| 1. |
Aim of the Plan |
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(1) |
Basic concepts |
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Ensuring the safety and health of the working people
is the basis of worker welfare and is a national task.
Under these assumptions, employers must ensure
the safety and health of the workers in environments that they set. The
workers must recognize their own roles while participating actively in
safety and health actions taken by the employers.
Industrial accidents have been steadily brought
down through the long term efforts of those involved but still 600,000
workers are injured on their jobs, mainly in traditional accidents, and
deaths still exceed 2,000.
On the other hand, the Japanese industries face
drastic environmental and structural changes home and abroad. There are
the changes in employment patterns from the shift to an information based
service economy, and the entrance of different types of workers such as
the elderly, women, and young people which increase the styles of working.
And through changes in technology, the working environment of each individual
workplace is changing including their machines and equipment.
These changes influence the corporate efforts at
worker safety and health, worker awareness of safety and health, and the
safety and health levels sought at the workplace and offer challenges to
Japanese efforts in the field of industrial safety and health.
This plan, under these circumstances, will identify
the basic articles of industrial accident prevention measures in Japan.
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(2) |
Past efforts |
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In order to achieve results in industrial accident
prevention, the government, employers, and other relevant parties must
work in unison and need to implement any measures in a comprehensive and
planned manner. Therefore, the government has developed the industrial
accident prevention plan in order to clarify their own plans and to offer
guidance to employers in their independent efforts.
With these goals in mind, there have been eight
consecutive five-year industrial accident prevention plans since 1958 when
the Comprehensive Five-year Industrial Accident Prevention Plan was established.
In the first through third plans between 1958 and the 1973, the most pressing
issues were to prevent frequent accidents, which occurred under the regulatory
framework of the Labor Standards Law that set minimum working standards.
In plans fourth through eighth after the enactment
of the Occupational Safety and Health Law in 1972, the issue became the
assurance of a higher level of safety and health. In recent years, the
focus has shifted to include not only preventing industrial accidents but
also maintaining and increasing health and providing pleasant workplaces.
Thus the industrial safety and health measures
have evolved from assuring the minimum standards to realizing a higher
standard of safety and health as the needs of the people have changed.
Such direction needs to be maintained in the future.
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(3) |
Basic policies of this plan |
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This plan, considering the above points, was formulated
to realize workplaces where the workers of 21st Century Japan can work
in safety and in good health. With globalization and the advancement of
IT (information technology) in mind, it will tackle the basic issues in
the following manner: |
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i. Eradication of accident related deaths |
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Since each and every worker has their families
to support and plays their roles in society, their lives should not be
violated.
But even though the injuries have come down from
600,000 and deaths from 3,000 in 1981, as of 1996, the fatalities still
numbered 2,363. Since the number has been in the 2,000's range for 16 years,
a breakthrough should be attempted to radically reduce fatalities. |
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ii. Assuring safety and health in SMEs (small-and-medium-sized
enterprises) |
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Although the level of safety and health of Japan
as whole has been steadily increasing, those of SMEs are not yet sufficient
and as a result, their injury rates are still high than those of big business.
Thus appropriate measures, such as assuring their compliance of industrial
accident regulations, and supporting the independent and collective efforts
by the SMEs, should be taken. |
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iii. Assuring safety and health in a graying society |
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Japan is heading toward an unprecedented graying
society with a low birthrate and the number of the working elderly and
the ratio they occupy in workplaces will most likely continue to rise.
Elderly workers have a higher rate of industrial accidents and a higher
rate of medical findings in the health checkups. Giving these elderly the
peace of mind to work and offering them the opportunity to fully achieve
their potential will lead to more social vitality.
Previous safety and health policies have treated
elderly workers as an addition to general safety and health policies but
in the future, such measure should be put in place with the assumption
that the elderly will be working alongside the younger workers. |
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iv. Introducing new safety and health management methods |
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Looking at the recent safety and health management
records, problems lie where the practical knowledge on safety, health,
and accident prevention was accumulated by the safety and health managers
who have stayed on their positions for extended number of years but has
not been properly transferred to successors after their retirement.
Also, in the small-scale production sites that
make up the bulk of the total of Japanese production sites, generally speaking,
there are insufficient number of personnel with the proper knowledge of
safety and health issues. There seems to be a number of such sites with
poor management structures.
Thus, safety and health management methods from
new vantage points such as continual safety and health management methods
that are less affected by personal ability and creation of a mechanism
that promotes various safety and health measures by comprehensively utilizing
sources, professionals and organizations, outside the firm should be developed
and implemented. |
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v. Promoting workers' health policies that reduce the increasing
physical and mental stress at work |
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Even though Japanese have become wealthy, there
are continued cases of pneumoconiosis, organic solvent poisoning, and other
occupational diseases. Recently, there are increasing number of workers
who have been given a diagnosis during the medical examination.
