Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare presents draft plan for reviewing the outline of measures to prevent death from overwork, including thorough regulation of three occupations

In order to prevent death from overwork, the government has drawn up an outline of countermeasures, but the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has announced that regulations will be thoroughly enforced in response to restrictions on overtime work starting next month in the construction industry, transportation industry, and medical professions. We presented a draft review that included things to do.

The outline of the Karoshi Death Prevention Act is reviewed every three years, and the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare presented a new draft at a council meeting on the 19th.

The draft begins by explaining the purpose of the review, stating that 10 years have passed since the Karoshi Death Prevention Act was enacted, and although some results have been seen, deaths from karoshi still occur frequently and have become a major social problem. .

Furthermore, as part of work style reform, it was specified that labor standards inspection offices in each region will ensure thorough compliance with regulations for the construction industry, transportation industry, and medical professions, where overtime work caps will begin to be regulated starting next month.

Additionally, a new requirement has been added to require companies where a death from overwork has occurred to take company-wide measures to prevent recurrence and formulate an improvement plan.

Regarding mental disorders, where the number of industrial accidents is on the rise, the government will provide guidance on mental health measures to workplaces that have been certified as having industrial accidents.

In addition, the company will investigate the working methods of freelancers as there is a risk of harassment.

In addition, the arts and entertainment fields have been added to the list of industries where long working hours have been pointed out, and where research will focus on the actual working style and stress.

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare plans to have the new guidelines approved by the Cabinet around July this year, based on the council's discussions.