The new safety-and-health duties for businesses that use sole proprietors or outsourced workers: protecting "individual business operators, etc." (phased in 2025–2027)

In short: Businesses that have one-person contractors or outsourced (freelance) workers do the work face new safety-and-health measures phased in from 2025 to 2027. The basis is the Act Partially Amending the Industrial Safety and Health Act and the Working Environment Measurement Act (Act No. 33 of 2025, promulgated May 14, 2025 [Reiwa 7]), and from April 1, 2026 (Reiwa 8) the measure duties of a principal employer, etc., at a mixed-work site expand from "workers" to "work engagers." Because the exact scope of each duty differs by business, this article only introduces the framework.

For businesses in construction, manufacturing, and the like that have one-person contractors or outsourced workers do the work, this article organizes the framework of "safety-and-health measures for individual business operators, etc." phased in from 2025 to 2027. Whether an individual measure or special enrollment in workers' accident compensation applies is a matter Hello Work, the Labor Standards Inspection Office, and qualified professionals decide; this article only introduces the system. For the entry point of a one-person contractor's special enrollment itself, see how a construction one-person contractor joins social insurance and workers' accident compensation: the practice of special enrollment.

What is changing for individual business operators, etc., and from when?

Until now, the measure duties under the Industrial Safety and Health Act (Act No. 57 of 1972, "the ISH Act") were, in principle, aimed at employers who use "workers." The amendment now brings into the protected scope "individual business operators, etc."—one-person contractors, outsourced workers, and others who work on their own without using workers. The basis is Act No. 33 of 2025 (promulgated May 14, 2025 [Reiwa 7]), taking effect in stages after promulgation.

Effective date	What mainly changes
May 14, 2025 (Reiwa 7)	Consideration by orderers, etc. (the part that took effect on the day of promulgation)
April 1, 2026 (Reiwa 8)	At a mixed-work site, the measure duties of a principal employer, etc., expand from "workers" to "work engagers"
January 1, 2027 (Reiwa 9)	Creation of a work-related accident reporting system (reporting of accidents involving individual business operators, etc.)
April 1, 2027 (Reiwa 9)	Duties imposed on individual business operators themselves / a duty of liaison and coordination for the business that manages the work site

The key is the order: what moves in April 2026 is the expansion of the scope of duties on the business/orderer side, while duties imposed on individual business operators themselves come later (April 2027). What an orderer should first be aware of is what will be required from April 2026 at a site where one-person contractors, etc., work in the same place as the orderer's own workers. Because the specific covered operations and provisions for each effective date are still under review, confirm them with the latest information from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the statute (e-Gov Law Search) before you start (referenced October 2026).

Whom do orderers and businesses owe what measure duties to?

What expands on April 1, 2026 are the measures at a "mixed-work site" in construction, shipbuilding, manufacturing, and the like. A mixed-work site is one where the business's own workers and the workers or one-person contractors, etc., of a subcontractor work in the same place. Here, the liaison, coordination, and overall management that a principal employer, etc. (the business running the whole site) has performed comes to cover not only workers but also "work engagers" (those who actually do the work other than workers—including one-person contractors and outsourced workers).

• Who may be covered: one-person contractors, outsourced workers, and workers of other companies who work in the "same place" as the business's own workers. The "same place" is understood as a place where there is a risk of commonly suffering danger or health impairment.
• What is required (examples): liaison and coordination at the site, making known hazardous spots, and measures such as prohibition of entry or of using fire—extending these without distinguishing whether the person is a worker or an individual business operator.
• Duties on the person come later: the duties individual business operators must observe themselves (a ban on using machines that do not conform to structural standards is under consideration) start April 1, 2027, separately in timing from the expansion of the scope on the orderer side.

Note that, already from April 1, 2023 (Reiwa 5), an orderer who has a contractor (one-person contractor, etc.) undertake certain hazardous and harmful operations has been required, ahead of this, to give consideration such as operating local exhaust ventilation and making known how to handle harmful substances. The amendments from 2026 onward broaden this flow further. Because which measures reach which operations differs by industry and site, individual judgments must be confirmed with the latest information from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Labor Standards Inspection Office.

