Launch of the Industrial Accidents Prevention of new machinery and chemicals came a wide range
Programme in 1958 of hazards. The conventional OSH legislation became
limited; in 2002 (figure 11), more than 60 per cent
In the late 1950s, there was a huge increase in industrial of work-related fatalities actually occurred without
accidents due to the country’s rapid industrialization, violating the OSH legislation. In addition, the type of
which brought about high economic growth. To address employment structure was also changing gradually, with
the issue, the Japanese Government introduced a five- the number of temporary and contract-based workers
year national programme to prevent industry accidents. expanding. This increased fluidity of workers meant an
increase in the number of inexperienced workers. The
There was high-level commitment from the Cabinet for problems were further compounded by the retirement
the programme and strong tripartite involvement. It of workers and managers of the baby-boomer generation
galvanised the efforts of all stakeholders and as a result, who had tacit OSH knowledge and experiences at the
OSH accidents eventually began to reduce in 1962. workplace. With such OSH trends, it became apparent
This programme was an integral part of Japan’s national that a voluntary and systematic approach to find
OSH system to achieve continuous improvements in potential risks was needed.
OSH. The programme has been periodically reviewed
and revised every five year; especially, the latest national Figure 11: Limitation of legislation due to the
OSH programme (11th national programme launched diversity of manufacturing processes
in April 2008) was developed in full reflection of ILO
Promotional Framework for OSH Convention (No. Fatalities by Occupational Accidents 1,303
187, 2006), of which Japan became the first country (2002: Traffic accidents are excluded.)
to ratify in July 2007. Using the Plan-Do-Check-Act Cases with violation of Cases without violation
(PDCA) cycle on a national level, the programme is OSH regulations of OSH regulations
reviewed and subsequent programmes are launched to 492 (38%) 492 (38%)
drive further OSH improvements.
Establishment of the Industrial Safety and Health Complying with Voluntary approach to
Act in 1972 regulations and find out risk
inspections by themselves
Prior to 1972, the Labour Standards Act regulated OSH
conditions. As part of Japan’s strategy to improve the Results
OSH conditions, the Industrial Safety and Health Act
was introduced as stand-alone legislation. The 1972 Act The Government realized the need to add proactive
imposed greater responsibility on top management for OSH management methods to the conventional reactive
OSH issues and also imposed responsibilities on the OSH management, which emphasized compliance
master contractor in the construction industry. The Act with legislation. The proactive methods required the
further raised the industry awareness on OSH issues and development of OSH management systems within
streamlined legislative requirements to greater clarify enterprises to reduce the reliance on individual
roles and responsibilities within enterprises. competencies to ensure good OSH performances. OSH
Management Systems (OSHMS) and Risk Assessments
Provision of OSHMS guidelines in 1999 and the were the two key tools to realise this. The impact of these
implementation of risk assessments in 2006 tools is illustrated in Figure 12. Although factors such
as motivation of employers are not controlled, OSHMS
Manufacturing processes greatly increased in variety in and Risk Assessment are found to be effective to reduce
the early part of this decade. But with the introduction accident rates.
GOOD OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH PRACTICES 2008/2009 ASEAN–OSHNET 57