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Identification of 79 New Chemical Substances that Cause Hazards and Risks such as Acute Toxicity and Skin Corrosion → Thorough Guidance to Worker Health Protection Measures

The Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) announced the names, employees, and risks of new chemical substances, as well as measures to prevent workers' health disorders (March 6th).

The total number of chemical substances made public this time is 202, including 79 hazardous and dangerous substances such as Diethoxymethylsilane, which can cause acute respiratory diseases (coughing, pain, choking, and difficulty breathing) by inhaling only a small amount, Bromomethyl-magnesium, which when contacted can cause skin corrosion and severe eye damage, and Ethylene dibenzoic acid, which can adversely affect the environment of plants and animals that live in water.

* Posted on the website of the Ministry of Employment and Labor (www.moel.go.kr, ‘News’ → ‘Press Release / Notice’ → ‘New Chemical Substances’ Search)

The Ministry of Employment and Labor notified manufacturers and importers of measures to prevent workers' health disorders, such as installing ventilation facilities and wearing protective glasses and gloves, to protect workers handling these chemicals. The MOEL also notified employers to reflect the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS)* and post them in places in the workplace that workers could understand the danger.

* This is a kind of 'Chemical Safety Manual’ for handling hazardous chemicals that contains information about the hazards and risks, names and contents, handling and storage methods, etc. for the purpose of information delivery on chemical substances.

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Act, chemical manufacturers or importers are required to submit a report on the investigation of hazards and risks to the MOEL, and the MOEL is supposed to notify workers of measures to prevent health disorders and to make public the names of chemical substances and their hazards and risks.

* However, if a new chemical substance that is required to submit an investigation report has already been registered with the Minister of Environment, it is not necessary to submit the investigation report to the Minister of Employment and Labor (Amended Article 147 of the Enforcement Regulations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, January 2019).

※ For more information, please visit the website of the Ministry of Employment and Labor(http://www.moel.go.kr)