Respect for Employees : Health and Safety Activities
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Health and Safety Activities
We work on the creation of a workplace where everyone related to our business, including employees and external stakeholders, can work safely and peacefully while staying healthy.
Our group companies have been continuously and actively implementing safety programs, led by their relevant committees, based on their activity plans that include workplace safety patrol, measures to prevent the recurrence of disasters, and danger prediction activities.
Meanwhile, they have been promoting hygiene activities, including programs to prevent lifestyle and occupational diseases and measures to maintain mental health of employees, according to their annual plans.
We have also been implementing safety and disaster prevention activities together with contractors and subcontractors working with us at production and other facilities.
Our Approach to Occupational Health and Safety
We explicitly state in the Toyo Seikan Group Guidelines of Behavior that we ensure the health and safety of employees, working on the creation of a workplace where all employees can work in good health and with safety and peace of mind.
The Group’s operating companies have taken necessary measures to maintain and improve the health and safety of their employees and to create a secure and comfortable workplace, based on the collective agreements concluded with labor unions and their work regulations.
Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems of Group Companies
At each of domestic group companies, the president appoints the head of health and safety management (a director or an operating officer), who appoints the chief managers for health and safety of individual business facilities. Each chief manager establishes a health and safety committee to build a system to manage health and safety in the facility.
The health and safety committee at each site holds a joint labor/management meeting on a monthly basis to advance health and safety management. In accordance with laws and regulations, the committee consists of the chief manager, safety managers, health managers, an industrial physician, and other members representing the company and the labor union. Half of the members are appointed on the recommendation of the union. Any major problems or concerns about health and safety will be promptly reported to the chief manager, who will instruct the committee’s administration office to take corrective measures. The committee will cooperate with relevant departments to implement the measures, and the details of the action will be shared with other facilities.
Preventing Occupational Accidents
In order to prevent occupational accidents, the heads of health and safety management of group companies individually formulate their annual plans to carry out the activities stated below.
As for safety, individual facilities are actively engaged in continuous efforts to reduce various risks. Their health and safety committees meet every month, formulating safety policies suitable for their individual circumstances, conducting workplace safety patrols, implementing recurrence prevention measures, and taking other actions such as danger prediction. They also cooperate with contractors in safety activities, sharing information on safety issues, including occupational accidents and countermeasures. For health management, group companies work on the prevention of lifestyle-related and occupational diseases and the maintenance of good mental health.
We also have procedures in place for hearing from employees about near-miss incidents, trouble information and improvement proposals.
Main Activities in FY2021
Setting Target to Prevent Occupational Accidents and the Results
We aim for zero serious occupational accidents every year, as we achieved the target for fiscal 2019, 2020 and 2021. We continue with our efforts to maintain zero cases for fiscal 2021.
Frequency and severity of occupational accidents at major group companies
Frequency and Severity of Occupational Accidents
| Item | Scope of survey | FY2018(5) | FY2019(5) | FY2020 | FY2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frequency rate(1) | Toyo Seikan Group Holdings and its domestic consolidated subsidiaries(3)(6) | 0.55 | 0.36 | 1.74 | 1.73 |
| All industries surveyed(7) | 1.83 | 1.80 | 1.95 | 2.09 | |
| All manufacturing industry(7) | 1.20 | 1.20 | 1.21 | 1.31 | |
| Severity rate(2) | Toyo Seikan Group Holdings and its domestic consolidated subsidiaries(3)(6) | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.08 | 0.14 |
| All industries surveyed(7) | 0.09 | 0.09 | 0.09 | 0.09 | |
| All manufacturing industry(7) | 0.10 | 0.10 | 0.07 | 0.06 | |
| Coverage of data collection among all employees of the Group(4) |
24% | 44% | 72% | 71% | |
- Notes:
- 1. Frequency rate (how often incidents occurred) is indicated by the number of casualties per million work hours, calculated by the formula below:
(Number of casualties / Total hours worked) × 1,000,000 - 2. Severity rate (incident severity level) is indicated by the number of workdays lost per 1,000 work hours, calculated by the formula below:
(Total workdays lost / Total hours worked) x 1,000 - 3.Frequency and severity rates are the weighted averages of those of the following companies based on the numbers of their employees.
FY 2020 and 2021: Toyo Seikan Group Holdings and all its domestic consolidated subsidiaries
FY 2019: Toyo Seikan, Toyo Kohan, Tokan Kogyo, Nippon Closures, Toyo Glass, Mebius Packaging, Toyo Aerosol Industry,TOMATEC and Toyo Seikan Group Holdings
FY2018: Toyo Kohan, Tokan Kogyo, Toyo Glass, Mebius Packaging, Toyo Aerosol Industry, and TOMATEC - 4. The coverage ratio is based on the numbers of employees as of April 1 of each year.
