[New developments in the occupational safety and health management system]

The occupational safety and health management system(OSHMS)has been introduced into many companies and factories in Japan. However, there are certain factories that are considering the introduction of OSHMS, while other factories are not interested in it. In the factories which have introduced OSHMS, occupational health activities are still insufficient. Passage by which OSHMS was introduced into Japan and a basic way to advance OSHMS is described in this paper. In addition, for OSHMS to spread to many companies in the future, and to achieve good results, the themes and prospects which should be examined are described. The themes shown in this paper are as follows: risk assessment, revision of the law and regulation, system auditing, individual management of safety and health rules, evaluation of the low concentration exposure influence, appropriate job suitability system, training of the expert, the support organization, supporting small and medium-sized scale factories.