As the industrial society is expected to undergo
transformation, the increasing physical and mental stress on workers from
the changing facets of their work is a cause of concern. From the standpoint
of a healthy development of Japanese society, it is imperative that not
only occupational diseases are prevented but also the health of the workers
at the workplace be actively assured. For this purpose, industrial health
services will be widely offered by networking the Occupational Health Promotion
Centers, Regional Occupational Health Centers, Industrial Accident Hospitals,
and organizations involved in industrial health. We will further aim for
a pleasant working atmosphere. |
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vi. Raising safety and health awareness from the basics |
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There is a concern that, in the globalization of
economic activity and business competition, increases in productivity and
efficiency will take precedence over safety and health measures.
Also, because of the declining number of workers
who have experienced industrial accidents caused by the declines in industrial
accidents over the long term, it is possible that the level of sensitivity
for safety and health has been lowered. Therefore, raising of the level
of awareness, centered on the younger generation, on these issues is needed.
In order to prevent the backsliding into the age
when the low level of safety and health awareness caused large numbers
of accidents, it is necessary to return to the basics of safety and health
and raise their awareness. At the same time, appeals should be made to
the general public for the importance of industrial accident prevention.
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| 2. |
Duration of the Plan |
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The plan will be a five-year plan starting in fiscal
1998 and ending in fiscal 2002.
If extraordinary circumstances regarding industrial safety and health occur within the duration of the plan, the plan will be revised.
During the duration of the plan, its progress will
be monitored appropriately and any policies based on it proposed accordingly.
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| 3. |
Goals of the Plan |
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The goals will be:
i. On industrial fatalities, to break through the long term
2,000 per year barrier and greatly reduce fatalities
ii. To reduce by 20%, the number of industrial accidents during the
plan
iii. To reduce cases of industrial illnesses such as pneumoconiosis, occupational
cancer, etc. and to eradicate anoxia, carbon monoxide poisoning, etc. that
can easily lead to fatalities
iv. To maintain and increase the health of the workers by such measures
as offering more complete industrial health services and promoting a more
pleasant working environment
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| 4. |
Issues Regarding Industrial Accident Prevention |
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Issues regarding industrial accident prevention
are as follows. The actual measures are listed from "5. Industrial
accident prevention measures in priority areas" to "7. Strengthening
safety and health management measures." The systems that will ensure
their smooth operation are listed in "8. Developing government policies
on safety and health."
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(1) |
Issues seen from trends in industrial accidents |
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Industrial accidents have been on a long-term decline
ever since reaching a peak in 1961. But still approximately 600,000 workers
are injured on their jobs annually and 160,000 of them are injuries that
require 4 or more days of sick leave (four days plus injuries). Over 2,000
worker fatalities are still reported every year and after going below the
3,000 level in 1981, fatalities have been stuck in the 2,000 level for
16 years without any significant decreases.
Cases of large accidents with more than three injured
have not seen any decreases, remaining at around 200 case a year. |
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a. |
Circumstances of industrial accident occurrences by industry |
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(a) |
Construction |
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The number of workers in the construction industry
account for about 10% of the total workforce in Japan but in terms of Industrial
accidents, they make up approximately 30% of four day plus injuries and
about 40% of fatalities.
In industrial accident prevention, the master employers
play important roles. Accidents are more frequent in sites where SME contractors
are the subcontractors than where large general contractors are the subcontractors.
Accidental falls account for approximately 40%
of the total fatal injuries, including fatalities of approximately 20%
of the total caused by construction machinery.
Elsewhere, events such as soil avalanches in mountain
and landslide prevention sites cause a large number of casualties and result
in significant disasters which gain societal attention. |
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(b) |
Manufacturing |
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Four day plus injuries in manufacturing make up
approximately 30% of the industrial total and its fatalities make up about
20% of the total. Manufacturing accidents, which injure more than three
workers make up about 30% of the total. Looking at the type of accidents,
transportation accidents make up about 20% of the manufacturing total while
accidents caused by limbs caught in machine account for almost 50% of the
total. Many of the significant accidents are transport related or caused
by explosions and fires. |
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(c) |
Land surface shipping |
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The number of businesses and workers have both
increased in the land surface shipping business due to recent increases
in cargo volume and deregulation on new entrants. The content of their
services has also changed because of the increasing number of shipping
services available. This industry accounts for approximately 10% of all
four day plus injuries and about 20% of all fatalities. In the past several
years, the rate of reduction of accident cases has been sluggish and fatalities
have actually been on the rise.
In accident breakdown by type, about 70% of fatalities
are traffic accidents. Most of the four days plus injuries are caused by
falls while loading or unloading and falling loads. |
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(d) |
Tertiary Industry |
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The tertiary industry, the service sector (excluding
transport, land surface shipping, and port shipping) has been expanding,
both in terms of business sites and the number of workers, due to the progression
to a service oriented economy. This industry accounts for approximately
30% of the total in four days plus injuries and about 20% of all industrial
fatalities. The industry share of four days plus injuries has been increasing
annually.