Why are one-person contractors and outsourced workers protected even though they are not "workers"?

The measure duties of the ISH Act were originally provisions to protect "workers," but the background is the idea that it is not only workers who are exposed to the same dangers at the same site. Even someone who is not a worker—a one-person contractor or outsourced worker who touches harmful substances or dangerous machines at the same place—may commonly suffer the same dangers as workers.

• The idea of a common danger: the amendment takes the form of extending measures where one "works in the same place as workers." The starting point is not the form of the contract (employment or contracting for work) but whether the person is actually exposed to the same danger.
• The person's cooperation is also assumed: the amending act moves toward requiring a work engager (individual business operator, etc.) to make an effort to cooperate with accident-prevention measures and to follow the measures the business has taken. It is a two-way mechanism: the orderer takes measures, and the person observes them.
• Not being employment does not change: being in the protected scope and being employed as a worker are different. Social insurance, overtime pay, and the like are judged by whether the reality is employment (worker status).

So it is a mistake for an orderer to take it that "because I took protective measures, I am treating the one-person contractor like a worker." Safety-and-health protection and labor-side worker status must be sorted out as separate issues. Situations involving a judgment of worker status are, as noted below, the domain of the Shakai Hoken Roumushi and the attorney.

How far are work records, education, and health management required?

Duties on individual business operators themselves and accident reporting move toward 2027. For an orderer or business, it is safe to keep separate the framework fixed at present and the parts yet to be worked out.

Item	What is known at present
Reporting of work-related accidents	A reporting system for work-related accidents involving individual business operators, etc., is scheduled to be created on January 1, 2027 (Reiwa 9)
Health management	The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has issued guidelines on how to manage the health of individual business operators, etc., covering such things as curbing long working hours and encouraging health checkups
Safety-and-health education / information provision	Provision and dissemination of hazardous-and-harmful information according to the content of the work is required as part of the measures at a mixed-work site

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How far work records, education, and health checkups should be recorded or carried out differs by industry, content of work, and effective date, and the details are still under review. Rather than writing unconfirmed figures to round out the count, it is practical to firm up individual responses with the latest information from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Labor Standards Inspection Office and, as needed, consultation with a Shakai Hoken Roumushi. For the flow of autonomous chemical-substance management at a site that handles chemicals, see what is autonomous chemical-substance management: the practice of SDS and risk assessment.

Who handles special enrollment in workers' accident compensation, contracts, and equipment?

What a business that uses one-person contractors or outsourced workers must prepare is not only the safety-and-health measures. Accident compensation, contracts, and equipment are handled by different parties.

Point	Who handles it
In-house arrangement of safety-and-health measures, organizing the work rules and working conditions, the special-enrollment procedure for a one-person contractor's workers' accident compensation	Shakai Hoken Roumushi (our office)
The content of the contract for work, civil liability for damages, drafting and reviewing the contract, negotiation and litigation of disputes	Attorney
Design and construction of on-site safety equipment (scaffolding, local exhaust ventilation, protective gear, etc.)	Specialist construction / equipment contractor
Whether an individual measure is required / acceptance of accident reports	Labor Standards Inspection Office (the person/business confirms)

A one-person contractor's own accident compensation is, in principle, outside workers' accident compensation because the person is not a worker; however, under the special-enrollment system of Article 33 and onward of the Workers' Accident Compensation Insurance Act (Act No. 50 of 1947), a construction one-person contractor and the like can enroll through a labor insurance administration association. A Shakai Hoken Roumushi can support this enrollment procedure and the in-house safety-and-health setup. On the other hand, the content of the contract for work, civil liability when an accident occurs, and negotiation or litigation when a contract becomes a dispute are the domain of an attorney, a business independent from our office that you contract with separately. This article only introduces the framework and does not decide whether an individual measure duty exists or contractual liability.

