Compliance Supervision: MSDS-related Violations Being the Most Primary in South Korea

On October 17, 2023, the Ministry of Employment and Labor in South Korea released the results of its compliance supervision on MSDS to date. It has investigated about 220 workplaces involved in the handling of chemicals, including those for manufacturers and importers of chemical substances, as well as toxic substance processing companies, between July 10 and August 31, 2023.

About MSDS

Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) is an essential source of chemical information, which comprises of:

• the substance name,
• hazards,
• risks, and
• safety precautions.

This kind of information should be collected to assess the hazards of chemicals. It can be used to provide employees with emergency measures and suggestions.

CIRS is able to provide global GHS services, please click to know more about Global GHS.

Investigation results show that illegal activities could be spotted in 97 workplaces (accounting for 44% of the total), with 269 violation records, most of which were related to MSDS, amounting to 223. These include:

• Failure to label warning signs (46 companies with 85 violation records);
• Lack of MSDS-related education (31 companies with 33 violation records); and
• Failure to publish MSDS (21 companies with 37 violation records).

Additionally, there are 46 violation records related to safety and hygiene measures.

Although the violation rate has decreased compared with that in last year, there are still deficiencies in the warning signs and employee training. Furthermore, the Ministry of Employment and Labor also found some workplaces failed to fulfill their occupational safety and health obligations, for instance, lack of special health inspections and local exhaust equipment, etc.

Details are as follows:

Violation activity	Number of violated companies (proportion)	Number of cases  violations for chemicals exceeding 100 tons (proportion)	Number of violations for chemicals below 100 tons (proportion)	Number of violation records
No warning signs	46(20.9)	16(27.1)	30(18.6)	85
No MSDS-related education	31(14.1)	9(15.3)	22(13.7)	33
No MSDS published	21(9.5)	10(16.9)	11(6.8)	37
Incorrect MSDS	10(4.5)	3(5.1)	7(4.3)	51
No MSDS submitted	8(3.6)	6(10.2)	2(1.2)	9
No process management regulations published	4(1.8)	0(0.0)	4(2.5)	4
No MSDS data provided	2(0.9)	0(0.0)	2(1.2)	2
No MSDS confidentiality approval	1(0.5)	0(0.0)	1(0.6)	2

It should be noted that companies manufacture or import chemicals in volumes of 10 - 100 tons per year must submit MSDS by January 16, 2024. Protecting the health of employees is a fundamental responsibility of a company. So, companies shall fully understand and comply with the requirements for MSDS and enhance standards for chemical handling and employee training to ensure workplace safety.

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