In the service sector as a whole, about 50% of
fatalities are traffic deaths and approximately 20% of four day plus injuries
are caused by falls. Due to the diversified nature of the service sector,
the circumstances of industrial accidents differ in each case. Appropriate
responses are needed. |
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b. |
Circumstances of industrial accident occurrences by business size |
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Approximately 90% of industrial accidents occur
at SMEs with less than 300 employees.
Comparing the accident ratio between businesses
with 100 to 299 employees and those with 30 to 49 employees to those with
over 1,000 employees, the ratio is five times and eight times higher, respectively.
The accident ratio becomes higher as the business size shrinks. |
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c. |
Circumstances of industrial accident occurrences by employee age |
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Looking at the accident ratio for four days plus
accidents by the victim's age group, the 30's have the lowest rate and
the ratio rises with age thereafter. The 50's have a rate twice that of
the 30's. Workers in their 20's also have a high accident rate.
For employees over the age of 50, even though they
comprise about 30% of the workforce, they make up close to 50% of four-day
plus accidents and deaths. This ratio is also on the rise. |
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d. |
Circumstances of industrial accident occurrences by type of accident |
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Looking at the industrial accidents by type of
accident, many four day plus accidents are caused by falls and by being
trapped by machinery. In fatalities, falls and traffic deaths each make
up about 30% of all total fatalities.
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(2) |
Issues concerning assuring workers' health |
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a. |
Causes of industrial illnesses |
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Cases of pneumoconiosis are still being discovered
and countermeasures are needed in tunnel boring, arc welding, and ceramics
industries. For patients with pneumoconiosis, appropriate care is needed
to stave off the progression of the disease and to avert its complications.
Backaches can be found in diverse industries and
processes and over 5,000 cases are reported annually. Offices are expected
to become even more high tech and the health effects of computer and video
monitors are a cause of concern. |
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b. |
Need for prevention against health hazards by chemical substances |
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Acute illnesses such as anoxia and hydrogen sulfide,
carbon monoxide, and organic solvent poisoning often lead to deaths or
severe injuries and the case numbers have not been stable over the years.
Carbon monoxide and organic solvent poisoning occur often in construction.
Over 30,000 people have been diagnosed by the legally established, special
health checkups on chemicals.
For these reasons, the thorough implementation
of basic procedures is essential.
Furthermore, there are cases like that of dioxin
in the industrial waste business whose health effects on humans are strongly
suspected and have become major social problems.
Aside from these chemical substances, there are
over 50,000 chemicals used in workplaces and new ones are introduced every
year. Among them are substances like 2-bromopropane, which have later,
been proved to be toxic.
Under these circumstances, employers need to first
ascertain the toxicity of the chemicals handled and determine proper measures
in order to prevent health hazards from chemicals and industrial cancer.
To promote such actions by employers, knowledge on existing harmful substances
needs to be distributed efficiently. For chemical substances whose toxicity
is not clear, the people in the industry should test their possible carcinogenicity
with an eye toward relevant international trends. |
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c. |
Need for promoting health maintenance and enhancement |
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Looking at recent general periodic health checkup
results, in 1996, 38% of the patients received some type of diagnosis.
Of which, there were increasing number of cases of cerebro- vascular disease
and ischemic heart disease (HIS) are on the rise.
Lifestyles are deeply involved in the cause and
progression of such diseases. But when especially heavy workloads exceed
normal work routines, the worsening of chronic illnesses could cause these
diseases. Thus, from the standpoint of prevention of these diseases, appropriate
health management and promoting health maintenance and enhancement of workers
is very important.
In terms of psychological health, 57% of workers
felt stress caused by trouble at work and at the workplace. Keeping psychological
health is also an important issue.
In terms of business size, small businesses have
a more graying population more than larger businesses. Thus small businesses
have a higher rate of diagnosis in checkups yet have a lower rate of checkup
attendance and efforts at health maintenance and enhancement are not sufficient.
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(3) |
Issues regarding safety and health management |
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a. |
Need for safety and health management methods from new perspectives |
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Past safety and health maintenance systems at the
workplace have been appropriately codified and established, and seems to
have brought a long-term decline in accidents.
But these past efforts have been maintained and
improved by a generation of workers who have experienced the age of frequent
industrial accidents and have gained first hand prevention expertise. The
concern is that when these experienced workers leave their posts, mostly
through retirement, their accumulated knowledge of safety and health will
not be properly transmitted and lead to lower levels of safety, health,
and more accidents.
Furthermore, even workplaces that have had zero
accidents are not "accident free workplaces" and possess accident
potential. Constant efforts are needed to keep that potential in check.
