in which the bodies of the workers can be protected from direct contact with beryllium.

(11)   Provision of an isolated room for remote control for workers who handle powdered beryllium (exclusive of handling for supply, transfer and carrying)

(12) Use of the work procedure by which the workers can be protected from direct contact with beryllium, etc., and installation of a local exhaust ventilation system with enclosing hoods in the workplace, if it is found to be extremely difficult to conform to the provision of the preceding item (11) in carrying out the work for weighing, putting into containers, taking out from containers or packing in the bags the powdered beryllium

(13) In manufacturing or handling beryllium, etc., the work procedure intended for preventing the scattering of beryllium dust, etc., and the contamination of the workers with beryllium, etc., during the following types of work shall be established.

a)   Putting beryllium, etc., into containers or taking it out of containers

b)   Carrying containers filled with beryllium, etc.

c)   Inspection of pneumatic conveyance systems for beryllium, etc.

d)   Replacement of filters for dust collecting devices with filters (inclusive of the replacement of the filter for dust  exclusion devices with filters)

e)   Sampling and treatment of sampling devices

f)   Measures to be taken at the time of emergency

g)   Uses, inspection, storage and maintenance of personal protective equipment

h)   Other measures necessary for preventing scattering of beryllium dust, etc.

(14) The employer whose workers handle beryllium, etc., shall have such workers wear working clothes and protective gloves (impermeable protective gloves for workers to handle moistened beryllium).

2.  The provisions set forth in items (7) to (10) inclusive, and (12), paragraph 1 of the preceding Article are applicable corresponding to the standards established by the Minister of Labour, in compliance with paragraph 2 of Article 56 of the Law concerning the manufacture of beryllium, etc., as stipulated in the preceding paragraph. In this case, "the preceding item" set forth in item (7) of paragraph 1 of preceding Article shall be read as "items (1), (5), (9) and (12) of paragraph 1 of Article 50-2," and similarly "Dichlorobenzidine, etc." set forth in item (8) of the same paragraph as "beryllium, etc.," "item (6)" in item (9) of the same paragraph 1, as "items (1), (5), (9) and (12) of paragraph 1 of Article 50-2," "Dichlorobenzidine, etc." set forth in the same items as "beryllium, etc.," and "Dichlorobenzidine, etc." in items (10) and (12) of the same paragraph as "beryllium, etc." 

3.  The provisions set forth in paragraph 2 of the preceding Article shall be applicable to the standards as established by the Minister of Labour, on the basis of the provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 56 of the Law concerning the manufacture of beryllium, etc., for experimentation or research. In this case, "Dichlorobenzidine, etc." set forth in the respective items in paragraph 2 of the preceding Article shall be read as "Beryllium, etc.".