South Korea OSHA / ISHA Amendment Obligations

Through our extensive regulatory and scientific expertise, we can help you comply with South Korea’s OSHA/ISHA amendment obligations.

On 15 January 2019, South Korea published the amended Occupational, Safety and Health Act (K-OSHA), also known as the Industrial, Safety and Health Act (K-ISHA). The amended Act entered into force on 16 January 2020.

The latest K-OSHA amendment, related to hazard communication, including Safety Data Sheet (SDS) and labelling requirements, will come into force on 16 January 2021.

Should you wish to import a product into South Korea that contains substance(s) classified as hazardous under Korean GHS standards, a Korean SDS will need to be submitted to the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MoEL) by a Korean Manufacturer or importer. In cases where there is a foreign manufacturer, a K-OSHA Only Representative (OR) can be appointed.

Compliance

To comply with the new obligations outlined under K-OSHA, companies have three options:

Option 1: Disclose 100% composition information in the SDS (including non-hazardous components) and submit the SDS to the MoEL through the MSDS IT System.
Option 2: Only disclose hazardous components in the SDS and submit the SDS along with a separate document providing the name and content of the non-hazardous components to the MoEL.
Option 3 (for imported products only): Only disclose hazardous components in the SDS and submit the SDS along with a Letter of Confirmation signed by the foreign company stating that all the non-disclosed components are non-hazardous substances.

Why Intertek?

Intertek has expert resources available to support your company in authoring Korean SDSs according to the amended K-OSHA and can submit compliant SDSs to the Authority on your behalf through the MSDS IT System.

Through our legal entity in South Korea, we can deliver a comprehensive Korean OR Service according to K-OSHA, Enforcement Rule, Article 166.

If your company does not want to disclose confidential business information (CBI) to your importer, an application to the MoEL will be required. A foreign manufacturer can protect CBI by appointing a K-OSHA OR. Intertek’s K-OSHA OR service builds on our experience of Only Representation under K-REACH, European Union REACH and Notifying Agent services under China’s Order No. 7.

Our Solutions

Intertek offers the following chemical notification-related services to the producers, suppliers and users of industrial, commercial and consumer chemicals: