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Chapter Law Content

Chapter II Safety and Health Facilities
Article 6
The employers shall have the necessary safety and health equipment and measures that comply with regulations for the following items:
1. To prevent the risks of injuries posed by items such as machinery, equipment, and tools;
2. To prevent the risks of injuries posed by materials of an explosive or flammable nature;
3. To prevent the risks of injuries posed by electricity, heat, and other energy sources;
4. To prevent the risks of injuries encountered in the course of activities such as quarrying, excavating, loading and unloading, transportation, stockpiling, collecting and logging;
5. To prevent the risks of injuries posed by falling, falling objects, or collapse at the job site;
6. To prevent the risks of injuries posed by high-pressure gas;
7. To prevent the risks of injuries posed by raw materials, materials, gases, vapors, dusts, solvents, chemicals, toxic substances, oxygen-deficient air;
8. To prevent the risks of injuries posed by radiation, high temperature, low temperature, ultrasonic waves, noise, vibration, and abnormal atmospheric pressure;
9. To prevent the risks of injuries posed by monitoring instruments or high precision operations;
10. To prevent the risks of injuries posed by waste gases, waste liquids and residues;
11. To prevent the risks of injuries posed by flood, wind and fire;
12. To prevent the risks of injuries posed by animals, plants, or microorganisms;
13. To prevent the risks of injuries posed by passages, floors, and stairways;
14. To prevent the risks of injuries posed by failure to adopt adequate ventilation, lighting, illumination, temperature control, or humidity control.
The employers shall adequately plan and adopt the necessary safety and health measures for the following items:
1. To prevent musculoskeletal disorders induced by repetitive operations and related works;
2. To prevent ailments induced by exceptional workload, such as working shifts, working at night, and long working hours;
3. To prevent wrongful physical or mental harm caused by the actions of others during the execution of job duties;
4. To allow for evacuation, first-aid treatment, rest, or other actions to protect the physical and mental health of laborers.
Standards and rules for the necessary safety and health equipment and measures in the preceding two paragraphs shall be established by the central competent authority.
Article 7
Machinery, equipment, or tools specified by the central competent authority whose structures, functions, or safeguards do not fulfill safety standards shall not be manufactured and shipped from the factory, nor imported, rented out, supplied or installed by manufactures, importers, suppliers or employers.
The safety standards referred to in the preceding paragraph are stipulated by the central competent authority.
Machinery, equipment, or tools that meet safety standards specified in paragraph 1 shall be registered by manufacturers or importers on the information reporting website specified by the central competent authority. Manufacturers or importers shall put up the safety label in a prominent place on the manufactured or imported products for identification. Products announced as requiring type certification shall be handled in accordance with the provisions of Articles 8 and 9.
The methods for information registration, labeling, and other binding matters to the preceding paragraph shall be stipulated by the central competent authority.
Article 8
Machinery, equipment, or tools announced by the central competent authority as requiring type certification shall not be manufactured and shipped from the factory nor imported by manufactures or importers if their qualification label or type certification is not issued by a certification body authorized by the central competent authority.
If machinery, equipment or tools specified in the preceding paragraph satisfies any one of the following circumstances, certification may be waived and is not subject to the limits set in the preceding paragraph:
1. Those that have undergone inspections, examination, certification, or approval in accordance with Article 16 or other legal regulations.
2. Those that are provided for military or national defense use, with documentation to this effect issued by the Ministry of National Defense or a subordinate body thereof.
3. Those that are special model manufactured or imported in limited quantities for the sole purpose of technological research and development or testing, and have been authorized by the central competent authority.
4. Those that are used for commercial sample or exhibition and not for actual use or operation purpose, and have been authorized by the central competent authority.
5. Other special circumstances requiring that certification be waived, and approved by the central competent authority.
For the certification referred to in Paragraph 1, where unusual structural specifications of products leading to difficulties in certification, the obligatory applicants may attach the product safety assessment reports and request with the central competent authority for the approval of a suitable means of examination.
For the certification referred to in Paragraph 1, due to the requirements of certification, importers may apply to the central competent authority for prior releases. With approval such certification are allowed to be conducted at location where the products are installed.
The implementation processes, items, standards, obligatory applicants for type certifications, the qualifications, their approval and the revocation and cancellation thereof, qualification mark, labeling methods, the conditions for prior release, request for certification waiver, safety assessment reports, overseeing and supervision, and other binding matters specified in the preceding four paragraphs are stipulated by the central competent authority.
