Government legislation ministry exempts certain chemicals from safety data posting rules

The Ministry of Government Legislation said June 4 that employers are not required to post material safety data sheets or conduct related training for chemical substances excluded from the system under the Occupational Safety and Health Act Enforcement Decree.

The ruling clarifies that obligations regarding posting and education apply only to substances designated as requiring such data, leaving out those exempted by Article 86 of the decree. The ministry noted that excluded items, including health functional foods, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics, are already subject to hazard information requirements under separate statutes or are intended for general consumer use.

The ministry grounded its decision in the legislative intent of the exemption, stating that applying workplace posting rules to these materials would contradict the purpose of excluding them due to their low necessity for industrial safety regulation. It argued that extending punitive measures to cover these excluded substances would amount to an unfavorable expansion and analogical interpretation of administrative regulations against business owners.

Under current law, violations of posting requirements can incur penalties of up to 5 million won, while failures to educate employees carry fines of up to 3 million won. The ministry warned that imposing these fines for failing to post data or train workers on exempt substances would constitute an overly extensive interpretation of such punitive regulations.