Article 96-3. (Order to Institute)
• The Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare may, when he/she finds it necessity to ensure the proper implementation of business of the investigation prescribed in paragraph (1) of the preceding Article and the spot inspection prescribed in paragraph (2) of the same Article, give the necessary order on these businesses to the Institute.
Article 97. (Reports by Workers)
• (1) When there exists in the workplace any fact in violation of the provisions of this Act or ordinances there under, the worker may report this fact to the Director of the Prefectural Labor Bureau or Chief of the Labor Standards Office or to the Labor Standards Inspector and request that appropriate action be taken for rectification.
• (2) The employer shall not dismiss or discriminate against the worker who reported the fact according to the preceding paragraph for the reason of his/her having done so.
Article 98. (Order of Suspension of Use, etc.)
• (1) The Director of the Prefectural Labor Bureau or the Chief of the Labor Standards Office may, where there exists a fact in violation of the provisions of Article 20 to Article 25 inclusive, paragraph (1) of Article 25-2, paragraph (1) or (4) of Article 30-3, paragraph (1) of Article 31, Article 31-2, paragraph (1) of Article 33 or Article 34, order to stop whole or part of the work, to stop or alter the use of whole or part of the building, etc., or other matters necessary for preventing industrial accidents, to the employer, ordered, machine-lessor or building-lessor who violated the said provisions.
• (2) The Director of the Prefectural Labor Bureau or the Chief of the Labor Standards Office may order necessary matters in connection with the matters ordered under the provisions of the preceding paragraph to the workers, contractors, or those to whom buildings are leased.
• (3) The Labor Standards Inspectors may, where there exists imminent danger to the workers in the case of the preceding two paragraphs, immediately exercise the authorities of the Director of the Prefectural Labor Bureau or the Chief of the Labor Standards Office under these paragraphs.
• (4) The Director of the Prefectural Labor Bureau or the Chief of the Labor Standards Office may, in case of having given the order pursuant to the provision of paragraph (1) for the work carried out based on the contract and when finding it necessary, recommend or request the ordered of the work (including all the orders of such work as parties to the contracts for the work but excluding the ordered to whom the said order has been issued, where the said work is to be executed by subcontracts of several levels) with regard to preventing industrial accidents related to facts in the said violation.