MOEL Ordinance No. 448: heat exposure, rest and daily records (Partial amendment to the Rules on Occupational Safety and Health Standards)

Assess the actual workplace

Article 559(4) defines heatwave work as prolonged work at a location where heatwave conditions produce an apparent temperature of at least 31°C under Annex 13-2. On-site measurement is the default; Annex13-2 permits the meteorological apparent temperature when its measurement-difficulty conditions apply.

Keep temperature/humidity instruments available where heatwave work is expected. A value below 31°C does not prove absence of heat risk; work involving process heat may also fall under separate high-temperature provisions.

Not a real site photo

1. Shade: check actual access so the rest area connects with working breaks.
2. Water: check access so workers can drink sufficiently.
3. Open area: Before work, check airflow and the apparent temperature at the site, and choose a rest location.

Keep new heat-wave provisions distinct from high-temperature work rules

Acclimatisation for high-temperature work and heat-wave records appear in different paragraphs of Article562. Removing their separate work conditions to create one generic checklist obscures their scope. A workplace with process heat also needs its own high-temperature-work assessment.

Water and salt under Article571 and rest-related amendments under Article566 accompany the new quantitative provision. A newly specified rest threshold does not mean no earlier rest obligations existed. Identify what was added so existing controls and new preparations remain distinguishable.

Regulatory-review provisions direct the government to review a regulation periodically. They do not automatically end workplace preventive duties at the review date. Do not enter that review date as the end of heat controls.

Respond to suspected illness without delay

Where heatstroke or other health impairment occurs or is suspected due to high-temperature or heatwave work, arrange prompt notification to the competent fire service and appropriate action. Do not make a symptomatic person wait for the scheduled break.

Train workers in advance on the procedure for stopping work and seeking help in a safe, cool place. The amendment took effect on 17 July 2025.

It also revised general rest wording and regulatory-review provisions; a government review interval does not automatically terminate employer duties.

Annex13-2 specifies where to measure

Annex13-2 is not a calculation formula. It requires measurement approximately 1.2 to1.5 metres above the floor where the worker works. A comfortable rest-room reading or a distant office display is not a reading from that work location. Distinguish locations when work takes place in several areas.

Where outdoor mobile work or similar circumstances make that measurement difficult, the apparent temperature announced by the Korea Meteorological Administration may be used. Neither an absolute ban on that value nor blanket substitution of a regional forecast reflects the text. First assess measurement feasibility and the relevant difficulty.

Article559 combines heat-wave conditions, apparent temperature of at least31°C and prolonged work. Examine the actual conditions indoors as well as outdoors. Provisions for process-related high-temperature work remain separate, so checking only the heat-wave threshold does not complete the assessment of heat exposure.

Rest requirements after cooling measures

Article560(2) offers installed and operating cooling or ventilation, exposure reduction such as rescheduling, and appropriate rest. At least one measure is required, but rest is also required if the work remains heat-wave work despite the first two measures. Having a fan and changing the actual exposure conditions are different facts.

For heat-wave work at33°C or above, at least20 minutes of rest within every2 hours gives a specific requirement. A printed break is ineffective if workers cannot actually leave their tasks. Arrange access and relief around workplace conditions without treating them as grounds to reduce the statutory period.

The proviso concerns work whose nature makes rest extremely difficult, together with measures such as personal cooling, ventilation or cooling equipment that reduce body-temperature rise. Do not assume that a production deadline or staff shortage establishes those conditions.

A change of work location changes what the record represents

If prolonged work moves from shade in the morning to a sun-exposed area in the afternoon, distinguish the recorded location. Do not automatically use one morning value for all areas all day. The required record connects apparent temperature at the heat-wave work location with the measures taken.

For mobile work, examine the measurement-difficulty condition before using the meteorological value. Selecting that value and providing usable rest are separate actions. Recording a number does not itself implement cooling, rescheduling or rest.

Record the action alongside the measurement

Daily records identify apparent temperature measured at the heat-wave work location and the measures taken. Reusing another location’s value or recording only a proposed action makes it difficult to connect conditions with what actually happened. Keep the statutory items traceable to the relevant work. There is no basis here for presenting a particular template or equipment display as a prescribed statutory form.

Retention runs through31 December of the year in which the heat-wave work occurred. That differs from the3-year rule for confined-space measurement results. A company’s longer retention policy should be distinguished from this provision’s minimum period.

Pre-work information covers symptoms, prevention and emergency actions. Water and salt must be available in a way that permits sufficient consumption.