News from Japan
Japan Association for Working Environment Measurement (JAWE):
Training Course for Evaluation of Asbestos in Bulk Materials
Written by Masayoshi Karasawa
Executive Director,
The Japan Association for WorkingEnvironment Measurement
Member of the Board of Directors ofInternational Occupational Hygiene
AssociationIn response to a request from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan,
the Japan Association for Working Environment Measurement (JAWE) developed acurriculum for a training course for Licensed Industrial Hygienists in the field of
Working Environment Measurement, in order to develop the skill to analyze theasbestos content in weight, in bulk samples such as construction materials (not toassess airborne asbestos in workplaces), and already started to conduct thesetraining courses.
In order to cope with the recent change of the situation regarding the manufacture,import, transfer, supplying or use of asbestos, as well as the increase of lung cancer,mesothelioma and other occupational diseases due to exposure to asbestos, theMinistry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan, amended the “Ordinance on
Prevention of Hazards due to Specified Chemical Substances” in February, 2005,
and also enacted a new regulation, namely the “Ordinance on Prevention ofHazards due to Asbestos”, which will be enforced on 1st July 2005. Moreover,through this amendment, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan,
has proposed to ratify the ILO Convention No.162 - “Convention Concerning Safety
in the Use of Asbestos”. It should be mentioned that the number of the victims ofoccupational diseases due to exposure to asbestos, who were compensated by theWorkers' Compensation Insurance Act, in Japan, reached 77 and 121, respectively
in the fiscal years of 2002 and 2003.
The enactment of the “Ordinance on Prevention of Hazards due to Asbestos”
means that the provisions regarding the control of asbestos were transferred fromthe “Ordinance on Prevention of Hazards due to Specified Chemical Substances” tothis new regulation (“Ordinance on Prevention of Hazards due to asbestos”), at thesame time adding certain new necessary provisions in order to adequately copewith the change of the situation, in recent years in Japan, as mentioned above.
It should be noted that the asbestos regulations, in Japan, have been amended afew times in recent years. In 1995, the manufacture, import, use, transfer or1

supplying of amosite (brown asbestos) and crocidolite (blue asbestos), as well as
chemicals and other substances containing asbestos, were prohibited by article 55of the Industrial Safety and Health Law, Japan, as indicated on Table 8-2 of theEnforcement Order of Industrial Safety and Health Law (Cabinet Order No. 318,
August 19, 1972, amended in 1995). However, this provision did not apply tosubstances containing 1% or less of asbestos (amosite and crocidolite) in weight.
Also, in Japan, on 1st October 2004, article 55 of the Industrial Safety and Health
Law came into effect prohibiting the manufacture, import, use, transfer or provisionof products containing more than 1 % asbestos (including crysotile) in weight, suchas cement cylinders, fibre-reinforced cement plates, clutch lining, brake pads, brakelining, bonding agents, among others (as indicated on table 8-2, amended on 1stOctober 2004).
Through the enforcement of Cabinet Order No. 318 (19 August 1972, amended on
1st, October 2004), it can be said that, in Japan, asbestos is rarely manufactured,
imported, used, transferred or provided. Nevertheless this does not apply wheneverappropriate substitute materials for indispensable uses have not yet beendeveloped, for example, certain gaskets (containing more than 1% of asbestos inweight) are still manufactured and used (mainly in chemical industry); this would be
an exceptional case in the above-mentioned Table 8-2 of the Cabinet Order.
Therefore, concerning the present (and still) important problem of asbestos inJapan, it can be said that the main target for the prevention of diseases due toasbestos exposure (such as lung cancer and mesothelioma) is the protection ofworkers in workplaces where the buildings or structures were constructed in the1970's to 1980's, often using asbestos (for example, in fire fighting materials, slates,cement, insulating materials and other construction materials), particularly
whenever these are pulled down because of deterioration, or are demolished. It isexpected that workers engaged in such work will be exposed to asbestos, unlessstrict preventive measures are taken by employers, for example, isolation, use ofadequate local ventilation, appropriate personal protective equipment and clothing,personal hygiene, among many others.
So, the main aim of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan, in enacting
this new regulation, is to cope properly with the problem of the above mentioned
exposure of workers.
In addition to the provisions regarding control of asbestos, contained in the former“Ordinance on Prevention of Hazards due to Specified Chemical Substances”(amended in February 2005), the new “Ordinance on Prevention of Hazards due toAsbestos” includes several new provisions as follows:∙ prior studies must be carried out by concerned employers to establish whether2asbestos was used or not in buildings or structures, which are planned to be pulleddown;∙ when it is not clear whether asbestos was used or not in such buildings orstructures, analysis for the presence of asbestos shall be carried out by theemployers concerned, otherwise adequate measures to prevent workers'
exposure to asbestos should be taken as if asbestos had been used;∙ notification by the concerned employers, to the Chief of the Labour Standards
Inspection Office (with jurisdiction over the workplace in question), concerning
their plan for demolishing work to be carried out in any building or structure whereasbestos was used, for example, as heat insulation or fire fighting material, onwalls, pillars, roofs, etc.
In addition, the Administrative Control Level for airborne asbestos was reduced
from 2 fibres/cm3 to 0.15 fibres/cm3 on 1st April 2005 by an amendment of theWorking Environment Evaluation Standards (Ministry of Labour Notification No. 79
of 1st September 1988).
In fact, in Japan, for licensed Industrial Hygienists in the field of Working
Environment (under the Work Environment Measurement Law), employed inregistered Working Environment Measurement Agencies or in organizations thathave their own staff to perform working environment measurements, it is a newexperience to analyze asbestos content in weight, in materials such as the above
mentioned, instead of analyzing airborne asbestos in workplaces.
Last fiscal year (2004), the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan requested
the Japan Association for Working Environment Measurement (JAWE), whose
Chairman is Mr. KUNIOKI KUBO, Senior Advisor of JFE Holdings, Inc., to develop
an appropriate curriculum and conduct the necessary training courses in order toenable these Industrial Hygienists to analyze the content of asbestos in weight (ifmore than 1% or not) in construction materials, such as heat insulation, fire fighting
and other asbestos-containing materials.
In response to this request, JAWE developed the necessary curriculum for a
two-day training course and the outline of this curriculum is hereby presented.

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JAWE, in response to the request from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare,Japan, conducted four of the above-mentioned training courses since last July, infiscal year 2004 (see Photo showing the practice of Dispersion Staining in one of
the courses). Thirty four licensed Industrial Hygienists (in the field of Working
Environment Measurement) finished these training courses in fiscal year of 2004.
In the fiscal year of 2005 as well as 2006, under the auspices of the Ministry ofHealth, Labour and Welfare, Japan, JAWE is conducting more training courses,
nationwide, basically following the above-mentioned curriculum.

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