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Sustainability Material Issue 6 Improving Employee Health
Objectives
Support mental and physical healthcare for employees to reinforce Group human resources and achieve sustainable corporate growth.
| Indicators (2030) |
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| Progress (2022 results) |
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| Globally Common Measures to 2030 |
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When employees act on their own initiative with a high level of health awareness to acquire sound health habits, it not only serves to maintain and improve their health, but helps them achieve personal growth and professional and personal fulfillment. This, in turn, serves to enhance corporate productivity and creativity and expand opportunities for Lion to contribute to society through sustainable growth.
Lion believes that the health of employees is the management foundation underlying sound corporate growth. In line with this belief and in pursuit of its management vision, “Becoming an advanced daily healthcare company,” the Company works in close coordination with employees and the Lion Health Insurance Society to support the formation of healthy habits in such areas as improving lifestyles, oral heath, mental health, cancer prevention and anti-smoking, based on the Guidelines for Health, with the goal of realizing healthy minds and bodies for all.
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Generally, health investments correspond one-to-one to the indicators related to health investment measures and initiatives.
However, some health investments correspond to multiple indicators related to health investment measures and initiatives.
These health investments are deemed “health investments associated with various effects.”
Lion aims to promote health and vitality throughout the Company. To this end, the officer responsible for Company-wide health and productivity management (the director of the Human Resources Development Center) oversees general health management, while the Health Support Office, the Lion Health Insurance Society, the individuals responsible for or promoters of health and productivity management at each office and industrial health staff (industrial physicians, health nurses, etc.) coordinate to promote organizational health management.
The officer responsible for Company-wide health and productivity management (the director of the Human Resources Development Center), along with representatives from the Health Support Office and the Lion Health Insurance Society hold regular joint meetings as the Health Maintenance Promotion Committee to discuss Company-wide health management issues and measures.
Health support offices have been set up at each of Lion’s 11 domestic operating sites. At these offices, industrial health staff carries out health and productivity management operations. Each health support office coordinates with the Health Support Office at Lion’s headquarters to manage such operations and implement measures aimed at improving health.
The Headquarters Health Support Office formulates Company-wide health management policy, basic plans and annual plans, and coordinates the implementation of plans and gathering of related data.
For ease of understanding how each initiative fits into the program as a whole, we have broken down our health management program into three categories: mental, physical and awareness (awareness of self-directed health management). In each category, we are advancing health management measures for employees tailored by age group.
Health Management Program Overview
We are implementing Lion-style health support, “GENKI” Action, to promote the formation of healthy habits. We support our employees’ autonomous efforts to cultivate their strengths regarding their health, thereby empowering them to increase their sense of professional fulfillment and demonstrate their diverse abilities as they strive toward becoming human resources that embody Lion's Purpose: make a difference in everyday lives by redesigning habits: ReDesign.
We developed GENKI Navi, a new health management system, based on the concepts of making data (such as that about health status, countermeasures and future risk) easy to see and understand, enabling self-management (self-checks) and making health improvement efforts more fun. The system can be accessed using a computer or smartphone. Through the system, we aim to increase employees’ health awareness and foster healthy habits. In addition, from April 18, 2022, we added a function that uses employees’ health checkup data to clearly present future health risks. The purpose of this function is to utilize risk prevention results in health guidance to motivate employees to reflect on their living habits and change their behavior.
The system includes a wide range of functions, including the following.
1) Making employee’s periodic health checkup data accessible (showing dental checkup results, changes over time, advice, etc.)
2) Self-check of data from daily life (input and see weight, step count, food, temperature, blood pressure, etc.)
3) Content to encourage employees to improve their living habits (setting goals, social media functions, etc.)
4) Answering medical questionnaires (for health checkups)
5) Stress level checks (self-checks)
6) The ability to earn health points
As an advanced daily healthcare company, Lion is focusing on initiatives to foster preventive dentistry habits among employees. In terms of self-care, we are providing health guidance during dental checkups, providing individual guidance to employees identified as high risk based on dental health questionnaires and checkup results, implementing a campaign to encourage the use of dental floss and interdental cleaning tools and providing educational videos. In terms of professional care, we are carrying out a campaign of subsidies for receiving professional care and recommending dentists to employees.
* An approach focused on prevention, rather than receiving treatment after cavities or other problems arise. This approach entails both receiving professional care at a dental clinic and practicing daily self-care on an ongoing basis.