Frequently asked questions

Q. What should an orderer who has a one-person contractor do the work do from April 2026?
A. From April 1, 2026 (Reiwa 8), the scope of a principal employer's, etc., measure duties at a mixed-work site expands from "workers" to "work engagers," so liaison, coordination, and dissemination of hazards reach one-person contractors, etc., who work in the same place as your own workers. However, which measures reach which operations differs by industry and site, and the details are still under review. Confirm the specific response with the latest information from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Labor Standards Inspection Office.

Q. Are duties imposed on individual business operators themselves too?
A. Duties on individual business operators themselves (a ban on using machines that do not conform to structural standards is under consideration) start April 1, 2027 (Reiwa 9), separately in timing from the expansion of the measure-duty scope on the orderer side (April 2026). It is safe to keep separate what is fixed at present and the parts yet to be worked out.

Q. If I take protective measures, will the one-person contractor come to be treated as a worker?
A. No. Being in the scope of safety-and-health protection and being employed as a worker are different. Social insurance and overtime pay are judged not by the title of the contract but by whether the reality is employment (worker status). Taking protective measures does not by itself create worker status.

Q. Does the orderer enroll the one-person contractor in workers' accident compensation?
A. A one-person contractor is, in principle, outside workers' accident compensation, but under the special-enrollment system of the Workers' Accident Compensation Insurance Act, a construction one-person contractor and the like can enroll on their own through a labor insurance administration association. It is not a system where the orderer enrolls on the person's behalf. A Shakai Hoken Roumushi can support the in-house safety-and-health setup and the special-enrollment procedure.

Sources

• Amending act: the Act Partially Amending the Industrial Safety and Health Act and the Working Environment Measurement Act (Act No. 33 of 2025, promulgated May 14, 2025 [Reiwa 7]). It brings individual business operators, etc. (work engagers) into the framework of safety-and-health protection and duties (e-Gov Law Search; check the effective date and latest amendment each time).
• Phased enforcement: May 14, 2025 (Reiwa 7) = consideration by orderers, etc. / April 1, 2026 (Reiwa 8) = expansion of a principal employer's, etc., measure duties at a mixed-work site from "workers" to "work engagers" / January 1, 2027 (Reiwa 9) = creation of a work-related accident reporting system / April 1, 2027 (Reiwa 9) = duties on individual business operators themselves and a liaison-and-coordination duty for the work-site managing business (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare / labor bureau guidance, referenced October 2026; the specific coverage for each effective date is still under review—confirm with primary sources before you start).
• Base provisions of the ISH Act: the Industrial Safety and Health Act (Act No. 57 of 1972), Article 22 (measures to prevent health impairment), Articles 29–31 (measures a principal employer, orderer, etc., must take), and others.
• Preceding protective measures: the orderer's duty of consideration and dissemination where a contractor (one-person contractor, etc.) undertakes certain hazardous and harmful operations took effect ahead of this, from April 1, 2023 (Reiwa 5) (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare guidance, referenced October 2026).
• A one-person contractor's accident compensation: the special-enrollment system of Article 33 and onward of the Workers' Accident Compensation Insurance Act (Act No. 50 of 1947) (a construction one-person contractor, etc., enrolls through a labor insurance administration association).
• Business of a Shakai Hoken Roumushi: Article 2 of the Certified Social Insurance and Labor Consultant Act.

This article does not decide whom to consult. 四葉社会保険労務士事務所 can advise on the in-house arrangement of safety-and-health measures, organizing the work rules and working conditions, and the special-enrollment procedure for a one-person contractor's workers' accident compensation. The content of a contract, civil liability, drafting a contract, and disputes are for an attorney; design and construction of on-site safety equipment are for a specialist construction contractor—each a business independent from our office that you contract with separately. For fees, see the fee schedule; for frequently asked questions, see the FAQ.

This article is general information. How a measure duty reaches a particular site, whether a particular operation is a "mixed-work site," and whether a particular one-person contractor is eligible for special enrollment depend on the circumstances. Application of the system and individual judgments are made by a qualified professional after a consultation, in light of the latest primary sources (the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the Labor Standards Inspection Office, e-Gov, etc.) and individual circumstances. Written by Joji Uramatsu (Shakai Hoken Roumushi, Gyoseishoshi, Registered Real Estate Transaction Specialist).