- 5. The data for Toyo Kohan, Toyo Glass and TOMATEC are on a calendar year basis since their fiscal-year based figures are currently not available, as we present the statistics for the first time in this report. The data collection may be changed to a fiscal year basis in the future report.
- 6. The numbers of employees of Toyo Seikan, Nippon Closures, Toyo Glass and Mebius Packaging exclude temps from staffing agencies, except for the numbers of casualties and lost workdays of Toyo Seikan and Mebius Packaging, which are counted including temps.
- 7. Source: The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s Survey on Industrial Accidents
2021 Safety Management Excellence Award
On November 16, 2021, Toyo Glass’s Chiba Plant received the 2021 Safety Management Excellence Award with a commemorative gift from the Chiba Prefecture Federation of Labor Standards Associations.
The award winner is determined based on recommendations from the seven labor standards associations in the prefecture, for its active engagement in health and safety activities and achievement of “zero accidents” for the past three years. This year’s award is a great encouragement for Toyo Glass to maintain accidentfree operations. Reminded of the evaluated points, all employees will continue to work together to sustain the zero accident record.
Acquired Certification for Health and Safety Management System in Indonesia (SMK3)
In January 2020, PT. TOMATEC INDONESIA received certification under the Indonesian national standards for occupational safety and health management system (SMK3) regulated by the Ministry of Health of Indonesia.
There are 166 criteria in the standards for occupational safety and health management, and fulfilling 60 to 84 percent of the criteria is considered to be at the adequate level and 85 to 100 percent at the fully sufficient level. The company has been certified with a 95.18 percent qualification rate.
The company will continue to enhance its occupational health and safety management system, led by the administration teams of quality assurance, environmental protection, and occupational health and safety.
Hazard Simulation Training
From July to November 2021, Toyo Kohan’s Kudamatsu Plant conducted a hazard experience training program using virtual reality (VR) to increase employees’ danger sensitivity. The program was attended by approximately 1,300 employees. In the questionnaire after the training, many participants stated their requests for various types of hazard experience training with more realistic VR simulation.
The company will continue the educational activity with updated programs, aiming to achieve “zero accidents” in operations.
Workload Reduction Plan
TOMATEC’s Komaki Plant is introducing assistance devices for handling heavy objects (weighing about 20 kg), aiming to reduce the burden on workers handling heavy objects in the processes that cannot be automated with robots and other devices. The equipment introduced in 2021 is designed to help workers lift objects, easing the burden on the back, hips, and knees with the mechanism of springs embedded in its waist belt. It is lightweight and easy to put on and take off, and functions well without using electricity, air, or other energy. The company will continue to implement its workload reduction plan, reviewing and adjusting work procedures at its plants to enable them to install necessary machinery.
Ensuring Good Hygiene in Meeting Rooms
As part of the COVID19 prevention efforts, TOMATEC’s Health and Safety Committee assessed meeting room environment, examining changes in CO2 concentration and ventilation methods at a windowless meeting room that could be a “closed space” of the three Cs (closed spaces, crowded places and close-contact settings). The results showed that the CO2 concentration in a windowless meeting room became over 1,000 ppm in 15 to 20 minutes. The committee also verified the proper placement of circulators as well as appropriate ways of taking in fresh air, which was shared with all employees through the company’s bulletin boards and internal newsletters to raise their awareness. The meeting rooms have now been equipped with CO2 sensors, which constantly measure the CO2 concentration inside the room.
- *This chart is scrolled
Measures against infectious diseases
The Group’s employees who are assigned to foreign bases and their accompanying family members are provided with medical checkups before leaving Japan. They are also given prior guidance on healthcare management that will be needed in their new locations and the information on global health issues, such as tuberculosis, HIV, viral hepatitis, and endemic malaria and dengue fever, as well as methods to prevent these diseases. We encourage employees who travel abroad to receive required vaccinations based on the recommendation of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
By referring to the information from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the World Health Organization (WHO) and other relevant sources, we collect the latest information on outbreaks of infectious diseases overseas to take responsive action. In addition, using our intranet we provide contact information for healthcare support services and local medical providers to help employees working abroad maintain good health. Members working in China and Vietnam can also access the guide via the intranet on how to use medical support services available 24 hours.
Employees working in Japan receive a chest X-ray as part of an annual health checkup for early detection of tuberculosis.