Giving information to subcontractors on chemical substances

February 3. 2012.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor legislates an amendment that obliges contractors to provide information on hazardous chemical substances to subcontractors.

The ministry said that it will pass the modified bill to force the contractors to share information with subcontractors on chemical substances and regarding risk so that strengthened responsibility falls on the contractors.

This is because workers of the subcontractors died consecutively exposing themselves to a hazardous working environment: in December last year, the explosion killed four persons in Sejin heavy industries and killed one person and hurt six in SK energy’s Ulsan complex. All of those who were affected were workers belonged to the subcontractors. The explosion got fatal as inflammable material leaked and employees from the subcontractor were working without any knowledge or information on the process 

According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, 19.3 to 29 people developed occupational disease and 5.1 died on average among 100,000 subcontractor workers in the repairing and renovating business of the chemical facility.

Indeed, the epidemiological survey from the Yeosu National Industrial Complex from 2006 to 2009 shows that cancer mortality rate for the subcontractor workers is five times higher than those of contractors.

The ministry added that chemical substances caused cancer reduced by 63% when information on hazardous of the chemical substances is shared between the two according to the Japan’s survey.

The modified bill also contains the legal ground that allows investigation of risk and hazard of chemical substances that could develop potential disease. Only new chemical substances are the subject of risk and hazard investigation as of now.