The number of persons afflicted with and dying from cancer in Japan is steadily rising. However, advances in diagnostics and treatment are increasingly enabling the early detection and treatment of some cancers. In light of this, separate from employees’ regular health checkups, Lion has introduced a subsidy program for countermeasures to three common types of cancer aimed at early detection and treatment. In particular, as cancers of the lungs, stomach and colon account for a large portion of cancer-related deaths, Lion subsidizes the expenses of detailed screenings for these types of cancers to make them more accessible to employees. The Company also responds to employee inquiries about consultations at medical institutions that provide such screenings.
For its proactive initiatives, Lion was given the 2022 Award for Companies Promoting Cancer Control under the Action Plan for Promotion of Cancer Control, which is a project commissioned by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. This is the second consecutive year Lion has received the award.
* Lung, stomach and colon cancers
We provide support and have created facilitative environments for employees who want to quit smoking in order to prevent exposure to secondhand smoke in the workplace. To improve work environments, in January 2020 we banned smoking during work hours, and in April 2020 we implemented official rules banning smoking indoors. Furthermore, for employees deemed at high risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)* based on health questionnaire results, we provided meetings with industrial doctors, offered guidance related to quitting smoking and encouraged such employees to see a doctor.
Employee Smoking Rate (Non-Consolidated)
*A disease in which the functioning of the lungs gradually deteriorates due to tobacco use and other factors.
Lion has issued the “GENKI” Report, a white paper on health that visualizes employee health status as well as illness prevention and health improvement efforts, allowing users to compare age-related data against a Company-wide average. The “GENKI” Report is shared with the officers responsible for health and productivity management and those tasked with its promotion at each office. Based on data furnished by Lion’s digital transformation (DX) departments, the report presents radar charts mapping various data to illustrate how close specific offices and organizations are to improving their health rankings. The report is intended to help each office and organization better understand its own health status and use this data to inform health promotion activities.
Under the Health & Productivity Stock Selection, the Lion Group has been selected from among listed companies that implement health management as a company that implements particularly outstanding initiatives.
For seven consecutive years since 2017, Lion has been recognized as a White 500 company under the Certified Health & Productivity Management Outstanding Organizations Recognition Program. This program recognizes enterprises engaging in outstanding efforts to promote health and productivity management based on initiatives to overcome health-related challenges in communities or the promotion of health-conscious activities led by the Nippon Kenko Kaigi.
This year’s selection under the Health & Productivity Stock Selection is based on acclaimed initiatives that contribute to the promotion of health among not only employees but a wider range of people. Among these initiatives were measures to raise employees' health awareness and encourage the formation of healthy habits, such as activities addressing health issues specific to women that evolved from a voluntary researcher-driven level to full-blown Company-wide involvement, as well as lifestyle improvement activities for younger employees. More broadly, we were recognized for providing technologies and services that utilize know-how and data accumulated through years of preventive dentistry in combination with the Internet of Things (IoT) and AI.
We will continue our efforts to maintain and improve the health of our employees, contributing not only to their personal growth and the enrichment of their lives, but also to the development of our business and further corporate growth.
Lion established the Mental Health Basic Policy in 2004, and continually and systematically promotes mental care for employees based on the Guidelines for Maintaining and Improving Mental Health of Workers.
Stress Level Checks
Since 2006, before the amendment of the Industrial Safety and Health Act, Lion has been providing stress level checks for employees to assist them in their own self-care. In 2019, 98.0% of all employees underwent stress level checks.
Since 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has driven rapid changes in lifestyles and ways of working. To address the psychological impact of these environmental changes, Lion conducted stress level checks twice in
2020 (these checks were previously conducted once per year). Every year, a high percentage of employees undergoes these stress level checks, and 2022 was no different at 98.8%. Employees found to have high stress levels were required to meet with industrial health staff.
In addition, GENKI Navi creates an environment that allows employees to conduct self-checks at any time, so that they can monitor their own stress profile and make use of it in their self-care. New employees (including mid-career hires) are provided self-care training at their time of employment and all employees participate in training once a year.
| Tested employees | Test rate | |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 2,851 | 96.9% |
| 2018 | 3,077 | 98.9% |
| 2019 | 3,097 | 98.3% |
| April 2020 | 3,112 | 98.2% |
| November 2020 | 3,157 | 98.1% |
| 2021 | 3,192 | 99.5% |
| 2022 | 3,257 | 98.8% |
Workplace Improvement Activities Leveraging Stress Level Check Data
After the results of stress level checks are compiled, each year, the officers in charge of health management at operating sites and Lion’s headquarters provide feedback to individual workplaces. Based on analyses of workplaces’ strengths and weaknesses, this feedback is used to help create more sound work environments. The Health Support Office provides feedback to high-risk workplaces, creating opportunities for dialogue about workplace issues and improvement measures.
