Occupational safety and health laws already aim to cover all workers in the workplace—not just formal employees. Yet, without collective participation guaranteed through union activities or collective bargaining, it is virtually impossible for individual workers to identify hazards, demand action from the company, or halt unsafe work. For irregular workers, who face higher risks and more dangerous tasks, reporting hazards to the prime contractor and demanding corrective measures is almost unimaginable. Even when a subcontractor union exists, the situation is largely unchanged.

While it is important to form and operate joint Industrial Safety and Health Committees under the prime contractor’s safety management system, this carries less weight than negotiating with the prime contractor and engaging in collective action to secure binding collective agreements that go beyond the limitations of deliberative and decision-making structures.

This study aims to examine the actual changes in the labor environment at the workplace following the 2018 initiative to improve postal workers’ working conditions. It comprehensively evaluates the current working hours, labor intensity, health status, and overall organizational culture of postal workers to propose improvement measures. The analysis focuses on the ongoing problems persisting in the field, such as overwork, covering shifts, and unused vacation days. These issues stem from a combination of organizational factors: the continuous increase in mail volume, the surge in international parcels, and chronic staff shortages.

Many interviewees stated that “there is virtually no difference in working hours between weekdays and Saturdays” and that “unrecorded early arrivals have become a common practice.” The increase in international parcels and the growing complexity of delivery routes have reduced work predictability. Meanwhile, double shifts due to staff shortages have become routine, heightening work fatigue and accident risks.

KILSH is a public interest civil society group focusing on workers’ health and safety. We are working for healthy working conditions for all workers, and for workers to have greater autonomy in their workplaces. We meet and educate workers and trade unions on how to prevent occupational injuries and describe how to get involved in changing the working environment. 

We have worked on important issues such as musculoskeletal disorders, long working hours, overwork and mental illness. We have continued our work on workers’ health rights at small-sized businesses, female workers’ health, the climate crisis, the right to stop dangerous work and how risk assessment is conducted and used. These issues are described in our monthly magazine on occupational safety and health with different topics every month. Our translation team provides information about our activities in English.