One of the problems that cause more accidents at
SMEs seems to be the fact that there is a shortage of personnel who have
sufficient knowledge and expertise of safety and health management and
many SMEs are not able to retain such workers.
Safety and health management methods from new perspectives
are needed to counter such trends. |
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b. |
Need to promote self-responsible safety and health by management and labor |
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In order to prevent industrial accidents, not only
do the employers must implement safety and health management activities
but each of the workers must also actively participate in the safety and
health management in the workplace. The safety and health committees are
set up for this purpose but the reality is that they are not very active.
To reduce accidents, positions of foremen and others
who will directly oversee the workers are important.
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(4) |
Issues in safety and health in a transitional industrial society |
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Japan's industrial society is in a state of transition
and it is expected to affect problems of safety and health. Thus measures
are necessary with the following points in mind: |
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a. |
Consideration for elderly workers |
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In the early 21st Century, it is expected that
approximately one out of five workers will be elderly workers over the
age of 60. With this in mind, it is necessary to prepare the conditions
that will make it possible for elderly workers, who will become providers
again, to work in good health.
With the advancement of gender equity in employment,
the number of women workers is likely to increase along with the types
industries where they work.
Given these circumstances, existing safety and
health levels need to be reviewed with the increase in the number of elderly
workers in mind so that workers of all age groups can work in good health. |
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b. |
Active measures to deal with increasing psychological stress |
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Office procedures have changed because of the introduction
of office machines and factories have become more automated making processes,
repair and maintenance more complicated. In radically changing working
conditions such as these, increased stress on the job is a concern and
active responses are needed. |
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c. |
Creating a pleasant workplace |
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Due to the rapid changes in technological innovation,
work procedures and work environments are changing drastically which causes
fatigue and stress in many workers. In the context of an aging workforce,
more female participation in the workforce, and increases in the form of
employment, workplaces that not only meet the minimum standards set by
the Industrial Safety and Health Law and other legislation but also offer
a pleasant workplace to all workers need to be realized. |
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d. |
Responding to new technology |
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New technology and materials on the one hand offer
increases in productivity and convenience in life but on the other bring
industrial accidents and the possibility of health hazards from chemicals
whit little data on their toxicity, in installing computer regulated automated
production systems, construction systems for massive structures using construction
robots, and in introducing processes that handle super fine material. |
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e. |
Responding to changes in forms of employment |
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In recent years, the ratio of workers working part-time,
as temps, and on the side have been increasing in every industry and all
types of firms. In 1996, they accounted for 19.8% of all workers, which
seem to contribute to the diversification of forms of employment. The advances
in information and telecommunication systems have made telecommuting possible.
And at every firm, outsourcing, subcontracting and creating subsidiaries
is more common.
Especially in the temping industry, the concern
is that neither the temping agency nor their clients will offer complete
safety and health management.
The effects of such diversification of forms of
employment on safety and health management need to be understood and necessary
measures taken. |
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f. |
Responding to deregulation |
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Even in the age of market principles and self-responsibility,
it is still assumed that the safety and health of the workers are the responsibility
of the employers and the need for regulations for this purpose remains.
But there is a need to appropriately revise the content of the regulations
while remembering not to cause a lowering of the standards of safety and
health in responding to changes in the economy and advances in technology. |
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g. |
Considerations for international trends |
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It is necessary to pay attention to international
trends in proceeding with safety and health measures with the advent of
globalization of the economy.
International travel has also become very frequent.
Foreign workers and trainees are expected to increase in the future as
well and there is a need for appropriate responses to assure safety and
health with taking issues such as the language barrier into consideration.
Those Japanese firms that have expanded overseas need to consider the safety
and health of both their expatriate employees and local workers. The Japanese
knowledge and experiences in safety and health should be transferred to
developing and other nations.
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| 5. |
Industrial Accident Prevention Measures in Priority Areas |
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(1) |
Industrial accident prevention measures by industry |
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The following measures, listed by industry, shall
be placed on high priority. Also, forestry, port shipping, and other industries
with high accident rates will also be dealt with actively. |
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a. |
Construction industry measures |
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Push for comprehensive measures for industrial
accident prevention centered on master employers. In order to increase
the safety and health management leadership toward the specialist subcontractors
by especially the regional SME general contractors, comprehensive policies
will be implemented that support the education of newly appointed foremen
and new entrants into the construction industry.
Policies should be also promoted that will seek
to improve the safety and health management capabilities of the specialist
subcontractors themselves.
To decrease the incidences of accidents caused
by falls, measures to prevent unsafe acts, construction methods that do
not accompany procedures in high places, and high performance and simple
safety belts and nets should be developed and promoted. The use of erecting
scaffolding first method in wooden construction and low-rise residential
buildings should be promoted to make it standard procedure.
In order to reduce accidents involving construction
machinery, the safety level of construction machinery should be improved
by developing and promoting the use of sensors that prevent dangerous contact.
