Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare

Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare

In Focus: Radiation Protection at Works Relating to TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident

Inspection Division
Labour Standards Department
Fukushima Prefectural Labour Bureau
5 March 2015

Results of supervision/instructions to employers of decontamination workers
(July - December 2014)

The Labour Standards Department under the jurisdiction of the Fukushima Prefectural Labour Bureau (Director: Mutsuo Hikichi) has been conducting intensive supervisions and issuing instructions to employers of decontamination workers for the purpose of ensuring working conditions as well as industrial safety and the health of decontamination workers.

The results of the supervisions and instructions provided during the period from July to the end of December 2014 as well as a summary for the entire year of 2014 were compiled as below.

[July - December 2014]
  • Number of employers for which supervisions and instructions were implemented: 839
    • Out of this, those employers that committed some sorts of violations of labour standards laws and regulations: 588 (violation ratio 70.1%)
  • Number of violation cases: 1.362
    • Out of the total number, those cases relating to working conditions violations: 738 (Payment of extra wages, working hours, failure to give a clear indication of working conditions, etc.)
    • Out of the total number, those cases relating to industrial safety and health violations: 624 (Preliminary survey, dose measurement, use of protective equipment, etc.)
[January - December 2014]
  • Number of employers for which supervisions and instructions were implemented: 1,152
    • Out of this, those employers that committed some sorts of violations of labour standards laws and regulations: 774 (violation ratio 67.2%, 0.5% lower than the preceding year)
  • Number of violation cases: 1,697
    • Out of the total number, those cases relating to working conditions violations: 898 (Payment of extra wages, working hours, failure to give a clear indication of working conditions, etc.)
    • Out of the total number, those cases relating to industrial safety and health violations: 799 (Preliminary survey, dose measurement, use of protective equipment, etc.)

  • Violations by entities placing orders
    • Special decontamination areas (Orders placed by the national government) Number of employers for which supervisions and instructions were implemented: 580 Out of the total number, employers that committed some sorts of violations: 302 (violation ratio 52.1%)
    • Intensive contamination survey areas (Orders placed by local governments) Number of employers for which supervisions and instructions were implemented: 552 Out of the total number, employers that committed some sorts of violations: 466 (violation ratio 84.4%)

The Fukushima Prefectural Labour Bureau will continue to strictly implement supervisions and instructions to employers engaged in decontamination works and will endeavor to ensure industrial safety and health and the statutory working conditions of decontamination workers by making requests to entities placing an order to thoroughly comply with related laws and regulations including proper control of workers’ doses.

Table 1 Current status of supervision/instructions
Period 2013 2014
Items July - December
No. of supervised employers 1,047 1,152 839
No. of violators 709 774 588
Violation rate (%) 67.7 67.2 70.1
Number of cases of violation 1,784 1,697 1,362
Violations relating to working conditions 1,210 898 738
Violations relating to industrial safety and health 574 799 624
Table 2 Details of violations
(1) Violations relevant to the Labour Standards Act
Provisions Period 2013 2014
Items July - December
Article 15 Clear indication of working conditions 201 121 101
Article 24 Payment of regular wages* 133 88 70
Deduction of social activities fees, accommodation costs or food costs without a labour-management agreement 68 54 45

Major breakdown of categories

No payment of wages for the hours spent for the monitoring of internal exposure 8 3 2
No payment of wages for the hours spent for special education 21 14 14
No payment of wages for the hours spent for special medical examinations 27 22 15
Article 26 Payment of allowance for absence from work 8 31 29
Article 32 Working hours 174 145 128
Article 37 Payment of extra wages 266 238 179
Article 107 Preparation of roster of workers 121 56 47
Article 108 Preparation of wage ledger 213 111 93

* As violations falling under respective categories of the "Major breakdown" are counted individually and the types of violations are not limited to those "Major breakdown" categories, the numbers of cases in "Payment of regular wages" and the total number of cases of the "Major Breakdown" categories do not match.

