CIRCULAR No. 23/2003/TT-BLDTBXH OF NOVEMBER 3, 2003

PRESCRIBING AND GUIDING THE PROCEDURES FOR REGISTRATION AND EXPERTISE OF ASSORTED MACHINERY, EQUIPMENT, SUPPLIES AND SUBSTANCES SUBJECT TO STRICT REQUIREMENTS ON LABOR SAFETY AND LABOR SANITATION

In furtherance of the Government's Decree No. 110/2002/ND-CP of December 27, 2002 amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Government's Decree No. 06/CP of January 20, 1995 which details a number of articles of the Labor Code regarding labor safety and labor sanitation;
after obtaining the opinions of the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Home
Affairs and the concerned agencies, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs hereby prescribes and guides the procedures for registration and expertise of assorted machinery, equipment, supplies and substances subject to strict requirements on labor safety and labor sanitation as follows:

I. SCOPE AND OBJECTS OF APPLICATION

Enterprises, agencies, organizations and individuals (referred collectively to as establishments) that use assorted machinery, equipment, supplies and substances subject to strict requirements on labor safety and labor sanitation (referred collectively to as objects) on the list defined by the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs in Appendix 1 to this Circular and by the Ministry of Health in the Appendix to Circular No. 05/1999^TT-BYT of March 27, 1999 guiding the declaration, registration and issuance of certificates of eligibility for use of substances subject to strict labor sanitation requirements, must have such objects registered and expertised before putting them into use:
- Enterprises set up and operating under the State Enterprise Law, including production and business enterprises, public-utility enterprises and the armed forces' enterprises;
- Enterprises set up and operating under the Enterprise Law, including limited liability companies, joint-stock companies, partnerships and private enterprises;
- Enterprises set up and operating under the Law on Foreign Investment in Vietnam, including joint-venture enterprises and enterprises with 100% foreign capital;
- Enterprises of political organizations or socio-
political organizations;
- Individual production and business households, cooperation teams, cooperatives and individuals;
- Administrative and non-business agencies, political organizations, socio-political organizations, socio-political-professional organizations and other social organizations, including organizations and units licensed to conduct production, business or service activities, which belong to administrative and non-business agencies, the Party's agencies, mass organizations and mass associations which self-finance their activities;
- Semi-public, people-founded and private establishments in the cultural, medical, education-training, scientific and physical training and sport sectors as well as other non-business sectors;
- Commune, ward and district township health stations;
Vietnam-based foreign agencies, organizations and individuals or international organizations, except otherwise provided for by the international treaties which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam has signed or acceded to.

II. EXPERTISE

Expertise means the inspection, testing and analysis conducted by the expertising agencies so as to evaluate the safety conditions of assorted machinery, equipment, supplies and substances subject to strict requirements on labor safety and labor sanitation as prescribed in the State's standards and regulations on labor safety and labor sanitation.
The expertise procedures are stipulated as follows:

1. For establishments

a/ To directly request the expertising agencies to conduct the expertise when they wish to expertise objects;
b/ To provide technical documents related to the to be-expertised objects, to appoint representatives to witness the expertising process;
c/ To overcome unsafe phenomena related to the expertising work.

2. For expertising agencies

al Within 10 working days after receiving the establishments' requests, to conduct the expertise. In case of being unable to satisfy the establishments' requests, within 5 working days after receiving such requests, to reply in writing the establishments and clearly state the reasons therefor;
b/ To expertise objects strictly according to the expertising process promulgated by the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs as well as the State's standards and regulations on labor safety and labor sanitation;
c/ To make the expertise records and fully inscribe the expertising results into the objects' records;
d/ When the objects fully meet the safety conditions for being put into use, within 05 days after publicizing the expertise records, the expertising agencies must grant the establishments the expertise result tickets (02 copies) according to a set form;
el In the course of expertise, if detecting that the objects are in danger of causing incidents or labor accidents, to stop the expertise and notify such to the establishments for remedial measures;
g/ In the course of expertise, if violating the expertising process as well as the State's standards and regulations on labor safety and labor sanitation and causing material losses to the establishments, to pay compensation therefor according to law provisions.