In other areas, in order to prevent characteristic
disasters in specific locations such as landslides in waterworks and road
construction and soil avalanches in afforestation and soil erosion prevention,
guidelines should be written and promoted for every type of construction
along with other safety measures being undertaken.
Also, comprehensive plans will be developed against
hazards due to dust and prevention plans for carbon monoxide and organic
solvent poisoning will be strictly enforced.
In implementing these industrial accident prevention
measures, the cooperation of the subcontractee is essential and throughout,
active measures should be promoted for industrial accident prevention. |
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b. |
Land surface shipping industry measures |
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Traffic accident prevention measures will be thoroughly
implemented. In order to make prevention measures against falls in loading
areas and accidents involving loading machinery complete, safety and health
activities should be conducted that will grasp the circumstances at the
working site and provide appropriate guidance at the site and the location
of direct supervision.
Safety and health management activities will be
promoted in truck terminals where multiple workplaces interact with each
other.
Elsewhere, the use of appropriate conditions by
cargo owners will be promoted and safe- working environments will be maintained
at loading sites. |
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c. |
Tertiary industry measures |
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Preventive measures against traffic accidents be
made thorough. In order to complete safety and health management activities,
comprehensive guidelines that include laws and regulations will be compiled
for every type of job which include all safety and health measures and
its observance should be made thorough.
In order to revitalize on a nationwide level industrial
accidents prevention activity by industry organizations, these industry
organizations will be supported and promotion of comprehensive industrial
accidents prevention activities directed at each industry represented by
them will be considered.
At the regional level, safety and health activities
will be promoted and safety and health information distributed by providing
a forum of communication with industry organizations in these industries.
Elsewhere, safety and health analysis will be promoted
through the use of industrial safety consultants and industrial health
consultants in service industry workplaces that have higher problems in
safety and health management.
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(2) |
Industrial accident prevention measures for specific accidents |
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a. |
Industrial accident prevention measures for machinery |
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There are various of types of machinery used in
workplaces. Since technological innovations bring in more types of machinery,
comprehensive safety standards that apply to all machinery will be implemented.
The basic point of machinery safety is to assure
safety even in the event of failure or wrong operation by the operator.
For this purpose, fail-safe and foolproof machinery needs to be promoted.
Especially the use of fail-safe machinery will expedite the basic safe
nature of machinery by instituting fail-safe technical guidelines based
on the accumulation of previous technical expertise.
In order for the employers that use machinery to
precisely proceed with accident prevention measures regarding machinery,
not only do they need to know the functions of the item but also need to
know information regarding its hazards from the manufacturers of the machinery.
For this purpose, the disclosure of information regarding the hazards of
machinery should be distributed.
Industrial accidents caused by press machines and
woodworking machines are still commonplace. Because of the usually crippling
nature of injuries in these cases, processes that use such machinery will
be made safe as well as making the machines themselves safer.
Since accidents involving cranes are often caused
by either toppling cranes or during the slinging work, the prevention of
these types of accidents will be a priority. |
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b. |
Industrial accident prevention measures in transport |
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In order to prevent industrial accidents in transport,
employers not only need to require that workers adhere to traffic laws
but also need to tackle this in a systematic manner just like any other
industrial accident prevention issue. Traffic industrial safety guidelines
that were set up from such a viewpoint need to be fully implemented. Individual
instructions by traffic industrial accident prevention instructors and
case study research committees need to be implemented and model workplace
projects will be supported.
Furthermore, working time and health management
for transport drivers and the proper use of cellular phones should be made
thorough and more reasonable ordering conditions by cargo owners should
be promoted. |
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c. |
Accident prevention measures against explosions and fires |
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Safety assessments in chemical plants and safety
and health management for non-routine work procedures will be beefed up.
Comprehensive safety and health management in the chemical industry including
the transmission of safety and health management knowledge will be promoted.
Use of explosion and fire prevention measures for
solid waste management business will be also made through.
Furthermore, dust explosion prevention will be
enhanced.
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| 6. |
Health Management Procedures for Workers |
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Health management procedures for workers will be
achieved by the following measures while strengthening industrial health
organizations and forming their networks. |
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(1) |
Prevention of occupational illnesses |
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Long range comprehensive plans, which include engineering
and health management measures against pneumoconiosis, will be promoted
in order to prevent hazards due to dust. The engineering measures will
include improving standards on and popularizing push-pull type ventilators,
improving the arc welding processes, and improving working environments
where there is a high concentration of workers diagnosed as pneumoconiosis.
Model employer projects concerning prevention of
hazards due to dust will be implemented for business sites of SMEs in manufacturing.
In order to limit the exposure of workers in tunnel boring to dust, measuring
methods for dust and exclusion of such particles from the ventilation systems
will be discussed and implemented.
For those that were diagnosed as pneumoconiosis,
appropriate health management measures will be taken and health management
education will be conducted.