(2) Violations relevant to the Industrial Safety and Health Act and the Ionizing Radiation Ordinance for Decontamination
Provisions
(SH Act)
Provisions
(Ordinance)
Period 2013 2014
Items July - December
Article 22 Article 5 Dose measurement 31 97 72
Article 7 Preliminary survey 64 145 110
Article 9 Operation leader 8 3 3

Article 14

Contamination screening of workers leaving the site for the day 22 18 11
Article 15 Contamination screening of items to be removed 5 12 9
Article 16 Use of protective equipment 44 38 27
Article 59 Article 19 Provision of special education 35 5 5
Article 66 Article 20 Provision of special medical examinations 23 26 23
Table 3 Current status of supervision/instructions by entities placing an order in 2014 (only those related to decontamination works)
Decontamination works placed an order by the national Decontamination works placed orders by local municipalities<
government July - December July - December
No. of supervised employers 580 377 552 454
No. of violators 302 199 466 383
Violation rate (%) 52.1 52.8 84.4 84.4
Number of cases of violation 569 390 1,115 959
Violations relating to working conditions 369 228 529 510
Violations relating to industrial safety and health 200 162 586 449

Cases of violation

<Relating to working conditions>

  • Employers failed to clearly indicate working conditions in writing when concluding an employment contract;
  • Employers clearly indicated working conditions by issuing a document when concluding an employment contract but failed to clearly indicate whether a fixed-term employment contract can be renewed on issuing the document (both cases in violation of Article 15 of the Labour Standards Act);
  • Employers required a worker to work more than 40 hours per week without an agreement on overtime work (Article 32 of the said Act)
  • Employers failed to include the decontamination allowance in the base calculation of the extra wage for overtime working, and the amount of the extra wage paid was lower than the amount that was calculated by the method provided for in the Labour Standards Act (Article 37 of the said Act).

<Relating to industrial safety and health>

  • External exposure doses received by workers while they are engaged in decontamination-related works have not been measured correctly (Article 5 of the Ionizing Radiation Ordinance for Decontamination)
    (The employer had a worker wear a radiation monitor whose cumulative external exposure dose at the work site was expected to be the average of all the workers and the employer intended to calculate the total external exposure dose of all workers based on the external exposure dose measurement of the worker. However, the worker wearing the monitor was not on the decontamination site.)
  • The employers of decontamination workers failed to clearly show the overview of the results though they conducted a preliminary survey of average ambient dose rates in advance at the sites where decontamination-related work had been implemented. (Article 7 of the Ionizing Radiation Ordinance for Decontamination)

Labour Standards Act
(Clear Indication of Working Conditions)

Article 15

  1. In concluding a labour contract, the employer shall clearly indicate the wages, working hours and other working conditions to the worker. In this case, matters concerning wages and working hours and other matters stipulated by an Ordinance of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare shall be clearly indicated in the manner prescribed by the said Ordinance.
  2. In the event that the working conditions as clearly indicated under the provisions of the preceding paragraph differ from the actual working conditions, the worker may immediately cancel the labour contract.
  3. In a case under the preceding paragraph, the employer shall bear the necessary travel expenses for the worker, in the event that a worker who has changed his or her residence for the work returns home within 14 days from the date of cancellation of contract.

(Payment of Wages)

Article 24

  1. Wages shall be paid in currency and in the full amount directly to the workers; provided, however, that payment other than in currency may be permitted in cases otherwise provided for by laws and regulations or collective agreement or in cases where a reliable method of payment of wages defined by an Ordinance of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare is provided for; and partial deduction from wages may be permitted in cases otherwise provided for by laws and regulations or in cases where there exists a written agreement with a labor union organized by a majority of the workers at the workplace (in the case that such a labor union is organized), or with a person representing a majority of the workers (in the case that such a labor union is not organized).
  2. Wages shall be paid at least once a month at a definite date; provided, however, that this shall not apply to extraordinary wages, bonuses, and the like which will be defined by an Ordinance of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (referred to as "special wages etc." in Article 89).

(Allowance for Absence from Work)

Article 26

WIn the event of an absence from work for reasons attributable to the employer, the employer shall pay an allowance equal to at least 60 percent of the worker's average wage to each worker concerned during the period of absence from work.


(Working Hours)

Article 32

  1. An employer shall not have a worker work more than 40 hours per week, excluding rest periods.
  2. An employer shall not have a worker work more than 8 hours per day for each day of the week, excluding rest periods.

