Status and future tasks of OHS in Japan

Since the Industrial Safety and Health Law was enforced, the number of work-related accidents has decreased remarkably. After the collapse of bubble economy, Japan's social and economic system has been under significant reform. Diversification of working patterns has also been progressed to increase temporary, flexible and part time work and greater mobility in employment. The most important task in Japan is to spread current occupational health services to small enterprises with less than 50 employees are often exempted from multiple requirements of the Law. Two crucial tasks typical to Japan are to improve long working hours that have been prevailed in Japan, causing myocardial infarction, arrhythmia, stroke and depression, and to reduce the number of suicide cases. It is also important to overcome classic risks that have been left unsolved particularly from those who require heavy investments of enterprises and those who emerge after long latency periods. The achievement of comfortable workplace environment for all workers is also important in response to the rapid ageing of the working population, the expansion in the industrial sectors in which women work, and the diversification of working patterns.