2. Reasons for Proposal
As the Act on the Establishment of Safe Laboratory Environment was revised (Act No. 19785; promulgated on October 31, 2023, and to be implemented on May 1, 2024) to allow laboratories certified as excellent safety management labs and low-risk labs to be exempt from some of the safety inspections, allow affairs such as conducting and managing safety manager qualification tests to be entrusted to related specialized institutions, etc. and improve the standards for administrative dispositions against safety inspection agencies and precise safety diagnosis agencies, this amendment aims to prescribe matters delegated by the Act and necessary for its implementation such as the establishment of detailed standards for low-risk laboratories, and notification grounds for entrusting the operation of the laboratory safety manager qualification system, such as “testing and education/training,” to specialized institutions, and detailed standards for administrative dispositions when technical personnel of an agency fail to complete statutory training.
In addition, this amendment aims to reasonably improve and supplement some standards of the current system, such as excluding laboratory safety and environment officers and technical personnel at safety inspection agencies and precise safety diagnosis agencies from laboratory safety manager training based on the date of announcement of laboratory safety manager successful applicants and establishing a new standard for calculating the remaining term of office for civilian members commissioned to the Laboratory Safety Deliberative Committee.
3. Major Provisions
A. When a new civilian member is commissioned due to a vacancy in the number of civilian members of the Laboratory Safety Deliberative Committee, the term of office of a new member shall be the remaining term of office of the previous member (Article 5 (4)).
B. Provide a basis for defining low-risk laboratories specified in the Act as low-risk laboratories pursuant to Table 3 (Article 10 (3) newly inserted)
C. When canceling the designation of a regional research safety support center, the relevant center shall be notified of the fact and specify the reason (Article 23 (7) newly inserted)
D. Provide criteria for exemption from education and training for successful laboratory safety manager applicants (Article 29 (3))
E. Provide a basis for entrusting the operation of the laboratory safety manager qualification system to specialized institutions (Article 32 (2))
F. Establish detailed standards so that sanctions, such as business suspension and corrective orders, may be imposed in cases where technical personnel at a safety inspection agency or precise safety diagnosis agency do not receive statutory training (Attached Table 8)