(Increased Wages for Overtime Work, Work on Days Off and Night Work)

Article 37

  1. In the event that an employer extends the working hours or has a worker work on a day off pursuant to the provisions of Article 33 or paragraph (1) of the preceding Article, the employer shall pay increased wages for work during such hours or on such days at a rate no less than the rate stipulated by cabinet order within the range of no less than 25 percent and no more than 50 percent over the normal wage per working hour or working day. Except, if the extended working hours exceed 60 hours per month, increased wages more than 50 percent of the normal working hour wage shall be paid for the exceeding hours.
  2. The cabinet order set forth in the preceding paragraph shall be set taking into consideration the welfare of workers, the trends of overtime work and of work on days off, and any other relevant circumstances.
  3. The employer may not need to pay wages under provision of an exemption in the relevant paragraph for working hours prescribed by an Ordinance of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare as corresponding to obtained holidays among working hours exceeding regulated hours in the exemption statement for the relevant worker, when relevant workers had obtained relevant holidays, in the case the employer decides to give holidays paid for normal working hour wages (except those paid holiday regulated in Article 39) as a substitute for payment of the relevant increased wages for the worker to be paid the increased wages based on the regulation of the exemption statement in paragraph (1), under written agreement with a labour union organized by a majority of the workers at the workplace (in the case that such a labour union is organized), or with a person representing a majority of the workers (in the case that such a labour union is not organized).
  4. In the event that an employer has a worker work during the period between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. (or the period between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., in the case that the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare admits the necessity of the application of those hours for a certain area or time of the year), the employer shall pay increased wages for work during such hours at a rate no less than 25 percent over the normal wage per working hour.
  5. Family allowances, commutation allowances, and other elements of wages as stipulated by an Ordinance of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare shall not be added to the base wages underlying the increased wages set forth in paragraph (1) and the preceding paragraph.

(Roster of Workers)

Article 107

  1. The employer shall prepare a roster of workers for each workplace with respect to each worker (excluding day laborers) and shall enter the worker's name, date of birth, personal history, and other matters as prescribed by an Ordinance of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
  2. In the event of a change in any of the matters entered pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the employer shall make a correction without delay.

(Wage Ledger)

Article 108

The employer shall prepare a wage ledger for each workplace and shall enter the facts upon which wage calculations are based, the amount of wages, and other matters as prescribed by an Ordinance of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare without delay each time wage payments are made.


Industrial Safety and Health Act
(Measures to Be Taken by Employers, etc.)

Article 22

The employer shall take necessary measures for preventing health impairment as follows:

  1. Health impairment due to raw materials, gases, vapors, dust, insufficient oxygen in air, pathogens, etc.
  2. Health impairment due to radiation, high temperatures, low temperatures, ultrasonic waves, noises, vibration, abnormal atmospheric pressure, etc.
  3. Health impairment due to operations such as gauge monitoring, precision work, etc.
  4. Health impairment due to exhaust fumes, waste fluids or solid wastes.


(Safety and Health Education)

Article 59

  1. The employer shall, when a new worker is employed, give the said worker education for safety and/or health concerning work operations in which the worker is to be engaged, as provided for by an Ordinance of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
  2. The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall be applied mutatis mutandis when the contents of the operations have been changed.
  3. The employer shall, when a worker is to be placed in the dangerous or harmful operations provided for by an Ordinance of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, give the worker the special education for safety and/or health concerning the said operations, as provided for by the said Ordinance of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

(Medical Examination)

Article 66

  1. The employer shall, as provided for by an Ordinance of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, have a medical doctor perform medical examinations of workers.
  2. The employer shall, as provided for by the said Ordinance of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, have a medical doctor perform medical examinations on specified items on the workers engaged in harmful work operations defined by Cabinet Order. The same shall be applied to the workers who have engaged in harmful work operations defined by Cabinet Order and are currently in employment.
  3. The employer shall, as provided for by an Ordinance of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, have a dentist perform medical examinations on the workers engaged in the harmful work operations defined by Cabinet Order.
  4. The Director of the Prefectural Labor Bureau may, when it is deemed necessary for maintaining the health of workers, instruct employers on the basis of the opinion of the Medical Advisor in Industrial Health and as provided for by the Ordinance of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, to conduct a special medical examination and other necessary matters.
  5. Workers shall undergo the medical examination conducted by the employer under provisions of the preceding paragraphs, provided that this shall not apply in the case where a worker who does not desire to undergo the medical examination by the physician or dentist designated by the employer, submits a document to certify the findings that the said worker has undergone a medical examination by another physician or dentist equivalent to the medical examination under these provisions to the employer.

