Expansion of Safety and Health Manager Training Cycle to 1 Year... Regular Worker Training Relaxed to Semiannual Sessions

Enforcement and Promulgation of the Amendment to the Enforcement Rules of the Industrial Safety and Health Act

From now on, safety and health management supervisors only need to complete refresher training within one year, and the regular training cycle for workers will be relaxed to every half-year.

On the 26th, the Ministry of Employment and Labor announced that it would promulgate the amendment to the "Enforcement Rules of the Industrial Safety and Health Act" containing these details on the 27th.

An official from the Ministry of Employment and Labor stated, "This amendment reorganizes the cycle, duration, and content of safety and health education for workers, and simplifies the procedure for confirming the omission of asbestos investigation for newly constructed buildings reported after July 1, 2017. It includes regulatory improvement measures requested by the industry, so it is expected to enhance the operability and effectiveness of the industrial safety and health system."

First, the period for completing refresher training for safety and health management supervisors will be extended. Until now, those subject to job training such as safety and health management supervisors had to complete refresher training within three months before or after the date of completion of new training (a total of six months). However, going forward, the period for completing refresher training will be extended to six months before and after (a total of one year), allowing trainees to complete training at their preferred time without being restricted by the training institution's schedule.

The regular training cycle for workers will be relaxed from "every quarter" to "every half-year." Additionally, when workers complete regular safety training and new safety training under the Port Safety Special Act, the time spent will be deducted from the regular training and hiring training hours. For businesses that provide education only on health matters under the Mine Safety Act, Nuclear Safety Act, Aviation Safety Act, Ship Safety Act, etc., the requirement is relaxed to complete at least half of the training hours for each course.

Daily workers and fixed-term workers employed for one week or less are exempt from training if they return to the same workplace performing the same duties within one week from the date of completion of hiring training (or special training). For fixed-term workers with a contract period of one week or less, the hiring training time is reduced to one hour, and for those with a contract period exceeding one week but less than or equal to one month, it is reduced to four hours.

The Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) system, which protects trade secrets of chemical substances, will also be improved. MSDS is a type of chemical substance manual that records the name and content of chemicals, their hazards and risks, and handling precautions. When selling chemical substances to other workplaces, MSDS must be provided together, but to protect trade secrets, with approval from the Ministry of Employment and Labor, alternative names and alternative contents can be recorded and provided in the MSDS.

Until now, the use of alternative names and alternative contents was only allowed when producing other products domestically by mixing trade secret chemicals as raw materials. Reflecting voices from the field, the scope of use for alternative names and alternative contents has been improved. Accordingly, from now on, it will be allowed not only for mixing but also for physical molding, subdividing, and other methods, and when producing other products overseas using trade secret chemicals as raw materials and importing them, MSDS can be prepared using alternative names and alternative contents.

Along with this, the amended enforcement rules simplify the procedures and required documents so that for newly constructed buildings reported after July 1, 2017, when applying for omission of asbestos investigation, confirmation of the absence of asbestos can be obtained with only the building register.