What is Safety and Health Education for foreign workers? Introducing useful teaching materials

Safety and Health Education is important to prevent workplace accidents among foreign workers!

According to a survey by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the incidence of work-related accidents among foreign workers is higher than the incidence rate among all workers, including Japanese workers.

In addition, the number of work-related accidents (number of deaths and injuries) among foreign workers increased by 5.0% from 4,577 in 2021 to 4,808 in 2022.

The following factors may be considered as reasons for the occurrence of workplace accidents among foreign workers:

• Often lacks work experience
• Insufficient understanding of Japanese
• Lack of communication and understanding of risks, etc.

Providing Safety and Health Education is also important for preventing workplace accidents.
We will also provide information on points to keep in mind when conducting Safety and Health Education.

Points to note when conducting Safety and Health Education

There are three points to keep in mind when implementing Safety and Health Education to prevent workplace accidents among foreign workers.

We will introduce some points to keep in mind, divided into three steps: ① Preparation, ② Implementation, and ③ Follow-up.

1. Preparation

Adequate preparation is required before implementing Safety and Health Education.
We will prepare easy-to-understand educational materials appropriate to the content of Safety and Health Education so that foreign workers can fully understand.

For example, in the case of Japanese, it would be necessary to write sentences using hiragana and katakana instead of kanji, and if kanji is used, it would be necessary to add furigana or replace it with easier Japanese.
Even in sentences that do not use kanji, you can use "word separation" (putting spaces between words) to help make the content easier to understand.
Example: Always wear a helmet.

Even better, it can be translated into your native language.

② Implementation

We will understand the foreign workers' level of Japanese comprehension and provide education appropriate to their level.
It is a good idea to use audiovisual materials so that communication can be conveyed through means other than words, and to provide education on signals, signs, notices, etc.

In addition, it is necessary to explain any risks involved in the work to be done, and it is also recommended to make use of the near-miss case studies posted on the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's Workplace Safety Site.
Workplace Safety Site

It is also important to ask appropriate people, such as senior foreign workers who speak the native language, registered support organizations, or supervisory organizations, to act as interpreters and educational assistants, and to set aside the time required for interpretation.
Let's create an environment where foreign workers can fully understand the content.

③Follow

After the training is completed, we will continue to provide education on an ongoing basis using comprehension tests and other methods.

Rather than simply asking whether they understood, make sure they fully understood by checking whether the foreign worker can explain the content of the training themselves.

Check out the educational materials that can be used for Safety and Health Education for foreign workers

Safety and Health Education requires appropriate teaching materials.
From here, we will introduce some teaching materials that can be used for Safety and Health Education.

Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare Safety and Health Education materials

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has published the following Safety and Health Education materials:

Workplace Safety Site

This website collects video learning materials for major languages.

Although only available in Japanese, it also contains health and safety related leaflets and a glossary of terms.

Manga for understanding safety and health for workers (educational materials)

This is a teaching material for learning about worker safety and health.
It is in manga format and is a recommended learning material for first-time learners.

Materials are available in 14 languages (including 11 languages in some areas) covering 17 types of industries, tasks and hazards, as well as 1 type of material common to all industries.

One of the points to show this teaching material is the "safety signs."
The manga provides detailed explanations and illustrations of the following five safety signs:

• Prohibition signs: No smoking, No entry, etc.
• Instruction signs: Wear a helmet, wash your hands, etc.
• Caution warning signs: Watch out for falls, watch out for ceilings, etc.
• Safety status signs: emergency exits, evacuation shelters, etc.
• Fire safety signs: fire extinguishers, emergency buttons, etc.

Safety signs are used as tools that allow anyone to easily understand danger and safety.
You can also gain a deeper understanding of safety signs in your workplace by learning about them.

It also includes a printable "pointing sheet for explaining symptoms and conditions."
It is a good idea to print it out and keep it ready at your company or work site just in case.
Pointing sheet for explaining symptoms and conditions

Skill training supplementary materials

This is a multilingual teaching material aimed at helping foreign workers and others understand technical terms.

This material is provided as a supplement to the course textbooks provided by registered training institutions.

A registered training institution is an institution that is qualified to conduct specific skill training courses and practical training under the Industrial Safety and Health Act.
Please see below for a list of registered training institutions that offer courses for foreigners.
List of Institutions Offering Skill Training in Foreign Languages for Foreigners (Nationwide Edition)

It is designed to be used alongside textbooks from registered training institutions to provide a bilingual format in Japanese and the foreign language.

Companies considering having their foreign employees take courses at registered training institutes are encouraged to take advantage of this service.

