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According to the ministry report issued by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare (MHLW) after the 15th internal meeting (the final meeting) of the study group concerning the management of chemical substances in the workplace, the MHLW will expand the number of hazardous chemicals subject to mandatory GHS-related obligations under its Industrial Health and Safety Law (ISHL).
In Japan, the GHS system is currently implemented under three laws, including the ISHL, the PRTR law and the PDSCL, under which only some designated substances are subject to mandatory SDS and labelling requirements. For chemicals possessing hazards while not listed as the subject substances, businesses involved have a best effort obligation to provide SDS and labels.
The MHLW statistics show that 54% of workplace injuries caused by chemicals and resulting in four or more days of temporary incapacity are due to handling of chemicals that are not mandated to provide SDS and labels. Thus, the report proposed to expand the application scope of mandatory GHS-related obligations to cover substances that have been classified by the authority.
More specifically, a timetable is proposed for adding additional 250 substances in 2021, 700 substances in 2022 and 850 substances in 2023 respectively subject to mandatory SDS and labelling requirements. In addition, the MHLW is planning to classify 50 to 100 chemical substances per year according to GHS, and continue designating by batches more hazardous substances mandated to provide SDS and labels.
