|
39. The Labour Standards Law,
and safety and health
|
The industrial safety and health portion of the old
Labour Standards Law was independently enacted as the Industrial Safety
and Health Law in 1972. However, since the prevention of industrial
accidents is closely related to the securing of working conditions, it is
stipulated that the two laws should be integrally applied.
For
restricted work of female workers, restricted work of minors, etc.,
ordinances are established based on the Labour Standards Law.
(The
Labour Standards Law, the Enforcement Ordinance of Labour Standards Law,
the Ordinance on Labor Standards for Women, and the Ordinance on Labor
Standards for Minors.)
|
1.Integrating stipulations of the Labour
Standards Law and the Industrial Safety and Health Law
It is
stipulated, as follows in the two laws, that the Labour Standards Law and
the Industrial Safety and Health Law should be integrally
applied. |
| a. |
The Industrial Safety and Health Law, Article
1
The purpose of this law is to ensure the safety and health of
workers in workplaces and to promote the creation of a comfortable
working environment by promoting comprehensive and systematic
measures concerning the establishment of hazard prevention
standards, clarification of the system for taking responsibility,
and measures to be taken for promoting voluntary activities, etc.
for prevention of industrial accidents, in relation to the Labour
Standards Law. |
| b. |
The Labour Standards Law, Article 42
The
safety and health of workers shall be as provided in the Industrial
Safety and Health Law. | |
2. Provisions concerning safety and
health management in the Labour Standards Law
The provisions in the
Labour Standards Law relating to the prevention of industrial accidents
are as follows: |
a.Principles of working conditions (Labour
Standards Law, Article 1)
|
| · |
The working conditions must be such that
they satisfy the necessities for workers to live a life worthy
of living as persons. |
| · |
Because the standards for working
conditions provided in this law stipulate the minimum
conditions, the parties concerned with labor must not lower
working conditions for reasons of this standard, and
furthermore, must make efforts to improve the
conditions.
| |
| b. |
Decisions on working conditions (Labour
Standards Law, Article 2)
|
|
| · |
The working conditions should be decided
upon with workers and employers being on equal
footing. |
| · |
The workers and the employers must
observe the individual contracts for labour, working rules,
and collective agreements, and fulfill their obligations
respectively and faithfully. | |
| c. |
Equal treatment (Labour Standards Law, Article
3)
|
|
| · |
Employers must not discriminately treat
workers regarding wages, working hours, and other working
conditions for reasons of nationality, belief, or social
status. | |
| d. |
Temporary overtime work due to accident, etc.
(Labour Standards Law, Article 33) |
|
| In cases where temporary work
is necessary due to an accident or other unavoidable reason,
the working hours can be extended as necessary, subject to
permission by the administrative agency
concerned. |
| Note: |
Overtime work is possible only in cases
where an agreement is reached with the labor union, etc.
consisting of a majority of
workers. | |
| e. |
Extra wages due to overtime work, holiday work,
and midnight work (Labour Standards Law, Article 37) |
|
| When an employer extends the
working hours or make workers work on a holiday, an extra wage
of 25% to 50% must be paid. (General) |
| Note: |
In cases where an employer provides
safety and health education beyond normal working hours,
he/she is obligated to pay extra
wages. | |
| f. |
Restrictions on dangerous and harmful work
(Labour Standards Law, Article 62; Ordinance on Labor Standards for
Minors, Articles 7 and 8) |
|
| · |
Employers must not allow persons younger
than 18 full years old, for example, to clean, oil, or inspect
a dangerous portion of a machine, etc. during operation, or to
operate a crane. (Summary) |
|
(Examples)
| : |
Handling boilers |
| : |
Operating cranes, etc. |
| : |
Cleaning, oiling, or inspecting a
dangerous portion of a machine, etc. during
operation |
| : |
Operating a motor truck with a
maximum load of 2 tons or more |
| : |
Adjusting or cleaning the metal
mold of a press machine |
| : |
Working at a place with a height of
5 meters or more with the risk of falling |
| : |
Assembling or disassembling
scaffolding | |
| · |
Employers must not allow persons younger
than 18 years old to engage in work handling poisonous
substances, explosives, or combustible raw materials, etc., or
to work at a place where harmful gas or radiation is emitted.
(Summary) |
|
(Examples)
| : |
Handling harmful substances such as
arsenic, hydrochloric acid, lead, mercury, chlorine or
aniline, or working at a place where any of these gas,
vapour, or dust is emitted |
| : |
Handling a large amount of a
high-temperature or low-temperature
material |
| : |
Working at an abnormal atmospheric
pressure |
| : |
Working in which there high risk of
contamination from
pathogens | | |
| g. |
Prohibition of work in a pit (Labour Standards
Law, Articles 63 and 64-2) |
|
|
Employers must not let persons younger
than 18 years old or women 18 years and older work in a
pit. | |
| h. |
Restrictions on hazardous and harmful work by
pregnant women, nursing mothers, etc. (Labour Standards Law, Article
64-3; Ordinance on Labour Standards for Women, Article
2) |
|
|
Employers must not allow pregnant women
or women of less than one year after childbirth, to engage in
work handling heavy materials, to work at a place where
harmful gas is emitted, or engage in any other work harmful to
the pregnancy, childbirth, nursing, etc. of pregnant women or
nursing mothers. (The restricted types of work are similar to
those for the minors.) | |
| i. |
Before and after childbirth (Labour Standards
Law, Article 65) |
|
| · |
When a woman destined to give
birth within 6 weeks (14 weeks in the case of a multiple
pregnancy) asks for leave, the employer must not allow her to
engage in work. |
| · |
An employer must not allow a
woman of less than 8 weeks after childbirth to engage in work.
However, in cases where a woman of 6 weeks or more after
childbirth has asked to work and where the doctor has
recognized that there is no danger, then the employer can
allow her to engage in work. | |
| j. |
Facilities, and safety and health of
dormitories (Labour Standards Law, Article 96) |
|
| · |
This subject will be covered in the next
article.
| | |
(The next article in this series covers
dormitories attached to enterprises.) |
|
top