Mental Health Care Education as Part of Level-Specific Training
As part of annual level-specific training, industrial health staff give lectures about the importance of mental self-care and related techniques.
Lion aims to create workplaces that foster health and vitality by enhancing workplace communication and conditions.
Education about Care via Line of Command
Care via line of command refers to efforts on the part of supervisors, including employees’ direct supervisors (directly above them in the workplace line of command), to help reduce their subordinates’ stress and consider their mental health. Specifically, we provide training to all managers and supervisors at the time of their promotion to management level to assure that all managers and supervisors are equipped to respond naturally and provide necessary care at any time.
Support for Reinstatement of Employees on Leave Due to Mental Health Issues
When an employee returns to work after leave due to mental health difficulties, we hold a support meeting, at which the individual’s boss, the workplace health management officer and industrial health staff coordinate to provide support. We proactively utilize Rework* to help employees reacclimate to the workplace after their return.
* Rework: Short for “Return to Work,” this program is aimed at supporting the smooth return to work of individuals after leave due to mental illness or disorder.
At the Health Support Office, Lion’s supervising industrial physician, a psychiatrist and an industrial health nurse are available for consultation at any time. When responding to a request for consultation, we ensure that adequate consideration is given to ensuring privacy so that employees can feel at ease asking for advice about issues or concerns they may have. In line with the diversification of work styles, consultation is available not only in person, but via email, phone or online video conference, as needed. Furthermore, we have set up a mental health help desk in an effort to direct employees to the consultation resources they need, when they need them, in a clear manner. A career counselor offers counseling related to individuals’ careers. The Health Support Office provides support finely calibrated to employees’ individual health circumstances, including providing feedback after health checkups and health consultations after stress level checks.
We maintain agreements with external institutions so that employees can easily consult with them over the phone or receive counseling. In addition, depending on the specific circumstances, the Health Support Office may refer employees for specialist treatment and works in coordination with such providers.
Every year, we provide both health and dental checkups for all employees. The items covered by these checkups exceed the legal requirements for such checkups. When an employee’s checkup results indicate that they require further examination, we strongly encourage them to get such examination and provide individual guidance. The percentage of employees undergoing health checkups in 2022 was 99.9%.
Health and Dental Checkup Items for Specific Needs
Lion’s Health Support Office coordinates with the Lion Health Insurance Society to implement specific health checkups and specific health guidance related to metabolic syndrome. We strive to ensure that these serve as effective and clear inducements to employees to improve living habits that cause lifestyle-related illnesses.
| Metabolic syndrome | Pre-metabolic syndrome | |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 13.4% | 12.2% |
| 2016 | 12.6% | 13.1% |
| 2017 | 15.0% | 14.0% |
| 2018 | 13.5% | 14.2% |
| 2019 | 13.4% | 14.9% |
| 2020 | 13.6% | 14.7% |
| 2021 | 14.3% | 14.4% |
| 2022 | 13.6% | 12.1% |
Reference: 2020 data on specific health checkups and specific health guidance implementation from the National Federation of Health Insurance Societies; of 1,125 health insurance societies. 15.1% of all said societies’ members were classified as having metabolic syndrome and 13.1% as having pre-metabolic syndrome.
*1 Health checkups to identify individuals who need specific health guidance, aimed at reducing the number of individuals who have visceral obesity (metabolic syndrome) or pre-metabolic syndrome in order to prevent lifestyle-related diseases, which are involved in approximately 60% of deaths in Japan. Specific health checkups are conducted for all insured persons and their dependents between the ages of 40 and 74.
*2 Health guidance, including providing information, helping generate motivation and offering proactive support from specialized staff (health nurses, registered dieticians, etc.) for individuals who, based on the results of specific health checkups, are at high risk of developing lifestyle-related illnesses and for whom the onset of metabolic syndrome is expected to be preventable through lifestyle improvement.
*3 Employees ages 40 and over (who are enrolled in the Company’s health insurance).
Furthermore, in collaboration with the Lion Foundation for Dental Health (LDH), Lion has elucidated the link between gum disease and metabolic syndrome. We will continue to reinforce initiatives aimed at the prevention of gum disease and metabolic syndrome among employees going forward.
