Abstract
The 2025 amendment to the Industrial Safety and Health Act (Act No. 33 of 2025) marks a first step toward restructuring Japan’s occupational safety and health legal framework, centered on the protection of self-employed workers, in response to changes in industrial structure and increasingly diverse working styles. The most significant aspect is the amendment’s aim to extend protective measures to self-employed individuals—prompted by the Supreme Court ruling in the construction asbestos case—through the expansion and clarification of both the responsible parties and the scope of protection. In addition, the amendment addresses a broad range of issues, including the mandatory implementation of stress checks in small-scale workplaces (without penalties), the legal establishment of support measures for autonomous chemical management, and the statutory imposition of a duty of effort to improve working environments for elderly workers. This article aims to clarify the intent and key points of the amendment through an analysis of the government’s official notification.