Ionizing Radiation Ordinance for Decontamination
(Dose measurement)

Article 5

  1. Employers shall measure the external exposure dose received by workers while they are engaged in decontamination work (excluding workers engaged in handling designated contaminated soil and wastes only at the locations where the average ambient dose rate is 2.5 μSv/h or less. The same shall apply for Paragraph 6 and Paragraph 8 of the next Article and Paragraph 2 of Article 27).
  2. In addition to dose measurement pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, employers shall measure the committed dose received by decontamination workers engaged in decontamination work in the special decontamination areas, etc. (Limited to the locations above 2.5 μSv/h. The same shall apply to Paragraph 8 and Article 10) or provide examinations for internal exposure according to the following specifications:
    1. Workers engaged in decontamination at the locations where dust concentration exceeds 10 mg/m³ and handle contaminated soil , removed soil, or contaminated wastes, etc. (Limited to those containing the accident discharged radioactive materials that exceeds 500,000 (Bq/Kg) of cesium 134 and cesium 137 determined by the methods specified by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare. These will be referred to as “highly contaminated soil and wastes with radioactivity” in the next item) shall be measured for the committed dose once every three month, and every month for female workers who are likely to receive effective dose of 1.7 mSv or more (excluding infertile female workers), and once per month for pregnant workers.
    2. Workers engaged in decontamination work described in (a) or (b) shall be provided with examinations for internal exposure with the methods specified by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare.
    3. Work involving handling highly contaminated soil and wastes with radioactivity at the locations where the dust concentration is 10 mg/m3 or less.
    4. Work involving handling of contaminated soil and wastes, removed soil, or contaminated wastes other than highly contaminated soil and wastes with radioactivity at the locations where the dust concentration exceeds 10 mg/m3.
  3. When the committed dose exceeds the standards specified by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare in the results of examinations received by workers engaged in decontamination work in accordance with the provisions of item (ii) in the preceding paragraph, employers shall measure the committed dose of workers engaged in decontamination work with the method specified in item (i) of the same paragraph.
  4. The measurement of the external exposure dose pursuant to the provision of Paragraph 1 shall be conducted by the 1 cm dose equivalent rate.
  5. The measurement of the external exposure dose pursuant to the provision of Paragraph 1 shall be conducted with radiation monitors on the chest for male workers and infertile female workers and on the abdomen for fertile female workers.
  6. Regardless of the provisions in the two preceding paragraphs, employers may measure the external exposure dose specified in Paragraph 1 received by workers engaged in decontamination work in the special decontamination areas etc. during decontamination work (Limited to the locations of 2.5 μSv/h or less) with the methods specified by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare.
  7. The internal exposure dose pursuant to the provisions of Paragraph 2 shall be measured with the methods specified by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare.
  8. Workers engaged in decontamination work shall wear radiation monitors in the special decontamination areas, etc. where decontamination work is implemented.

(Preliminary survey)

Article 7

  1. When conducting decontamination work employers shall (excluding Work for Handling Designated Contaminated Soil and Wastes) conduct a preliminary survey in advance regarding the matters listed in the following items at the sites where decontamination related work have been implemented excluding decontamination pertaining to work for handling designated contaminated soil and wastes (hereinafter referred to as “work on designated contaminated soil and wastes.”). The same shall apply in this Paragraph and Paragraph 3. The records of the results of the survey on the following matters shall be stored:
    1. Conditions of the decontamination work sites
    2. Average ambient dose rates of the decontamination related work sites
    3. Concentrations of cesium 134 and cesium 137 determined by the methods specified by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare of the accident discharged radioactive materials contained in contaminated soil and wastes, removed soil, or contaminated wastes collected during decontamination related work.
  2. When implementing work involving handling designated contaminated soil and wastes, employers shall conduct a preliminary survey and store the records of the matters listed in the items in the preceding paragraph for the sites where the work on designated contaminated soil and wastes are implemented prior to commencing work and every two weeks thereafter.
  3. When employers have their workers engaged in decontamination related work employers shall specify the completion date of the survey described in Paragraph 1, and the summary of the methods and the results to the workers in advance.
  4. When they have their workers engaged in work on designated contaminated soil and wastes, employers shall specify the completion date of the survey described in Paragraph 2 and the summary of the methods and the results to the workers prior to commencing work and every two weeks thereafter.

