The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare demands the steel industry to implement thorough measures to prevent industrial accidents
Since 2001, the steel sector, with the exception of the die casting business,
has been seeing a growing incidence of workplace-related deaths and injuries.
As of mid-May 2003, ten deaths had occurred, exceeding the number posted
in the same period last year. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare
takes the matter very seriously and has demanded the steel industry to
thoroughly implement comprehensive measures to prevent workers' accidents
and injuries.
The Ministry decided to issue this demand since it found that a arge number
of these accidents and injuries resulted from workers falling or coming
into contact with machines and equipment, necessitating the establishment
of basic and comprehensive safety measures throughout the industry.
According to a survey conducted by the Ministry on the status of deaths
and injuries occurring in all Japanese industries in 2002, there were 1,658
industrial accident-related deaths throughout Japan. The number was below
2,000 for the fifth consecutive year, with this year's figure being the
smallest ever.
By type of industry, the largest number of deaths occurred in the construction
sector with 607, followed by the manufacturing sector (275)
and the land cargo transport sector (234).