Safety and health in Japanese business establishments has been assured mainly in accordance with the Labour Standards Law and the Industrial Safety and Health Law, respectively, based on employment relations. However, since the working styles of modified employment relations have increased, the Worker dispatching Undertaking Law (alias) was enacted in 1985 to regulate the system, in which a worker may be instructed, under employment relations with the employer, to work for another employer under the commands and orders of the other employer.
The worker loan business is implemented according to the following styles: there is an employment contract relation between the loaner and the worker; a worker loan contract is concluded between the loaner and the loanee, and based on this contract, the loaner dispatches the worker to the loanee; and the dispatched worker works under the commands and orders of the loanee. In terms of regulations, the worker loan business is treated as a special case in the application of the Labour Standards Law, the Industrial Safety and Health Law, etc.
The Worker dispatching Undertaking Law stipulates various conditions, in detail, for allowing workers to work in this style, and the provisions for ensuring the safety and health of the workers, etc. are as follows:
(The Law for Securing the Proper Operation of Worker Dispatching Undertakings and Improved Working Conditions for Dispatched Workers, the Enforcement Order of the Law, and the Enforcement Ordinance of the Law)
The person obligated to take measures for the matters provided in the Labour Standards Law and the Industrial Safety and Health Law
a. Matters relating to the Labour Standards Law

Item	Loaner	Loanee
Labour contract (Articles 13 to 23)
Payment of wages (Articles 24 to 28 and 37)
Notification of collective agreement with labour and management concerning overtime work and holiday work (Article 36)
Overtime work and holiday work (Article 36)
Annual leave with pay (Article 39)
Restriction of dangerous and harmful work (minors, pregnant women, nursing mothers, etc.) (Articles 62 and 63)
Leave before and after childbirth (Article 66)
Prohibition of work for women who have difficulty working during their menstrual period (Article 68)
Accident compensation (Articles 75 to 88)
Working rule (Articles 89 to 93)
Dormitories (Articles 94 to 96)
Prohibition of disadvantageous treatment due to a report submitted by a worker (Article 104)
Preservation of records (Article 109)

b Matters relating to the Industrial Safety and Health Law

Item	Loaner	Loanee
Responsibility of employer (Law, Article 3)
Cooperation obligation of worker (Law, Article 4)
Appointment of general safety and health manager, etc. (Law, Article 10)
Safety manager (Law, Article 11)
Health amnager (Law, Article 12)
Safety and health promoter (health promoter) (Law, Article 12-2)
Appointment of industrial physician (Law, Article 13)
Appointment of operations chief, etc. (Law, Article 14)
Appointment of over all safety and health controller, etc. (Law, Article 15)
Establishment of Safety Committee (Law, Article 17)
Establishment of Health Committee (Law, Article 18)
Preventive measures against danger or health impairment (Law, Articles 20 to 25-2)
Periodic voluntary inspection (Law, Article 45)
Investigation of toxicity of chemical substances (Law, Article 57-3)
Safety and health education (at the time of employment) (Law, Article 59)
(at the time of work change) (Law, Article 59)
Special education (dangerous and harmful work) (Law, Article 59)
Education of foreman (Law, Article 60)
Limitations of job placement (Law, Article 61)
Measurement of the working environment (Law Article 65)
Health examination (general and periodic) (Law Article 66)
(specific) (Law Article 66)
Work prohibition for the sick (Law Article 68)
Health education (Law Article 69)
Establishment of a comfortable workplace (Law Article 71-2)
Safety and health improvement program (Law Article 78)
Notification of installation of machine, etc. and plan for movement, etc. (Law Article 88)
Prohibition of disadvantageous treatment due to a report submitted by a worker (Law Article 97)

Note 1: The matters concerning the Pneumoconiosis Law and the Working Environment Measurement Law are similarly shared.
Note 2: Whether or not a general safety and health manager, etc. is appointed depends on the number of workers. A loaned worker is counted for both the loaner and the loanee.
Note 3: Even if a dispatched worker has the qualifications, etc. of a health manager, he/she cannot be appointed at the loanee's workplace.

(The next article in this series covers accident compensation of workers.)