Law, notices and technical guidance
Legislation and technical guidance serve different functions. For a notice, check its authority, scope and text rather than relying on the title.
Understand the situation
Ask both what a safety document recommends and what kind of authority it has. Legislation, notices, technical guidance and manufacturer instructions serve different roles.
Similar wording does not make their legal effect identical.
Review the task
KOSHA’s guide explains its technical guidance as voluntary recommendations. Guidance may also cite legal duties, so trace each claim rather than classifying every sentence by the cover alone.
Check your workplace
- What is the issuer and document type?
- Which provision creates the duty?
- Has a recommendation been mislabelled as law?
Apply the lesson
Our method records provision and effective date for law; authority and scope for notices; number, revision and assumptions for guidance; and model and edition for manuals.
Avoid a common mistake
Label the country of foreign material. A UK value is not automatically a Korean duty, and a US approval is not a Korean approval.
The effect of a particular notice requires its own authority and scope to be checked.
Putting it into practice
Compare provision/effective date, notice authority/scope, guidance assumptions, and site-procedure approval. Label each claim’s source type.
Technical insight
Distinguish legal force from technical usefulness
A technical guide can help explain controls without making every recommendation a statutory minimum. Determine the legal instrument and its scope before describing a requirement as mandatory.
Separate legal duties from company standards in a requirements register. Record the document, provision, applicability and edition so readers can understand why a control is required.
Legal effect of a particular notice requires individual assessment.
Korean safety resources
- KOSHA GUIDE C-47-2023 · Demolition safety — search the official catalogue
In the regular catalogue search, enter “해체공사” and select C-47-2023. This opens the official catalogue, not a direct PDF.
- KOSHA GUIDE C-C-2-2025 · Chemical plant maintenance planning
Korean-language PDF on maintenance planning and preparation; technical recommendations.
- KOSHA GUIDE A-G-12-2026 · Use and maintenance of personal protective equipment
Korean-language technical recommendations on PPE selection, training and maintenance; use alongside the product manual.
Sources
- KOSHA — 기술지침 길라잡이대한민국 / Korea
- 국가법령정보센터 — 안전보건규칙 전체본대한민국 / Korea