Points of Industrial Accident
Prevention Plan
“1１th Industrial Accident Prevention
Plan of Japan from 200８ to 2012”
August 2009

Japan Association of Working Environment
Measurement (JAWE),Tokyo, Japan

Legal basis of the plan
Ｊａｐａｎｅｓｅ “Ｉｎｄｕｓｔｒｉａｌ Ｓａｆｅｔｙ ａｎｄ Ｈｅａｌｔｈ Ｌａｗof 1972”,the basic and comprehensive law
for the prevention of workplace accidents
and occupational diseases, stipulates
in its Article 6 and 8that the minister for health ,labor and welfare shall,in consultation with tripartite labor policy council
consisting of representatives from labor andmanagement as well as the public, prepare andmake public” 5-Year Industrial Accident Prevention Plan”.

The nature and goal of the plan○This plan ,based on the analysis of the former 5years’ situation and problems for the workers’ safety
and health, indicates to those concerned（1) the priority policy and measures, in coming 5years, that government is determined to takeby appropriating budget and mobilizing government
personnel（2) the measures that should be taken, in coming 5years, by employers, industries and workers, andother all concerned parties, respectively.
○The new 5 years plan , the 11th plan, has startedApril 1,2008.
○The following is the summary of the new plan .

1. Term of the Plan•

5 Years Planbetween FY2008 and FY2012

2. Targets of the Plan
(1) To reduce the number of workers killed in
occupational accidents by more than 20%
during its term
(2) To reduce the number of overall
occupational accidents during its term by
more than １５%.
(3) To stop the increasing tendency and make itchange to the decreasing pattern of the rate ofdiagnosis of legal ordinary health examinations
for all workers, through the total health promotion

３ Social conditions surrounding labor
accidents ― the government’s view
(1) Change in industry, work structure and workplaces<Industry Structure and Work Structure>○Increase of Tertiaｒy industry such as service
industry○Increase of peripheral workers such as contract
workers, short time workers and temporary
dispatched workers○Bipolarization of work hours-longer work hours
and shorter ones
○Increase of aged workers due to higher retirement age○Increasing trend of women workers

<Workplace Changes>○More diversified and complicated industrial
processes→Introducing new machinery , equipment
and raw materials, chemicals→Diversified risks of labor accidents○Collective retirement of baby boomers fromworkplaces and Increasing workers of shorttime, temporary based employment→Fear of inadequate transfer of know-howof safety and health（２） Present status and problems＜Present Status of Labor Accidents＞○Number of fatal labor accidents have had downturn
pattern and met the target of “lower than
1500cases, while decrease of total number ofaccidents did not meet target of 20% decreaseduring 5 years○Accident frequency rate is 2 times as high atworkplaces with less than 50 workers as that at
those with 300 workers or more, and this trend isunchanged○Labor accidents involving workers of 50 years ormore compose about 60% of fatal accidents and
40% of total accidents○Traffic labor accidents, falls compose high rate offatal accidents and so do falls, caught or trapped in machineryetc., slip and trip of total accidents

＜Present Status of Occupational Diseases＞○The rate of diagnosis of ordinary health examinations keep high.
○The number of cases recognized as occupational diseases and entitledcompensation by workers accidents compensation insurance due tocerebrovascular disease or ischemic heart disease, so-called “Karoshi” keeps
as high as 300 cases.
○60% of workers feel severe anxiety or stress in their working lives.
The incidence of mental illness and suicide caused by psychological stress atwork is in increasing tendency, and exceeded 200 cases in 2006.
○There are still 250 cases annually in new diagnoses of pneumoconiosis, and 300
cases in new diagnoses of vibration-related disorders,, noise-related disorders
and health disorders caused by chemical substances, respectively .
There are about 10 cases of anoxia,20 cases of heat stroke and still no end toorganic-solvent and carbon monoxide poisoning.
○Musculoskeletal disorders such as back pain affect nearly 5,000 workers
annually, and account for over 60% of all occupational diseases.
It is feared that the number may increase in line with the more aged workers aswell as care workers.
○Newly recognized occupational cases of lung cancer and mesothelioma due toasbestos is increasing and reached as high as 1,800 cases in 2006.
Future cases of furthermore health problems by asbestos exposureaccompanying demolition of buildings/equipments etc., is feared.

4 Basic Concept of Safety and Health
Measures of the Plan
○Consisting of the following two;＊For decreasing overall labor accidents, todisseminate the method of risk assessment
among workplaces and lower the risk
through the practice of it＊To specify jobs, operations , machineryetc., that can be the cause of accidents orhave high risk inherently and establish
complete measures to prevent accidents dueto them＜Overall Situation of Workplace Safety and Health＞○In order to deal with diversified workplace risks, it isimportant to identify workplace hazards, estimate
and evaluate risks and take measures to lower therisks. There are ,however, still small ratio ofworkplaces that implement these processes becauseof shortage of staff or lack of knowledge of them.
○Voluntary workplace safety and health activities suchas OSH education and safety patrol are becoming
inactive.
○On the other hand, in the wake of dramaticalincrease of peripheral workers that account for one
third of overall workforce now, the rate of accidents
in which workers who are not enough experienced
are involved ,are on the rise．
○As Increase of aged workers, who are deemedvulnerable to labor accidents, are anticipated,measures for aged workers are increasingly
significant

5 Priority measures for the Prevention of
Occupational Accidents(a) Promotion of Risk assessment through government guidelines in accordancewith the variety of works/operations and the personnel training(b) Promotion of Hazard identification of chemicals as well as Risk assessment ofchemical processes by the best use of Materials Safety Data Sheets (MSDS)
prepared according to GHS.
(c) As the number of accidents related to machine handling is high and grave, toinvestigate/analyze the cause of accidents by the types of machines/machine
operations respectively and establish safety measures accordingly .
(d) As the number of accidents due to fall is high and grave, toinvestigate/establish safety measures for those types of scaffolding or building
works that have comparatively high risk.
(e) To decrease new cases diagnosed with pneumoconiosis through thecomprehensive preventive measures on arc welding, tunnel construction andmetal grinding(f) To prevent health impairment due to hazardous chemicals through safety
education, work environment control and work control(g) To increase the ratio of companies that are tackling with mental health careprogram up to 50% or more.

6 Individual safety and health measuresin the plan（１）Promotion of voluntary measures by employers（２） Measures for specified risks（３） Measures for the type of business whose labor accident
frequency is high（４） Measures for occupational diseases（５） Measures for health impairment due to asbestos（６） Measures for health impairment due to specified hazardous
chemicals（７） Mental health measures and measures for health impairment
due to excessive work
（８） Strengthening measures for occupational safety and healthcontrol（９）Industrial health promotion and promotion of workplacefin(S.A)
amenity