Promoting Occupational Health and Safety
Material Issue
Occupational health and safety
Management information
Relevance to our business
The driving force behind Fuji Oil Group’s business activities is our diverse human resources. Amid the diversification of working styles and increased labor mobility, ensuring the safety of our employees is our social responsibility as a corporate group and is essential to sustainable management. Our initiatives to promote occupational health and safety directly contribute to the health of our employees.
Basic approach
In the Fuji Oil Group Management Philosophy, the first of our values that inform our actions is “safety, quality, and the environment.” Among these three, the Group places top priority on “occupational safety” to achieve continuous growth. We have set out Basic Policy of Safety and Health* with the aim of protecting the lives and health of our employees and all the people working at our business sites, and eliminating work-related accidents.
Management system
The ESG Division Officer of Fuji Oil Holdings Inc. oversees initiatives in this area. The Sustainability Committee,*1 an advisory body to the Board of Directors, monitors the progress and results of initiatives as a material ESG issue.*2
Goals / Results
At least 90% complete At least 60% complete Less than 60% complete
| FY2022 Goals | FY2022 Results | Self-assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Zero serious accidents*1 and serious property damage accidents*2 |
|
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*1 Accidents resulting in death, permanent disability to limbs or other body parts or long-term hospitalization (60 days or more).
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*2 Explosion, fire, or physical accident resulting in an order from a public authority to shut down the entire site.
Analysis
We did not achieve our goals as there was one fatal accident at a Group company outside Japan. Although we have been carrying out training on the pointing and calling method and risk prediction to improve awareness of occupational safety, we recognize that these take time to introduce and establish. We believe that using VR helps improve safety awareness by simulating danger for our employees. We will continue to work on enhancing safety awareness through safety experience training using VR at Group companies outside Japan.
Next Step
Our goal for FY2023 is once again to eliminate the occurrence of serious accidents and serious property damage accidents. We believe that improving the safety awareness of employees is the key to achieving this goal. To address this issue, we will continue to work on the following measures in FY2023.
- Continue measures to introduce the pointing and calling method, as well as to establish and maintain awareness programs
- Continue programs that promote understanding of the effectiveness of risk prediction training
- Continue initiatives that help raise safety awareness, such as adopting safety VR simulators
Specific initiatives
Circumstances of serious accident
One fatal accident occurred at Fuji Vegetable Oil (U.S.) in FY2022. The Production Productivity Management Group from Fuji Oil Holdings Inc. visited the site to investigate the cause of the accident with the local team and put measures into place to prevent similar accidents from happening again. An audit of the whole site was conducted at the same time. All Group companies outside Japan have also conducted safety inspections and made efforts to prevent accidents.
Risk management and countermeasures
Occupational health and safety risks are designated as Group-wide significant risks. We work in collaboration with each Group company to eliminate accidents and raise the level of health and safety management in line with the Fuji Oil Group Management Philosophy. This is accomplished by conducting occupational health and safety audits at each production site to assess risks.
Occupational health and safety audits
Planned audits are conducted each year at business sites in Japan and Group companies outside Japan. In FY2022, ten production sites in Japan were audited by the Safety, Quality, and Environment Audit Team of the Safety, Quality, and Environment Audit Office at Fuji Oil Co., Ltd., the regional headquarters in Japan. For overseas Group companies, the next occupational health and safety audits are planned based on the results of their previous audits. In FY2022, the Production Productivity Management Group conducted remote audits of three production sites and on-site audits of four production sites. Remote audits of Group companies outside Japan involve advance review of documentation, reviews via online meetings, and live video audits. Live video streaming allows staff based in Japan to visually inspect overseas sites from where they are. At production sites where audits have been conducted, progress checks and follow-up checks are carried out after improvements have been made in response to the issues identified. We aim to eliminate work-related accidents at our sites through this ongoing cycle of audits, improvements, and follow-up.
Multilingual reminders
At Group companies outside Japan, we display safety-related reminders in multiple languages for employees who use different languages so that they can carry out their work safely.
Example of a sign at Fuji Global Chocolate (M) Sdn. Bhd. (Malaysia)
Dialogue between labor and management
To evaluate and improve our risk management and countermeasures related to occupational health and safety, we attach greater importance to dialogue between labor and management. For example, Fuji Oil Co., Ltd. holds a monthly Safety and Health Committee meeting in accordance with the labor agreement, in order to discuss employees’ expectations and concerns regarding occupational health and safety.
Acquisition of Management Certifications
Management certification status
Supplier safety and health
The provision of safe and hygienic workplaces for all workers, legal compliance and risk management are stipulated in the Occupational Safety and Health section of the Fuji Oil Group Supplier Code of Conduct*1 published in April 2021. We ask all our suppliers to agree to this policy and submit a consent form. The third edition of the CSR Procurement Guidelines*2 (revised in November 2021) applies to suppliers of Group companies in Japan. In the section regarding Respect for Human Rights and Consideration for Occupational Safety and Health, we ask that suppliers maintain and improve a safe and healthy work environment, and we confirm through a questionnaire that the products and services procured by Group companies in Japan are in line with these procurement guidelines.
Education
The Fuji Oil Group implements measures based on the belief that prevention of labor accidents at manufacturing sites is one of our most important responsibilities. We conduct checks to identify dangerous operations and situations that could lead to accidents and take necessary measures. We also promote the PDCA cycle for risk management, work to identify near-miss incidents, and implement the use of safety observation cards to suggest potential hazards and areas with safety concerns. Through these and other initiatives, the whole Group is committed to working together to prevent occupational accidents.
Disseminating safety-related information
In recognition of the importance of raising safety awareness among employees throughout the Group, we share warnings and information about occupational accidents that have occurred within the Group. Group companies give employees daily safety warnings using electric bulletin boards or information boards.
Education to improve safety awareness
We believe that heightening our employees’ sensitivity to danger leads to improved safety awareness. We set up safety experience rooms at Fuji Oil Co., Ltd. and Fuji Oil (Zhang Jia Gang) Co., Ltd. (China), and let employees at Group companies outside Japan experience dangerous conditions through VR devices. VR devices are permanently installed at Fuji Oil Co., Ltd. and Fuji Oil (Zhaoqing) Co., Ltd. (China)
Group companies in Japan are aiming to improve safety awareness through simulation classes and safety education that enable employees to learn from past incidents. In this way, rules are observed and mistakes from the past are avoided. We are also working to create a safe and secure work environment by conducting emergency drills for natural disasters and installing motion sensor lights that are also useful when evacuating during a power outage.
Group companies outside Japan are also engaged in various safety initiatives, including adopting the pointing and calling method, education on the effectiveness of risk prediction training, safety communication activities,*1 and safety meetings.*2
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*1 Activities to raise employees’ safety awareness by handing down knowledge of past labor accidents and countermeasures to younger generations.
*2 Meetings held before the day’s work begins to inform workers about safety matters that require special attention that day.
VR simulator at PT. Freyabadi Indotama (Indonesia)