South Korea announces the results of "Monitoring of the implementation status of MSDS in 2023".

The Ministry of Employment and Labor (MoEL) announced the results of the "Monitoring of the Implementation Status of Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) in 2023" (220 locations, from July 10 to August 31) for chemical handling sites.  

A total of 223 violations of the system were discovered at nearly half of the monitored workplaces (97 locations, 44%) including the following:  

• No warning signs (46 sites, 85 cases) 

• No material safety and health data education (31 sites, 33 cases) 

• No material safety and health data posted (21 sites, 37 cases)  

Compared to the 2022 monitoring results, the posting of material safety and health data newly introduced in 2021 decreased compared to the previous year, while posting warning signs and conducting worker education was still insufficient. 

In addition to the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) system, 33 workplaces (36 cases) were found to have inadequate measures to protect the health of workers, such as failing to conduct special health checkups, which are the employer’s obligation to take safety and health measures or failing to install local exhaust ventilation systems to remove harmful substances in the workplace. Violations were subjected to legal action (4 cases) and fines (254 cases, KRW 185 million), and immediate corrective action was taken.   

Choi Tae-ho, Supervisory Policy Officer of the Industrial Accident Prevention, said, "A basic business owner must faithfully prepare, submit and post material safety data sheets and clarify warning signs on containers". He further emphasized, "It is also a key point to prevent accidents to fully educate workers about the dangers, hazards, and handling of chemicals before work."