Japan updates its occupational disease substances list

On 14 October 2022, Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) announced two different public consultation notifications to add 13 more compounds that could be hazardous to the health of workers under the Labour Standards Act. The start of enforcement is anticipated for late December.

The MHLW identified ten compounds that pose a risk to workers health in a report released on 18 March 2022 that led to the proposed change to Japan's list of occupational illnesses. The findings came after an evaluation process that the MHLW started in July 2019 which covered 216 chemicals.

The list of Newly added substances and diseases are as follows:

Additionally, the amendment eliminates two medical conditions: consciousness disorder for methyl iodide and vasomotor neuropathy disorders for Nitroglycol, calcium cyanamide, and nitroglycerin.

Workers in Japan are eligible for compensation if they develop occupational illnesses linked to chemicals on the list. The Industrial Safety and Health Act (ISHA), also mandates that businesses that use the chemicals on the list put in place mandatory health and safety precautions for employees.

In Table 1-2 of the Labour Standards Act, the MHLW also recommended adding serious heart failure to the list and replacing dissecting aortic aneurysm with aortic dissection.

A subsequent assessment and discussion by the MHLW took place on 7 October 2022, and the announced its recommendations in the "Report of the Expert Review Committee on the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Labor Standards Act, Article 35."