In order to improve the performance of respiratory
protection equipment further, purchase and testing of such equipment will
be conducted.
Prevention measures based on backache prevention
guidelines for backaches will be implemented through the education on industrial
health to the relevant workers.
Preventing health hazards from ionizing radiation
will take into account recommendations from the ICRP (International Committee
on Radiological Protection) and policies will be reviewed and implemented.
Based on recent knowledge, guideline on the prevention
of noise hazards will be revised and measures improved. Industrial health
measures on video terminals and computer monitors will also be promoted.
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(2) |
Preventing the health hazards of chemicals |
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Measures against anoxia, hydrogen sulfide, carbon
monoxide and organic solvent poisoning will be improved based on past case
examples. Guidelines will be disseminated especially with carbon monoxide
and organic solvent poisoning in the construction industry.
Based on discussions among specialists, health
hazard prevention measures will be promoted for occupational cancer and
illnesses arising out of proven carcinogenic substances, substances that
cause reproductive harm, and other toxins. The national government will
proceed with research on occupational environment measuring methods and
health checkup methods.
In order to prevent health hazards created by chemicals,
employers need to understand the toxicity of the chemicals they are handling
and implement measures based on it.
To assists these undertakings by employers, material
safety data sheets (MSDS) should be prepared and distributed based upon
the guidelines on the disclosure of the hazard and toxicity of chemicals.
A system that provides education to the writers of these reports will also
be set up.
By utilizing the Safety and Health Information
Center (provisional name), a system where needed information such as the
toxicity of chemicals, accident cases, and health hazard prevention measures
will be provided.
Research on the exposure level to dioxin in the
waste processing industry will be conducted. Information will be provided
and measures set up on the prevention of illnesses caused by unregulated
chemicals in each job type such as considering limiting exposure to such
chemicals.
For chemicals whose toxicity is not clear, carcinogenicity
and mutagenisity will be tested in coordination with the Japan Bioassay
Research Center and Safety and Health Information Center (provisional name).
Based on their results, appropriate management methods will be recommended
to relevant employers.
In order to effectively conduct research on these
chemicals, a system of testing chemicals, utilizing the efforts of the
Japan Bioassay Research Center, will be set up.
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(3) |
Assuring good health at the workplace |
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In order to assure good mental and physical health
of the workers and prevent occupational illnesses, conducting occupational
health activities at the workplace are essential. For this purpose, industrial
physicians and health officer will be carefully selected and their professional
ability improved. Health checkups will be implemented, their resulting
occupational recommendations carried out, and occupational physicians and
health officer will inspect workplaces. These measures will revitalize
occupational health activities and assure the good health of the workers.
Even in smaller businesses, worker's health will be assured by utilizing
the Small Business Site Industrial Health Activity Support Promotion Project.
In order to put the recommendations of the industrial
physicians into practice appropriately, the coordination between the industrial
health staff and the labor management and production divisions will be
made stronger.
Furthermore, the industrial health service functions
of the industrial health promotion centers that support industrial physicians
and other industrial health staff, the regional industrial health centers
that provide industrial health services to small businesses, and industrial
accident hospitals will be linked up in networks to provide better industrial
health service functions. Industrial health promotion centers will be systematically
planned all over the nation and the functions of the regional industrial
health centers that respond to the various industrial health needs will
be strengthened.
Knowledge on the prevention of industrial illnesses
will be disseminated.
In promoting these industrial health measures,
the private nature of these health data will always be kept in mine and
due care will be taken to protect such private information.
Based on the 40-hour working week system fully
implemented in April 1997, shortening of the workweek will be promoted.
In doing so, using up the annual paid leave days will promoted through
the use of multiple day vacations from the viewpoint of maintaining workers'
both mental and physical health. Long overtimes that cause fatigue and
stress will be reduced.
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(4) |
Stress management. |
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In combating increasing psychological stress, comprehensive
research will be conducted to prevent health hazards created by stress,
aimed at among others, the white-collar workers. Stress management at the
workplace will be promoted through training the management on the issue,
disseminating information that will enable the workers to control their
own stress levels, and stress management clinic systems.
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(5) |
Staying healthy |
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Staying healthy at the workplace will very depending
on the size and management of the workplace and the awareness of the employer.
The steps taken will depend on the level of effort taken.
In order to promote the individual health management
of workers in staying healthy, their current efforts will be measured and
various contributing factors analyzed. The ideal individual health maintenance
of workers, such concrete methods, and the support offered by the employers
and the government for such individual management will be discussed in
order to promote individual health management.
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(6) |
Creating a pleasant work environment |
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With the advent of increasing elderly workers,
women joining the work force in more industries, and the diversifying forms
of employment, workplaces that are pleasant for all workers are needed.