Article 9
Where products have not passed type certification or type certification has expired, manufacturers, importers, suppliers or the employers shall not display a certified mark or other similar, easily confused mark on the product.
The central competent authority or labor inspection agency may conduct random examinations and market examinations of products announced in the mandatory list of type certification; businesses shall not evade, obstruct, or refuse such inspections.
Article 10
The employers shall label, make inventories, and display safety data sheets for hazardous chemicals, and adopt necessary hazard communication measures.
Prior to providing the chemicals in the preceding paragraph to business entities or self-employed workers, the manufacturers, importers, or suppliers shall label them and provide safety data sheets; the same shall be applied for any change of information.
The scope, labeling, inventory formats, safety data sheets, and their displays, hazard communication measures and other binding matters regarding the chemicals specified in the preceding two paragraphs are stipulated by the central competent authority.
Article 11
With regard to the chemicals specified in the preceding Article, the employers shall assess the degrees of risks the chemicals pose based on hazards to health, distribution, quantity of use and other conditions, and adopt management measures according to risk ranking.
The regulations on assessments, risk ranking management procedures and the adoption of measures specified in the preceding paragraphs and other binding matters shall be determined by the central competent authority.
Article 12
For job sites where the central competent authority has stipulated permissible exposure limits, the employers shall ensure that laborers’ hazard exposure is under the permissible level.
The permissible exposure limits in the preceding paragraph are stipulated by the central competent authority.
Employers of job site designated by the central competent authority shall formulate a job site monitoring plan, and establish organizations or commission a job site monitoring agency approved by the central competent authority to carry out monitoring. Central-competent-authority-designated monitored items that are exempted from analysis by a monitoring agency may be performed by employed qualified personnel.
The employers shall publicly disclose and report to the central competent authority the monitoring plans and monitoring results referred to in the preceding paragraph. The central competent authority or a labor inspection agency may examine the plans and results.
Regulations governing job site designation, disclosure and reporting of monitoring plans and monitoring results, the qualifications of monitoring agencies and personnel, their approval and revocation and termination thereof, and inspection methods in the preceding two paragraphs and other binding matters are stipulated by the central competent authority.
Article 13
Manufacturers or importers shall not manufacture or import chemicals containing new chemical substances that are not on the inventory of chemical substances announced by the central competent authority prior to submitting a chemical substance safety assessment report to the central competent authority and receiving registration approval for the new substances. Substances stipulated by other legislations or which are announced by the central competent authority announces as not applicable shall not be subject to this restriction.
In order to prevent hazards to the safety and health of workers, the assessment reports in the preceding paragraph may be made public by the central competent authority after examination.
Regulations governing the announcement of the inventory of chemical substances, registration of new chemical substances, content of assessment reports, examination procedures, and public disclosure of information in the preceding two paragraphs and other binding matters shall be stipulated by the central competent authority.
Article 14
Manufacturers, importers, suppliers, or employers shall not manufacture, import, supply, or provide for workers to handle or use controlled chemicals that are designated by the central competent authority. However chemicals that are approved by the central competent authority are not subject to this restriction.
Manufacturers, importers, suppliers, or employers shall report relevant handling information for priority management chemicals specified by the central competent authority to the central competent authority for reference.
Regulations governing the designation of chemicals, conditions of permission, terms, termination or revocation of permission, content of handling information and other binding matters in the preceding two paragraphs shall be stipulated by the central competent authority.
Article 15
For workplaces under any of the following specified circumstances, business entities shall regularly conduct process safety assessments, produce process safety assessment reports, and adopt necessary preventative measures within the deadline stipulated by the central competent authority; the same rule applies when the process is modified.
1. Petrochemical industry which engages in petroleum cracking.
2. Workplaces which engage in the manufacturing, storage, or usage of hazardous chemicals in excess of the quantity stipulated by the central competent authority.
Process safety assessment reports in the preceding paragraph shall be reported by the business entities to the labor inspection agency for reference.
Rules governing the quantity of hazardous chemicals, process safety assessment methods, important items for assessment reports, as well as the deadline, items, and methods of reporting for reference in the preceding two paragraphs and other binding matters are stipulated by the central competent authority
Article 16
Employers shall not use machinery or equipment specified as dangerous by the central competent authority without passing an inspection by a labor inspection agency, or by a certificated inspection agency designated by the central competent authority; where such usage exceeds the stipulated period, the machinery and facilities shall not be used without passing a re-inspection.
Certificated inspection agencies shall perform their duties in accordance with this Act and orders issued by this Act.