(Operation leader)

Article 9

Employers shall appoint an operation leader for the decontamination related work from workers who have the competence and leadership in directing decontamination related work. The employers shall have the appointed leader lead the decontamination related work in accordance with the work plan described in Paragraph 1 of the preceding Article and have him/her implement all of the following matters:

  1. Define the procedures of the decontamination related work and allocate responsibilities to workers who will engage in decontamination work.
  2. Inspect machineries to be used for the decontamination related work and eliminate defects.
  3. Supervise the usage of radiation monitors and protective gears.
  4. Keep the unauthorized personnel off the decontamination related work areas


(Contamination screening of workers leaving the site for the day)

Article 14

  1. Employers shall establish a radiation contamination screening station at or near the site, where decontamination work is implemented and inspect the levels of contamination in decontamination workers’ bodies, clothing, shoes, protective equipment, and other equipment (hereinafter in this article referred to as “Equipment”) that came in contact with their bodies before they leave their work sites for the day.
  2. Employers shall not allow the decontamination workers to leave their work site when the levels of contamination in their bodies or the Equipment exceed 40 Bq/cm2, when assessed in accordance with the provision in the preceding paragraph, until the following measures are taken at the contamination screening station:
    1. If workers’ bodies are contaminated, they need to reduce their levels of contamination to 40 Bq/cm2 or less.
    2. If the equipment attached to the workers are contaminated, the workers need to take off or remove the contaminated Equipment.
  3. Workers engaged in decontamination work shall wash their bodies, take off or remove the Equipment as instructed by the employers pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph.

(Contamination screening of items to be removed)

Article 15

  1. Employers shall survey contamination of the items to be taken out from the site where decontamination work is conducted at the contamination screening station established in accordance with the requirements in Paragraph 1 of the preceding Article. This shall not apply when the containers in the main Paragraph 1 of Article 13 are used or measures in the proviso in the same paragraph are taken to transport them to the other sites where decontamination work is conducted.
  2. Employers and workers shall not remove the items if they are determined to be contaminated above 40 Bq/cm2 during surveying in the preceding paragraph. This shall not apply when the containers in the main Paragraph 1 of Article 13 are used, or measures in the proviso in the same paragraph are taken to transport them to the decontamination facilities, storage facilities, disposal facilities, or other sites where decontamination work is conducted.

(Protective equipment)

Article 16

  1. Before decontamination workers start their work specified in the items in Paragraph 2 of Article 5, employers shall prepare effective respiratory protective equipment such as dust masks, protective clothing effective against contamination, gloves, or footwear and ensure the appropriate use of these protection by the decontamination workers when they conduct decontamination work, according to the classification of the decontamination work specified by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare.
  2. Workers engaged in decontamination work shall use the protective Equipment in the preceding paragraph when implementing work in the same paragraph.

(Special education regarding decontamination work)

Article 19

  1. Employers shall provide special education to the workers regarding the following topics:
    1. Effects of ionizing radiation on organisms, and the methods for controlling exposure doses.
    2. Methods and procedures of the decontamination and other related work.
    3. How machineries and other tools used for decontamination and other related work is structured and how to use them. (Limited to the knowledge about the name and usage of the machineries used for workers engaged in handling designated contaminated soil and wastes).
    4. Relevant laws and regulations
    5. Methods and procedures concerning decontamination and other related work including how to use machineries and other tools. (Limited to the procedures for work involving handling designated contaminated soil and wastes.).
  2. Necessary matters for implementing the special education program shall be provided by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, in addition to the matters specified in Article 37, Article 38, and the preceding paragraph of Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health (Ordinance of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare No. 32 of 2009).

(Medical examinations)

Article 20

  1. Employers shall provide workers who are regularly engaged in decontamination work with medical examinations by medical doctors when they assign workers to decontamination work, regarding the matters listed in the following items at the time of employment and periodically once every six months thereafter and at the time of reallocation:
    1. Investigation and evaluation of the exposure history (If the workers had the exposure history, confirm the location, nature of work, duration, and other details concerning radiation exposure, in addition to existence of subjective symptoms)
    2. Examinations of leukocyte count and classifications
    3. Examinations of red blood cell count and hemoglobin contents or hematocrit values
    4. Examinations of eyes for cataract
    5. Skin examinations
  2. Regardless of the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the requirements described in (ii) through (v) in the preceding paragraph can be exempted if medical doctors determine those examinations are unnecessary for the workers whose effective doses did not exceed 5 mSv in the year before the medical examinations (limited to periodical examinations. The same shall apply to the present item), and their effective doses are not likely to exceed 5 mSv in the year the medical examinations will be conducted.