Under the joint leadership of the Lion Health Insurance Society and the director of the Human Resources Development Center, individuals identified as requiring specific health guidance are encouraged to receive health guidance. We strive to offer a health guidance program that facilitates understanding of the goals of specific health guidance and what it comprises while making it easy for individuals to take action and enjoyable for them to continue their efforts.
In 2020, as an internal collaborative initiative, we provided Lion’s Lactoferrin products and an email newsletter to employees who signed up, supporting their lifestyle improvement efforts. Furthermore, a dedicated registered dietician from the Lion Health Insurance Society provided nutritional guidance internally. Through these and other efforts, Lion proactively provided support, working with professionals with abundant knowledge and experience from in and outside the Company.
With the aim of reducing the number of people needing specific health guidance, we examined changes in weight among our young employees. We found that the weights of 86% of male employees had increased 5% or more within the first 10 years of employment. A person’s 30s are a time of major lifestyle changes for both men and women, and inappropriate living habits can lay the foundation for lifestyle-related illnesses.
Therefore, in 2022, we offered Lactoferrin and distributed materials effective for lifestyle improvement to raise health awareness and support lifestyle improvements among obese employees in their 30s. According to a survey, 60% of participants responded that following our actions they had since become more weight conscious, and the rate of satisfaction with the support offered was 78%. In 2023, in order to further increase the program’s efficacy and support its continuation we are following up on the distribution of materials with periodic emails containing relevant information created in collaboration with a full-time dietitian from the Lion Health Insurance Society.
Lion added a health point system to the 2022 GENKI Navi to help make adopting healthy habits more positive and enjoyable for employees, even amid the restrictions implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, a time filled with major lifestyle changes. In a post-enrollment survey, more than half of the 1,107 participants responded that they walked 1,000 more steps per day than usual during the system’s implementation. The satisfaction rate among respondents was 73%.
We are planning to expand the initiative’s duration in 2023, making adopting health living habits even more enjoyable for all of our employees by bringing the whole Company together through friendly competition between departments and other fun improvements.
Since the 1970s, Lion has implemented in-house dental checkups, brushing guidance, scaling and cleaning, education via lectures and other preventive dentistry measures.
In 2002, in cooperation with the Lion Health Insurance Society and LDH, Lion launched All Lion Oral Health Activity (ALOHA), aimed at increasing employees’ health management abilities. ALOHA is based on practicing oral health management primarily though the provision of regular oral checkups to all employees and primary prevention as well as support to enhance employees’ self-directed health management abilities. In accordance with three-year plans, we have been implementing a PDCA cycle for the dental health program and are currently implementing the ALOHA VII plan. The content of dental checkups varies depending on whether the individual is receiving professional dental care, placing greater emphasis on health guidance for those who are not in order to foster awareness of the importance of professional care.
Furthermore, we seek to increase the ratio of employees who use interdental cleaning goods and are able to effectively implement preventive dentistry through both self-care and professional care. Our main activities are shown below.
Lion is proactively promoting preventive dentistry both within the Company and externally. In line with the belief that it is important that employees practice preventive dentistry, we offer limited-time financial incentives for receiving professional care to spur employees to find a primary care dental clinic where they can receive regular professional oral care.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the campaign to encourage the use of professional care was suspended, but was resumed in April 2021. We are working to communicate the importance of receiving professional care and exploring creative ways of motivating employees to receive such care, such as distributing original logo stickers and digital backgrounds for electronic devices that can be used when working remotely.
We regularly hold meetings of the employee food service committee to enhance the offerings at our employee cafeterias. In consideration of employee health, we strive to offer healthy, delicious meals. Furthermore, we display information on the calorie, sodium and sugar content of all menu items and seek ways to make meals healthier, such as offering reduced-sodium soy sauce.
Lion supports employees’ cultural and athletic activities with the aim of helping employees cultivate healthy minds and bodies and deepen friendly bonds.
Cultural clubs include Japanese tea ceremony and flower arrangement, while athletic clubs include yoga, Pilates, basketball, tennis, soccer and baseball. A total of approximately 700 employees take part in 52 such clubs nationwide. Club activities take place after work hours or on weekends and help employees foster healthy minds and bodies.
To boost employee health, we are implementing a variety of initiatives aimed at supporting and encouraging sports-related activities and have become a member of the Sport in Life Consortium. For its efforts, Lion was recertified as a Sports Yell Company 2023 by the Japan Sports Agency (in Japan, “yell” refers to cheering and shouts of encouragement).
To ensure that employees can work in comfort, every two months, Lion measures indoor humidity, temperature, and concentrations of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, as well as dust at its workplaces.