In order to create them, workplace conditions should be grasped, worker
opinions should be taken, plans to create pleasant workplaces should be
drawn up and implemented, and based on their results, management setup
for further undertakings will be implemented and promoted.
Smoking guidelines for workplaces and job specific
steps for pleasant workplaces will be distributed. Information that will
assist in creating pleasant workplaces for the elderly and women will be
provided.
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| 7. |
Strengthening Safety and Health Management Measures |
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(1) |
Measures for SME sites. |
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Compliance of industrial accident prevention measures
by SMEs will be monitored. In order to promote self-compliance, industrial
accident prevention organizations will active within these workplaces.
In addition, safety and health information will be disseminated through
labor insurance unions and SME organizations.
Furthering of comprehensive safety and health management
activities, with internal and external cooperation, centered upon parent
companies will be attempted.
In order to assure continual and effective safety
and health activities by SMEs, support will be provided. For specific SME
sites, the use of safety and health diagnosis projects and financing systems
to improve working environments will be recommended to promote individual
safety and health activities.
Elsewhere, a system of comprehensive assistance
for the safety and health activities for SMEs will be set up.
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(2) |
Strengthening safety and health management methods |
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Under the management's leadership on basic safety
and health guidelines, safety and health management activities that are
in unison with production activities will be done. For example, safety
and health annual plans will be drawn up, safety and health management
systems beefed up, and authority and responsibility of production line
managers on safety and health activities clarified. Prior assessment will
be improved by introducing machinery and including relevant safety and
health professionals at the planning stage of construction projects.
The reality of safety and health knowledge transmission
and its example cases will be studied and guidelines set up to facilitate
the transmission of such knowledge.
In order to reduce the potential danger from accidents
and raise the level of safety and health in workplaces, safety and health
management systems that conduct on a continual basis, the clarified chain
of events "Plan-implementation-evaluation-improvement," is needed.
New safety and health management methods that will ensure strict compliance
of such will be implemented after sufficient discussion between management
and labor.
Furthermore, although implementing safety and health
management should be the responsibility of employer, some workplaces do
not have the organization to implement them. Therefore, the use of industrial
safety consultants and industrial health consultants will be promoted and
the use of industrial injury prevention instructors furthered from the
standpoint of promoting accident prevention by both management and labor.
Elsewhere, organizations outside of the workplace that have expertise and
experience on safety and health management will be utilized and methods
used to comprehensively push for each safety and health policy will be
discussed and implemented.
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(3) |
Promoting individual safety and health activities by management and labor |
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In order to support the active work of safety and
health committees by management and labor, concrete operating methods and
methods on running inquiry commissions will be discussed. Guidelines for
the actions of safety and health committees with the understanding of the
above will be developed.
By publicly honoring foremen who have certain levels
of technical skill and experience and whose workplaces have good safety
records as excellent safety workers, their social recognition will be improved
and incentives for foremen and others toward safety management will be
increased. Their activities as the center of safety and health within the
firm will be promoted.
Furthermore, safety and health activities will
be revitalized by hazard forecast activities.
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(4) |
Strengthening human resources |
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The increase in the number of people who have the
qualifications as industrial health consultants, industrial safety consultants,
working environment measurement expert, and health officer will directly
contribute to preventing industrial accidents. It will also contribute
to the wide dissemination of knowledge of safety and health and the rise
in the level of safety and health. Therefore, efforts will be made to increase
the number of qualified personnel, including women who are expected to
work in an increasing number of industries.
Since licensing for license-based occupations will
also have the effect of educating technicians, on the job training and
technical courses will be promoted.
Training and education at every job level including
at hiring special training, foreman training, and technical training to
improve the level of safety and health staff will be implemented.
New education technologies such as simulation will
be utilized. Training institutions for safety and health education instructors
will be improved and local safety and health education service organizations
will be strengthened.
Since it is believed that primary and secondary
school education is effective in educating workers with a high sense of
safety and health, education on industrial safety and health will be promoted
from the level of formal schooling.
In order to prevent industrial accidents, the understanding
of the general population, including immediate families, is needed so the
importance of industrial accident prevention will be disseminated and cooperation
sought at every opportunity.
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(5) |
Industrial accident prevention for elderly workers |
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In order to respond to increasing industrial accidents
caused by the aging workforce, guidelines will be set up and strengthened
for workplaces where elderly and young workers side by side. Support will
also be given to SMEs that are conducting improvements in machinery, working
environments, and work procedures.
In order to make certain that elderly workers receive
sufficient knowledge and technical skill on safety and health, their efforts
to obtain qualifications should be supported.
Research will be conducted to consider reviewing
safety and health standards to take into account the aging of the workforce.
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(6) |
Measures for foreign workers |
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Based on the guidelines on the employment and working
conditions of foreign workers, their safety and health training at the
time of employment will be made complete. At the same time, industrial
health consultants and industrial safety consultants will inspect safety
and health in workplaces that hire foreign workers. Technical training
opportunities for foreign workers will be expanded and the International
Safety and Health Center (provisional name) will provide information on
various safety and health in foreign languages.