III. REGISTRATION

The registration is stipulated as follows: Mobile objects shall be registered at the provincial/ municipal Services of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs of the localities where the establishments are head-quartered; fixed objects shall be registered at the provincial/municipal Services of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs of the localities where the objects are installed and/ or used. The registration shall be made only once before putting the objects into use.

1. For establishments

a/ Within 5 days after receiving the expertise result tickets, to send the registration dossiers to local provincial/municipal Services of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs for registration;
b/A dossier of registration comprises:
- A registration declaration made according to a set form;
- The object's record made according to a set form in the State's standards and regulations on labor safety and labor sanitation (for substances subject to strict requirements on labor sanitation and industrial explosive materials, a set form enclosed with this Circular (not printed herein);
- The expertise result ticket (for industrial explosive materials, a copy of the industrial explosive material use permit).
c/ When ownership is transferred, re-
registration must be made; when renovating, repairing or changing technical parameters of the registered objects, expertise and registration must be re-conducted.

2. For provincial/municipal Services of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs

a/ After receiving the registration dossiers, to issue the receipts thereof to the establishments, made according to a set form;
b/ Within 10 working days after receiving the complete and valid dossiers, to make registration (the form of registration book shall comply with Appendix 6 to this Circular, not printed herein), sign and stamp in the section reserved exclusively for the registration agencies in the objects' records (for substances subject to strict requirements on labor sanitation and industrial explosive materials, to sign and stamp at the bottom of the records). After completing the above-said procedures, to grant registration certificates to the establishments, made according a set form and return them the objects' records, and recover the granted registration dossier receipts.
In cases where the objects are unqualified for registration, to notify such in writing to the establishments and clearly state the reasons therefor, made according to a set form.

IV. IMPLEMENTATION ORGANIZATION
1. Establishments shall have the responsibilities:

a/ To screen the to be-registered and -expertised objects under their respective management in order to conduct the registration and expertise in strict accordance with this Circular;
b/ Annually, to draw up plans on expertise of objects in order to request the expertising agencies
to conduct the expertise;
c/ To manage and use the objects strictly according to the State's standards and regulations on labor safety and labor sanitation;
d/ For the objects already registered and granted use permits before the effective date of this Circular, whose use duration is still valid, they shall continue to be used. Upon the expiry of the objects' use duration, the registration and expertise therefor must be conducted according to the provisions of this Circular.

2. The expertising agencies shall have the responsibilities:

a/ To promptly organize the expertise at establishments' requests;
b/ Quarterly (before the 5th day of the first month of the subsequent quarter), to report to the provincial/municipal Services of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs of the localities where the objects are registered on the situation of expertise, made according to a set form.

3. The provincial/municipal Services of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs shall have the responsibilities:

a/ To conduct the registration according to their competence prescribed in this Circular, to create favorable conditions for the establishments to quickly complete the registration procedures;
b/ To inspect and examine the expertise and use of the objects under their respective management according to their competence;
c/To uniformly manage registration certificates, made according to a set form; biannually (before July 20) and annually (before January 31 of the subsequent year) to send reports to the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs on the situation of registration and expertise in their respective localities, made according to a set form.

4. The Labor Safety Department shall have the responsibilities:

a/To assist the Ministry in exercising the uniform State management over registration and expertise; to prescribe the registration certificate form;
b/ To propagate, guide and examine the implementation of this Circular;
c/ Biannually and annually, to send sum-up reports to the leadership of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs on the situation of registration and expertise nationwide.

5. The ministries, the ministerial-level agencies, the agencies attached to the Government and the People's Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities shall have to direct and urge the establishments under their respective management to strictly comply with the provisions of this Circular.

This Circular takes implementation effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette and replaces Circular No. 22/TT-BLDTBXH of November 8, 1996 of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, guiding the declaration, registration and application for granting of permits for use of assorted machinery, equipment, supplies and substances subject to strict labor safety requirements.
Any problems arising in the course of implementation should be reported to the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs for study and settlement.