We also regularly take measurements related to noise and lighting to confirm that there are no problems in our work environments.
The government’s Japan Revitalization Strategy includes the key issue of “Extending the nation’s healthy life expectancy.” To address this issue, as part of “developing a new system concerning the promotion of preventive care and health management,” the strategy calls for all health insurance societies to analyze such data as health insurance claims to develop, announce, implement and evaluate effective and efficient “data health plans” in order to help maintain and improve the health of their members.
Lion has for some time been promoting initiatives in the area of data-based healthcare in cooperation with the Lion Health Insurance Society.
Based on particular criteria, we are reinforcing specific measures designed to reflect the timing of changes in the body while working to improve health literacy.
Since 2013, we have held the annual LIS21 Senior health promotion seminar for 50-year-old employees. To control health risks that rise significantly with age, bolstering self-directed health management skills is crucial. We also aim for the seminar to serve as an opportunity for employees at the landmark age of 50 (given increasingly long lifespans) to reflect on their circumstances and lives from multiple perspectives, including their health, work, and home life going forward, so that they can engage with their work with a renewed sense of vigor.
Although we had planned in-person group seminars for 2020 and 2021, they were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, we held online training that combined a seminar and a video session. There were 277 participants, a participation rate of 98.9%. The online seminar featured lectures on topics of high interest to people in their 50s, such as health, career and domestic life. The video session featured original content on specific health issues and measures, such as cancer prevention, the prevention of lifestyle-related illness, preventing frailty and oral health.
The training was very well-received. According to a survey, more than 90% of respondents felt the information was concrete and easy to understand and were satisfied with the seminar, which was designed from the perspective of someone their age.
| Participants | Participation rate | |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 140 | 87% |
| 2016 | 152 | 76% |
| 2017 | 100 | 68% |
| 2018 | 95 | 68% |
| 2019 | 120 | 85.7% |
| 2020 | 240*1 | - |
| 2021 | 277*2 | 98.9% |
| 2022 |
*1 In 2020, the seminar was held in a video viewing format through the Lion Health Insurance Society
*2 Participants originally scheduled for 2021 are included in the figures for 2022
Company’s researchers conscious of the issues involved with the advancement of women’s roles in the workplace assembled and voluntarily established the Well-Being Lounge, a program to raise the level of health literacy needed to improve one’s well-being. The Well-Being Lounge has since become a Company-wide program that is deepening our overall understanding of health issues specific to women.
In 2022, a total of about 300 people, both men and women, participated in the program. According to a survey, satisfaction with the program was reported by more than 90% of respondents and more than 80% reported an increase in their knowledge and awareness of the related issues. In collaboration with other companies, we also offered seminars on diet related to women's health and opportunities to learn about fertility issues and infertility treatments from individuals who have dealt with such subjects first-hand and those who support them.
In 2023, we plan to establish an external fertility and infertility treatment consultation service to promote the improvement of well-being.
In the early stages of the pandemic, we quickly set up a taskforce to prevent the spread of COVID-19. We concretely defined such terms as “suspected close contact” and “suspected infection.” Applying these definitions, when an employee was suspected of having an infection, we distributed PCR test kits to operating sites (or provided vouchers for testing off-site) to determine whether the employee was infected as soon as possible, minimizing the period of worry and the spread of infection. In June 2021, the taskforce swiftly made the decision to conduct workplace vaccinations. To date, we have conducted three rounds of workplace vaccination at two vaccination sites in eastern and western Japan.
In preparation for the winter influenza season, Lion decided to bear the full cost of influenza vaccinations for employees and conducted vaccinations at its operating sites.
*Data on “GENKI” Action Subjects
Employees Who Brush Their Teeth After Lunch
Employees Who See Toothbrushing* as Highly Important
* Employees who brush at least twice a day for at least three minutes
Employees Who Use Dental Floss
* Fiscal 2014 comprehensive oral care survey (women ages 20–59)
Employees Who Use Interdental Brushes
* Fiscal 2014 comprehensive oral care survey (women ages 20–59)
Employees Who Received Professional Care at a Dental Clinic During the Year*
* Employees who went for regular cleanings at dental clinics during the year (excludes employees undergoing treatment)
Proportion of Employees Suffering from Gum Disease
Average Number of Cavities Per Person
* 2016 Odontopathy Survey (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare) Ages 20–59
Average Number of Teeth Removed Per Person
* 2016 Odontopathy Survey (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare) Ages 20–59
In order to promote preventive dentistry, we offer oral care seminars for outside companies in addition to our own.
Click here for more details. [Japanese]