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| 8. |
Developing Government Policies on Safety and Health |
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(1) |
Developing new policies |
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a. |
Building an information dissemination system |
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In order to prevent industrial accidents, it is
basic procedure for the employers and workers to fully understand not only
past cases of accidents but also the potential danger with a given process
at a given workplace. When bringing in new technologies, machinery, and
chemicals, with which there is no experience, it is desirable to obtain
relevant information and proceed with the agreement of the employer and
worker based on such information. In order for the designer, manufacturer,
and importer of products to participate in their own capacities, relevant
information should be made available easily. The national government should
also collect, process, and distribute information through the Safety and
Health Information Center (provisional name) in order to assist such efforts.
By providing the experience and expertise in preventing
industrial accidents, it will contribute to the general safety of the general
population. |
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b. |
Strengthening R&D systems |
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Due to the increasing size and higher technology
of machinery and the use of new technologies and materials, investigations
of accident causes frequently require high levels of professionalism. So
the R&D of such research organizations as the National Industrial Safety
Institute and the National Institute of Industrial Health will be strengthened
and in case of accidents, accident investigation in unison with research
organs will be implemented.
In order to realize these goals, information networks
including relevant organizations and organs will be strengthened.
At the National Institute of Industrial Safety
and the National Institute of Industrial Health, many of the issues are
multi disciplinary and change as a result of the developments in industrial
technology. Therefore, in order to proceed with research in close cooperation
with specialists in other fields, future research topics, research strategy,
and improving the research environment will be discussed. To accurately
grasp the problems occurring at workplaces and to take select policies
that are appropriate for each workplace, information will be exchanged
frequently with industrial physicians, industrial safety consultants, and
industrial health consultants with first hand experience. Research that
meets the needs of the workplace will be conducted. |
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c. |
Setting up administrative systems |
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Relevant laws and regulations will be drawn up
and strengthened in response to changes in industrial society such as the
structural changes in industry and forms of employment.
Administrative and collective guidance, in preventing
industrial accidents, to workplaces that belong in industries with high
rates of accident occurrence and workplaces that have the potential for
severe industrial illnesses will be implemented. Appropriate support in
guidance will also be given. The system of administrative and collective
guidance, for the purpose of achieving administrative goals, will be strengthened.
By beefing up staff training to precisely correspond to the advancements
in technology, effective and efficient regulatory system can be built. |
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d. |
Strengthening the activities of industrial accident prevention organizations |
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Strengthen the activities of industrial accident
prevention organizations. While promoting the voluntary industrial accident
prevention activities of employers through the relevant organizations,
research on necessary policies will be improved. |
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e. |
Contributing to the safety of the people |
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The experience and organizations that were used
in preventing industrial accidents, ranging from physical items such as
machinery and facilities to intangibles such as management and education,
can also be used for maintaining industrial facilities, public safety,
and household safety. Therefore, there will be active contributions in
these fields as well.
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(2) |
Promoting R&D |
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Looking at recent trends in industrial accidents,
there is an increase in the ratio of tertiary sector accidents. Since this
and other new developments cannot fully be accounted for by existing methods
of industrial accident analyses, new analysis methods will be investigated.
Because many of the accidents are caused by unsafe
acts by workers, technology to prevent accidents caused by work procedures,
including those of the elderly, will be researched and developed.
R&D will be promoted for safety control systems
and hazard evaluation technologies for new technologies such as automated
production systems and automated assembly systems and new materials such
as super fine particles. Technological research will be done on the human
factor in PC operations that use FPDs (flat panel displays), engineering
measures to eliminate combined exposure to hazardous factors in welding
processes, and the risk analysis and management technology for chemicals.
In order to prevent industrial accidents in a effective
and efficient manner, economic factors such as the correlation between
safety and health measures and productivity also need to be evaluated.
So analysis techniques that take these factors into account will also be
researched.
In the future, forms of employment are expected
to diversify, the liquidity in the labor market expected to increase, and
corporate outsourcing efforts such as creating subsidiaries are expected
to proceed. Proper safety and health in such an environment will be studied
and discussed.
Recently, there are accident victims who are also
victims of crimes so measures against such cases will also be discussed.
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(3) |
Administration from an international perspective |
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Japan's safety and health standards will take international
standards into consideration as necessary. Japan will be actively be involved
in the creation of international standards and offer our expertise.
In order to assure the safety and health of expatriate
Japanese and the local employees who work in Japanese overseas subsidiaries,
safety and health specialists such as industrial health consultants and
industrial safety consultants will be sent abroad and a system of touring
overseas health consultation implemented. By active participation of the
International Safety and Health Center (provisional name) in its projects,
technological support for developing countries in safety and health fields
can be promoted. |
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