Minister of Labor,
War Invalids and Social Affairs
NGUYEN THI HANG

Appendix 1:
LIST OF ASSORTED MACHINERY, EQUIPMENT, SUPPLIES AND SUBSTANCES SUBJECT TO STRICT LABOR SAFETY REQUIREMENTS (Promulgated together with Circular No. 23/2003/ TT-BLDTBXH of November 3, 2003 of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs)

1. Assorted boilers (including overheating part and water-warming part) with a fixed working steam pressure of over 0.7 kg/cm2;
2. Water boilers with solvent temperature of over 115°C;
3. Pressure tanks with a fixed working pressure of over 0.7 kg/cm2 (excluding hydrostatic pressure), except for tanks with a capacity of less than 25 liters if the product of the capacity (in liter) and pressure (in kg/cm2) does not exceed 200 and tanks are not made of metal;
4. Cisterns and tanks used for storing and transporting liquefied gas or liquids with a working pressure of over 0.7 kg/cm2 or non-pressure powder liquids and solids, which use gas with a pressure of over 0.7 kg/cm2 when being discharged;
5. Assorted cooling systems, except for those with working water or air solvent; cooling systems with a charged solvent volume of less than 5 kg for cooling solvents of group 1, or less than 2.5 kg for cooling solvents of group 2 (according to the classification in the Vietnamese standard TCVN 6104: 1996);
6. Grade-l and -II steam or hot-water pipelines with the outer diameter of 51 mm or more, grade-lll and -IV pipelines with the outer diameter of 76 mm or more (according to the classification in the Vietnamese standards TCVN 6158:1996 and 6159:
1996);
7. Gas pipelines;
8. Assorted cranes: Automobile cranes, tire cranes, caterpillar cranes, railway cranes, tower cranes, foot cranes, wail cranes, and mini-cranes;
9. Bridge cranes: Rolling bridge cranes, suspended bridge cranes;
10. Gate cranes: Gate cranes, semi-gate cranes;
11. Cable shafts;
12. Electric pulley assemblies;
13. Electric reel carriages going on rails;
14. Electric hoists for vertical hoisting;
15. (Manual, electric) hoists for hoisting people;
16. Lifts;
17. Bottles used for containing and transporting compressed air, liquefied gas and dissolved air with working pressure of over 0.7 kg/cm2;
18. Systems for compounding and charging air, liquefied gas and dissolved air;
19. Assorted elevators;
20. Escalators;
21. Assorted explosives;
22. Explosive devices (detonators, detonating wires, fuses,...)

LIST OF SUBSTANCES SUBJECT TO STRICT LABOR SANITATION REQUIREMENTS(Appendix 4 to the Health Ministry's Circular No. 05/1999/TT-BYT of March 27, 1999)
I. LIST OF CATEGORY I - SUBSTANCES SUBJECT TO STRICT LABOR SANITATION REQUIREMENTS

1. 2- Acetylaminofluorene
2. 4- Aminobiphenyl (M3)
3. Arsenic and arsenic compounds (1A)
4. Asbestos (amosite and chrysotil)
5. Benzene (T1,M1)
6. Benzidine (1A)
7. Bis (chloromethyl) ether
8. 1,4- Butanediol dimethanesufonate (M3)
9. Cyclophosphamide (T2, M2)
10. Diamino- 4,4 diphenyl
11. Diethylstilboestrol
12. 4- Dimethylaminoazobenzene
13. Naphthylamine (A and B)
14. Thorium dioxide
15. 4- Amino 10- methyl formic acid (T1)
16. Dinitrogen pentoxide (T1)
17.2.4DB
18. 2,4 DP
19.2,4,50
20. 2,4,5 T
21. Plant protection chemicals on the list of those restricted from use in Vietnam (according to the list issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development)