JAC's Safety and Health Education Initiatives

JAC is taking the following steps regarding Safety and Health Education:

Important matters regarding safety and hygiene

This book provides an easy-to-understand explanation of 22 bullet points regarding dangers that exist on construction sites and the key points for working safely.
Each sentence is written in a short sentence, so it would be a good idea for people to read them when heading to a construction site or before starting work.

YouTube channel of Japan Association for Construction Human Resources

The YouTube channel of Japan Association for Construction Human Resources) explains the Japanese construction industry in easy-to-understand Japanese using the textbook for the JAC The Specified Skills (i) Evaluation Exam.
Let's Work in the Japanese Construction Industry Seminar "Learn about the Construction Industry with JAC Textbooks"

It explains the types of accidents that occur on construction sites and safety points, so please make use of it.

JAC Online Special Education/JAC Skill Training

JAC Online Special Training provides online Safety and Health Education for the construction industry for foreigners involved in hazardous work.

We offer a variety of subjects, including courses specific to specific work tasks (such as assembling scaffolding or using safety harnesses) and courses to give new employees a broad understanding of safety and health on construction sites.

Courses are available in multiple languages, including Vietnamese, Indonesian, and English (the number of available subjects and languages will be expanded gradually).

In addition, JAC skills training courses will begin in January 2025.
JAC skills training, in cooperation with training institutions, supports specified skilled workers in taking skills training courses in their native language.

There are five subjects:

• Vehicle-based construction machinery (land leveling, transport, loading, excavation) operation skills training course
• Slinging skills training course
• Small mobile crane operation skills training course
• Forklift driving skills training
• High altitude work vehicle operation skills training course

Supported languages are Vietnamese and Indonesian.
We plan to expand the number of supported languages from April 2025 onwards.

What if a work-related accident occurs involving a foreign worker?

In the event of a work-related accident involving a foreign worker, a "Worker Fatality, Injury or Illness Report" must be submitted to the Chief of the Labor Standards Inspection Office.

If the recipient is a foreign worker, the following information about the victim must be included:

• Nationality/Region: Copy the "Nationality/Region" field from your residence card or passport
• Status of residence: Copy the details of the "Status of residence" column on your residence card or passport landing permission stamp.

*Reference: Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare Worker Casualty and Illness Report Form (4 days or more off work)

If your status of residence is "Specified Skills" or "Specified Activities", check the designation attached to your passport and fill in the field for "Specified Skilled Worker (i)" and "Specified Skilled Worker (ii)", or the type of activity for "Specified Activities" in the status of residence column.

If a worker dies or is absent from work due to a work-related accident, etc., a "Worker Fatality, Injury, or Illness Report" must be submitted immediately.
Failure to report or making a false report may result in criminal prosecution.

Please refer here for information on how to respond and insurance when foreign workers become ill or injured.
What to do if a foreign worker becomes sick or injured? Check the insurance system

Furthermore, JAC has introduced a compensation system Specified Skilled Worker (i) specified skilled workers skilled foreign nationals can be employed and work with peace of mind.
In the event of a workplace accident, compensation will be provided on top of the benefits provided by the government-run workers' compensation insurance.

This compensation system is operated using host contributions as its source of funds.
Therefore, there is no additional financial burden associated with using the system.

The procedure for using the compensation system is as follows:

• Claiming benefits from the Workers' Accident Compensation Insurance (specified skilled workers → Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare)
• Decision on the payment of workers' compensation insurance (Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare → specified skilled workers)
• Submit required documents (specified skilled workers → accepting company)
• Payment of condolence money (accepting company → specified skilled workers)
• Submit the necessary documents to use the compensation system (receiving company → compensation system inquiry application window)
• Insurance compensation (from insurance company to host company)

For more information on the compensation system, please click here.
Compensation system for Specified Skilled Worker (i)

Summary: Prevent workplace accidents by providing Safety and Health Education to foreign workers

The proportion of fatal and injury accidents involving foreign workers is higher than for all workers, and the number of such accidents is on the rise.

In order to prevent workplace accidents, it is essential to provide Safety and Health Education to foreign workers.
Prepare teaching materials and an educational environment that allows students to fully understand the material.

It is also important to repeatedly ask for understanding on a daily basis and ensure that foreign workers understand to a level where they can explain things in their own words.

For Safety and Health Education, we also recommend the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare teaching materials introduced above.
JAC is also carrying out various initiatives for Safety and Health Education, so please make use of them.

In the event of death or injury due to a work-related accident, a "Worker Fatality, Injury or Illness Report" must be submitted to the Chief of the Labor Standards Inspection Office.
JAC has also introduced a compensation system for Specified Skilled Worker (i).

Let's properly implement Safety and Health Education and raise safety awareness.

If you are a company considering hiring specified skilled workers in the construction industry, please feel free to contact JAC!

*This article was written based on information from August 2024.