 Industrial accidents on the increase in Japan By Workplace Issues Research Team (Part One) 1. More than 125,000 killed or injured The recent sharp increase in the number of workplace accidents is a major threat to workers' lives and a serious social problem. According to a 2003 welfare ministry survey, the number of people killed or injured in workplace accidents was 125,750. This figure, however, does not represent the actual number of work-related accidents because many are unreported. In three years from 2001, 329 cases of unreported industrial accidents were discovered and sent to the prosecutor's office. In December 2004, four cover-ups came to light at the East Japan Works (Chiba) of JFE Steel Corporation, a leading steel manufacturer in Japan. Even the underreported statistics show that the number of accidents in which more than three workers were killed or injured in one accident is continuing to rise. In 2003, the number of such accidents reached 249, the worst since 1995. As of November 7 in 2004, 1,233 workers were killed in work-related accidents, which exceeded the previous year's toll. Meanwhile, at large manufacturers in Japan, major accidents took place one after another, including blasts and fires that affected local residents in adjoining areas. In 2003, fires and explosions occurred in succession: an explosion of a coke-oven gas holder at the Nagoya Works of Nippon Steel Corporation in Aichi Prefecture; a disastrous fire at a factory of Bridgestone Tire Co., Ltd. in Tochigi Prefecture; and massive explosions occurred at refinery facilities of ExxonMobil Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture and Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd. in Hokakido. In 2004, at the Mihama nuclear power plant of Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc. in Fukui Prefecture, four contract workers were killed and seven injured when pipes generating steam burst. In Nippon Steel Corporation and its affiliated companies, accidents with brief plant-shutdowns occur unendingly: between January and October 2004, four workers died and 34 were seriously injured. JFE Steel Corporation in 2004 had 23 accidents with brief plant-shutdowns, including four fatal accidents. Mazda Motor Corporation had an accidental death and an industrial fire just after that. 2. What are the causes? Whenever a workplace accident occurs, the company would try to blame workers, saying that they were careless or that they failed to comply with regulations. Production takes priority over safety Assembly lines run much faster now due to micro-electronics and computerized control systems. On the other hand, workers are routinely forced to work excessively long hours to take on heavy workloads as a result of massive job cuts. Putting their priority on production, companies are reluctant to comply with laws, ministerial instructions, or guidelines, including the Industrial Safety and Health Law, thus causing an increasing number of workplace accidents. For instance, when a fire broke out in tire factory, some of the fire alarms had been deactivated because they would go off whenever the temperature rose excessively even without a fire, causing workers to leave their positions. The "production first" policy must be to blame for the failure to properly deal with fire alarms and delays in fighting fires that, in this case, caused enormous damage to neighborhood residences. At a major steel mill, a worker on the night shift fell into the rolling-mill lubricant tank when he tried to check it to solve a problem, and died. The steel mill had failed to set up a fence around areas to prevent workers from falling in in compliance with the Industrial Safety and Health Law. Companies' failure to comply with the comprehensive safety standards on machines also causes many accidents. At a car assembly plant, a worker who was working behind a large pressing machine that is used to fold auto parts got caught in the press. His head was pressed and he died. A safety device on the pressing machine failed to detect the worker. The accident could have been prevented if the factory had installed a safety device that meets the safety standards. (end) |