II. LIST OF CATEGORY II-SUBSTANCES SUBJECT TO STRICT LABOR SANITATION REQUIREMENTS

1. Acetothioamide
2. Acrylic amide
3. Alachlor
4. Allyl catechol methylene ether
5. 2- Aminofluorene
6. 3- Amino 1,2,4- triazole
7. Aniline and its compounds
8. Antimony and its compounds (1B)
9. Aziridine
10. Benzidine dihydro chloride
11. 2, 3- Benzofluoroethene
12. 2, 3- Benzophenanthrene
13. Benzo (a) pyrene (C2)
14. (Bis (Chloro- 2 ethyl) amino) phenyl butyric acid (T3)
15. Bis chloroethyl nitroso urea (T3 M3)
16. BenomyI
17. Benzyl chloride
18. Beryllium and its compounds
19. Boric acid and borates
20. Bromodichloromethane
21. Cadmium-and its compounds (1A)
22. Calcium cyanide
23. Carbondisulfide (T3, A800)
24. Carbon monoxide
25. Carbon tetrachloride
26. Chloroethyl ether
27. Chloromethyl ether
28. Chloropicrine
29. Chromium and its compounds (C¬1)
30. Coal tar (C1)
31. Dactinomycin
32. Daunorubicin (T3)
33. Dernention (o & s)
34. Dieldrin
35. Di-sec-octyl phthalate
36. Dibez (A-H) anthracene
37. 1, 4- Dichlorobenzene
38. Diethylstilboestrol
39. Dimethylformamide
40. 1,4- Dioxane (C1)
41. Dimethyl mercury
42. Dinitro toluene (DNT)
43. Dinitrogen pentoxide
44. Dioxin and its derivatives
45. Endosulfan
46. Epichlorohydrin (C3,1A)
47. Epoxy 1 - propanol
48. Ethylene dibromide (C2)
49. Ethylene dichloride
50. Ethylene dioxide (C2, 1A)
51. Fluorouracil
52. Formalin
53. Formaldehyde (1A)
54. Hexa methyl phosphoramide (C2)
55. Hydrazine and hydrazine hydrate, hydrazine sulfate (1A)
56. Lead and compounds containing lead
57. Mechloethamine
58. Mechloethamine hydrochloride (C2, T2, A0600, A0800)
59. Melfalan (A0600, A0800)
60. Mercury and its compounds
61. Endrine
62. Methallyl chloride
63. 2- Methyl aziridine Mercury and its compounds (1A)
64. Methylazoxy methanol B-D- Glucosite
65. Methyl bromide
66. Methyl chroride
67. Methylen chloride
68. Nickel (carbonyl, dioxide, disulfide, monoxide) (C2)
69. N- Nitrosodiisopropylamine
70. Nitrosomorpholine
71. Ortho-amino azotoluene
72.Perchloropentacyclodecane 73. Phosphine
74. Phosphorus (yellow)
75. Polychlorinated biphenyls
76. Procarbazine hydrochloride
77. PropyI thiouracil
78. Sodium cyanide
79. Stibine
80. Thallium and its compounds
81. Thionyl chloride
82.Thiophosphamide 83. Toluene (o, m, p)
84. Uracil mustard
85.Urethane(C1M2) 86. Vinyl chloride
87. Vinyl cylohexene dioxide
88. Xylene (o, m, p)

Notes : The symbols used in attachment with the above substances are construed as follows:

C1: Found to cause human cancer
C2: Found to cause cancer on animals, suspected of being able to harm human beings
C3: Suspected of causing cancer on animals
M1: Found to cause genetic modification on human beings
M2: Found to cause genetic modification on animals, suspected of being able to harm human beings
M3: Suspected of causing harmful genetic modification on animals
T1: Found to cause malformation on human beings
T2: Found to cause malformation on animals, suspected of being able to harm human beings
T3: Suspected of causing malformation on animals
A0600: Causing sexual disorders to males A0800: Causing abnormal sperms
A1000: Through placentas, poisoning human embryos and ova
1A: Very poisonous material, which can lead to immediate, grave consequences
1B: Poisonous material, which can lead to immediate, grave consequences
2A: Very poisonous material, which can do other harms
2B: Poisonous material, which can do other harms.-