Inspection fee standards and the qualifications and responsibilities of designated inspection agencies are stipulated by the central competent authority.
Regulations regarding the types of dangerous machinery or equipment, their required capacities, and the process, completion, usage, modification or other matters of inspection related to procedures, items, and standards of inspection, as well as effective period of approved inspections thereof referred to in Paragraph 1 shall be established by the central competent authority
Article 17
All workplace building shall be designed by a registered practicing architect in accordance with the law on architecture and the safety and health provisions of this Act.
Article 18
When there is a concern of a potential imminent danger at a workplace, the employers or people responsible for the worksite shall immediately issue orders to halt work and withdraw laborers to a safe location.
When laborers discover there is a concern of a threat of imminent danger while executing their duties, under conditions in which the safety of other workers is not jeopardized, they may terminate work of their own accord and withdraw to safe locations, and immediately report to their direct supervisors.
The employers shall not dismiss, reassign, not pay wages for the period of work on halt, or otherwise impose unfavorably treatment on laborers taking actions prescribed in the preceding paragraph. However, employers are not subject to this restriction if they can prove that laborers have abused their rights to suspend work and have been affirmed by the competent authority for having complied with labor regulations.
Article 19
The employers shall not have laborers work in a high temperature worksite for more than six hours each day; employers shall reduce working hours for laborers performing work under abnormal atmospheric pressure conditions, elevated operation, high precision operation, high physical exertion, or other specially hazardous tasks, and give appropriate rest periods during working hours.
The standards for the preceding paragraph describing the reduction of working hours and adequate time for rest for working under unusually high temperature, abnormal atmospheric pressure, elevated operation, high precision operation, high physical exertion, and other specially hazardous tasks shall be established by the central competent authority in coordination with relevant authorities.
Article 20
The employers shall conduct pre-employment physical examinations for laborers at the time of employment; for currently employed laborers, the following health examinations shall be conducted:
1. General health examinations.
2. Special health examinations for those involved in tasks with special health hazards.
3. Health examinations of specific items for specific targets workers as designated by the central competent authority.
The examinations in the preceding paragraph shall be performed by physicians from medical institutions approved by the central competent authority in consultation with the central competent health authority; the employers shall keep the examination records and be responsible for the expense of the health examinations; when special health examinations are performed, the employers shall provide detailed information on laborer’s work, exposure to hazards, and other work experience information to the medical institution.
Regulations regarding the subjects of examinations and their work experience, the items and time of their examinations, hierarical health management, examination records and the record keeping period in the preceding two paragraphs and other binding matters are stipulated by the central competent authority.
The medical institutions shall report the results of health examinations to the central competent authority for future reference, to be applied as necessary for prevention of work related diseases. The reporting of the results of general health examinations, however, is limited to cases in which abnormalities are discovered in specific items.
Regulations regarding the approval conditions, management of medical institutions, and the qualifications of examination physicians in Paragraph 2, as well as the contents, methods, and deadline for the reporting of examination results in the preceding paragraph and other binding matters to be complied with are stipulated by the central competent authority.
The laborers are obligated to accept the examinations in Paragraph 1.
Article 21
The employers shall not employ laborers to engage in a particular type of work for which the physical examination in the preceding Article finds the laborers to be unsuitable for employment. Where a health examination finds an abnormal condition in laborers, medical personnel shall provide the laborer with health guidance. Where the results of a physician’s health assessment indicate that a laborer is not suited for his or her original work, the physician’s recommendations shall be referred to in changing the laborer’s job sites, reassigning the laborer to different duties, or shortening his or her working hours, and adopting health management measures.
The employers shall compile and issue to the laborers a health examination manual based on the results of the examinations pursuant to the preceding Article and personal health recommendations. This manual shall not be used for purposes other than health management.
The regulations regarding health management measures and the contents of the examination manuals in the preceding two paragraphs and other binding matters to be complied with are stipulated by the central competent authority.
Article 22
Business entities employing 50 or more laborers shall employ or contract medical personnel to conduct health management, occupational disease prevention, health promotion, and other activities to ensure the health and protection of laborers.
Activities related to occupational disease prevention in the preceding paragraph shall be accompanied by safety and health personnel pursuant to Article 23.
The applicable dates for business entities pursuant to Paragraph 1 may be announced in phases according to their scale and characteristics by the central competent authority.
The qualifications for medical personnel engaged in labor health services, labor health protection and other binding matters pursuant to Paragraph 1 shall be set by the central competent authority.