Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Japan (Ratification: 1953)

The Committee notes the observations of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (JTUC-RENGO) communicated with the Government’s report.

Articles 3, 13 and 17 of the Convention. Activities of the labour inspectorate in the area of occupational safety and health (OSH). In reply to the previous comment of the Committee, the Government reiterates that inspection plans that accurately capture the workplace safety and health situations within the jurisdiction are formulated at each Labour Standards Inspection Office and efforts are being made to maximize and ensure the necessary volume of work on inspection, including by simplifying and rationalizing clerical work within the offices. The Committee notes the detailed information provided by the Government on the number of occupational fatalities and injuries for the period 2017-2020 by priority business type. According to this information, there were 845 fatalities in 2019 and 802 fatalities in 2020. For 2020, approximately 32 per cent of the fatal accidents were in the construction sector, followed by approximately 28 per cent in the tertiary industry (such as retail business, social welfare institutions and restaurants), approximately 17 per cent in manufacturing and almost 11 per cent in land transport. For 2019, the results of 117,827 regular inspections in these four sectors indicated a general violation rate of 70.9 per cent, with the violation rate for working hours being the highest, at 31.6 per cent, followed by the violation rate for physical examination at 28.9 per cent; and the violation rate of safety standards being at 24.6 per cent. For 2020, the results of 116,317 regular inspections indicated a general violation rate of 69.1 per cent, with the violation rate for safety standards increasing to 27.9 per cent, raising the highest concern among all types of violations. The overall number of casualties (four or more days absent from work) caused by industrial accidents that occurred in 2020 was 131,156 in all industries (including 6,041 from COVID-19 disease); this showed an increase of 5,545 from the previous year.

Regarding the orders issued pursuant to section 98 of the Industrial Safety and Health Act, the Government indicates that there are no dedicated statistics for orders based solely on this section. However, it provides information on orders about suspension of use taken by the director of the Labour Standards Inspection Offices, issued to prevent industrial accidents in cases where construction, dormitories, equipment, or raw materials in the workplaces violate standards concerning safety and health. In this respect, the Committee notes that there were 5,286 suspension-of-use orders issued in 2016, 5,444 orders in 2017, 5,090 orders in 2018 and 4,894 in 2019. In response to the previous Committee request, the Government indicates that in 2019, there were 333 cases prosecuted and, as of January 2021, of these cases, one was sentenced to imprisonment and 331 were fined. The Committee requests the Government to provide more detailed information on the measures taken to ensure that the service sector, the land transportation sector, the manufacturing sector and the construction sector are subject to an adequate number of effective inspections, including the specific measures taken to maximize and secure the necessary volume of work on inspection.Noting the persistent high general violation rate as well as the increased violation rate regarding safety standards and the increased number of casualties caused by industrial accidents, the Committee requests the Government to provide in its next report separate information on the number of violations of OSH provisions. The Committee further requests the Government to supply information on any preventive measures undertaken by labour inspectors specifically in the OSH area, including measures aiming to minimize risks of industrial accidents and cases of occupational diseases, specifying measures with immediate executory force, as well as sanctions imposed for violations detected.

Articles 3 and 18. Activities of the labour inspectorate related to hours of work. In reply to Committee’s previous comments, the Government indicates a series of measures taken to strengthen the enforcement of the legal provisions relating to hours of work. The Committee notes that in September 2016 the Government established the "Council for the Realization of Work Style Reform” with the participation of employers and workers, in December 2016, it developed the “Zero Deaths from Overwork Emergency Plan” and, in March 2017, it drew up an "Action Plan for Work Style Reform". Based on this plan, the Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts to Promote Work Style Reform, which includes measures for restrictions on the upper limit of overtime work, was enacted in June 2018. As part of the aforementioned initiatives the Government has implemented a series of measures of inspection and guidance for workplaces where long working hours are suspected to be taking place. According to the information provided by the Government, of the 32,981 workplaces where inspection and guidance were provided in 2019, corrective guidance on illegal overtime work was provided to 15,593 workplaces (about 47.3 per cent of the total). The Government indicates that total annual actual working hours have been on a downward trend, reaching 1,621 hours in 2020 and detected cases of violations referred to the Public Prosecutor’s Office pertaining to working hours steadily decreased from 96 in 2017, to 82 in 2018, and 56 in 2019. However, the Committee notes the information provided in the summaries of the annual labour inspection reports, according to which for 2016–2019, a high number of violations detected during periodic inspections conducted in each of the four years related to working hours. The JTUC-RENGO observes that strong calls are being made for strict supervision and guidance to ensure compliance with relevant regulations including restrictions on overtime work. Noting the persistent high violation rate related to working hours, the Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on measures taken to strengthen the enforcement of the legal provisions relating to hours of work, including the enforcement of the new Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts to Promote Work Style Reform. In this respect, it requests the Government to provide information on the impact of the measures taken in the context of the “Zero Deaths from Overwork Emergency Plan" and the "Action Plan for Work Style Reform”. The Committee reiterates its request that the Government provide information on the number of cases relating to this subject in which the maximum statutory fine of 300,000 Japanese yen (US$3,000) was assessed and on the outcome of cases sent to the Public Prosecutor’s Office for judicial action (how often was a maximum fine paid, what outcomes as a result of judicial acts).

Articles 20 and 21. Publication and content of the annual report on the work of the labour inspectorate. The Committee takes note of the summaries of the annual labour inspection reports from the years 2016-2020, submitted with the Government’s report, and containing information on statistics on inspection visits conducted per industry and types of inspections, violations detected as well as the types of judicial action taken following the detection of violations, cases of non-payment of wages, reported industrial accidents and fatalities and occupational diseases. While taking due note of this information, the Committee also notes that the labour inspection reports do not appear to include statistics on the number of workplaces liable to inspection and the number of workers employed therein (in accordance with Article 21(c)); and statistics of penalties imposed (Article 21(e)). The Committee requests the Government to continue to communicate copies of annual labour inspection reports and summaries. It requests once again that the Government ensures that annual labour inspection reports include statistics on the number of workplaces liable to inspection and the number of workers employed therein (in accordance with Article 21(c)); and statistics of penalties imposed (Article 21(e)).