Do you conduct safety and health education when hiring or changing work duties?
In your company, do you conduct "safety and health education" when you hire new employees or change their work duties?
In fact, this is an obligation stipulated by the Industrial Safety and Health Act.
The necessity of education stipulated by law
Regarding safety and health education at the time of hiring or changing work duties, the Industrial Safety and Health Act stipulates the following.
(Safety and Health Education)
Article 59: When an employer hires a worker, the employer must provide the worker with education on safety or health regarding the duties they will be engaged in, as stipulated by Ordinance of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
2. The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall apply mutatis mutandis when a worker's work duties are changed.
The specific items for which education must be provided are stipulated in the Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health as follows.
(Education at the time of hiring, etc.)
Article 35: When an employer hires a worker or changes a worker's work duties, the employer must, without delay, provide the worker with education on the necessary items for safety or health regarding the duties the worker will be engaged in, from among the following items:
1. Matters concerning the danger or toxicity of machines, raw materials, etc., and how to handle them.
2. Matters concerning the performance of safety devices, hazardous substance suppression devices, or protective equipment, and how to handle them.
3. Matters concerning work procedures.
4. Matters concerning inspections at the start of work.
5. Matters concerning the causes and prevention of diseases that may occur in relation to the duties.
6. Matters concerning organization, tidying up, and maintaining cleanliness.
7. Matters concerning emergency measures and evacuation in the event of an accident, etc.
8. In addition to the items listed in the preceding items, matters necessary for safety or health regarding the duties.
2. An employer may omit education on all or part of the items listed in the items of the preceding paragraph for workers recognized as having sufficient knowledge and skills regarding those items.
Previously, in non-industrial sectors, the omission of some educational items was permitted, but the omission provision was abolished due to the revision in April 2024. Therefore,it is required to provide the necessary education in all industries.
Creating and keeping records is not mandatory, but...
Currently, the creation and storage of records of education implementation are not mandatory. However, if education is not conducted, it is subject toa fine of up to 500,000 yen.Also, if an accident were to occur and there is no "proof that education was conducted," the company's risk will be significant. Therefore,
it is desirable to keep records.
Points to note for dispatched workers
Regarding the party responsible for conducting safety and health education for dispatched workers, it is stipulated in Article 45 of the "Act for Securing the Proper Operation of Worker Dispatching Undertakings and Protecting Dispatched Workers," and it can be summarized as follows.
Education at the time of hiring or change of dispatch destination → Dispatching business operator
Special education regarding dangerous or hazardous work and education at the time of change of work duties → Dispatch destination
It is important to note that the dispatching business operator has the obligation to conduct safety and health education at the time of hiring.is something to be aware of.
In conclusion
In my experience, I feel that there are still few companies that properly record safety and health education at the time of hiring.
However, education is a legal obligation, and keeping records also leads to protecting the company. It is not too late to start now, so I strongly recommend that you keep records.