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Sustainability Material Issue ７ Enhancing the Occupational Safety Management System
Objectives
Enhance systems to ensure compliance with occupational safety and health laws and regulations and to enforce safety awareness thoroughly for the safety and peace of mind of employees and outside partners working on site.
| Indicators (2030) |
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| Progress (2022 results) |
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| Globally Common Measures to 2030 |
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We are taking steps to enhance our occupational safety and health management system throughout the Lion Group.
Driven by the fundamental principle that safety is its absolute top priority, Lion has added disaster prevention items to the Occupational Safety and Health Management System (OSHMS)* based on the guidelines of Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare to establish a unique Safety, Hygiene and Disaster Prevention Management System. Since 2009, we have operated this system at all domestic Group companies, and since 2012 we have included internal audits in our efforts to improve the system’s effectiveness. In addition, since 2014 we have been holding the Safety, Hygiene and Disaster Prevention Meeting (originally launched in 1992 as the Environmental Security Conference). We work in accordance with Lion’s unique OSHMS to reduce potential hazards and risks, continuously maintain work environments, create safer workplace environments and build related systems.
* A system for the systematic and organized operation and management of health and safety activities.
Lion has established the AL Safety, Health, and Disaster Prevention Policy to define our commitment to ensuring the safety and health of all employees of the Lion Group and establishing a comfortable and pleasant work environment. This policy applies to all employees of domestic Group companies and is reviewed and updated every January.
Twice a year, the Company holds the Safety, Hygiene and Disaster Prevention Meeting. Chaired by a member of top management (Director Fumitomo Noritake), the meetings deliberate on Company-wide measures to ensure facility safety and occupational safety (including work environment improvement) as well as hygiene (health problem prevention and mental health maintenance), and disaster prevention (emergency response) measures and coordinate ongoing initiatives aimed at thoroughly eradicating risk.
Each operating site and domestic Group company has established a Safety, Health and Disaster Prevention Committee based on the Industrial Safety and Health Act and while effectively utilizing this committee, reflects the opinions of all employees within each operating site to resolve issues, including problems specific to each site.
Our domestic companies actively support overseas Group companies in their safety, health and disaster prevention activities. In 2018, we established a Safety and Disaster Prevention Promotion Department directly below the management level, further strengthening the Lion Group’s occupational health, safety and disaster prevention management system.
Lion implements top safety audits of domestic production division plants, with the chair of the Safety, Health and Disaster Prevention Meeting serving as the responsible officer. These audits, conducted from an objective standpoint, mainly examine systematically whether appropriate mechanisms for safety and disaster prevention are in place, whether Lion’s Safety, Health and Disaster Management System is being operated properly, and whether the level of safety and disaster management is improving. By providing guidance and suggestions related to eliminating accidents and disasters through top safety audits, Lion works to further increase the safety of each plant and create environments in which employees can work with peace of mind and safety.
The Company has created detailed manuals and plans of action on how to respond in the event of natural disasters, such as large-scale earthquakes. In addition to these plans, which differ depending on the severity and scale of the disaster as well as the extent of damage incurred, the Company conducts Company-wide and individual disaster drills at each operating site.
For larger disasters, a disaster response headquarters has been established to take action. A remote disaster response headquarters has also been established in light of the rising use of remote work in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the possibility of a disaster occurring overnight or on a holiday and the challenges of maintaining a facility with all relevant members physically in attendance. Accordingly, we have been conducting joint disaster prevention drills and remote disaster response headquarters activities since 2020.
We will further upgrade our disaster response system and continue to reinforce our disaster prevention activities in anticipation of an increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters and the further diversification of work styles.
In 2022, one abnormality*1, a leak, occurred just as it had in 2021. While equipment failure was partially to blame, it was also due in part to human error resulting in incorrect equipment settings. The cause has been investigated by both the head office and the affected department, and corrective action has been taken, with all production plants making improvements based on investigations of similar problems.
As part of our ongoing facility safety initiatives, we utilize information on plant accidents that have occurred at other companies to strengthen our safety management and maintain the skills, techniques and awareness of our operators. Serious types of accidents that occur within facilities that handle dangerous substances include fires/explosions and leaks. To prevent these, since 2016, we have provided ongoing basic education on static electricity, which can ignite fires, as well as periodic education at plants about corrosion, the main cause of leaks, to enhance awareness and knowledge.
In addition, to further enhance corrosion prevention-related efforts and elucidate the causes of facility corrosion issues at plants, we engage in technological exchanges with specialized outside institutions.
Furthermore, we implement level-specific education for facility operators to foster awareness and knowledge regarding change management*2 as part of efforts to reinforce management of facility safety.
To address facility aging, we designate standards for routine inspections and maintenance by degree of importance and carry them out accordingly.
Going forward, we will continue working to reinforce technological capabilities related to facility safety, including systematic human resource development, from a medium- to long-term perspective.
*1Fires, explosions, leaks, etc.
*2Management activities that prevent risks associated with changes in facilities or operating conditions.
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
In 2022, the number of labor-related accidents for the domestic Group was 14, excluding cases that occurred during commutes to work (of these, five accidents led to lost work time). Analysis of the causes of these accidents categorized them as follows: five falls, five collisions, three cuts or punctures and one instance of heatstroke. The main cause of these accidents appeared to be a lack of caution (such as taking shortcuts or deviating from rules) attributable to employees’ overfamiliarity with operations or the carelessness of unskilled workers. When occupational accidents occur, the department in which the accident took place investigates the cause and takes measures to prevent recurrence, and the Safety and Disaster Prevention Department ensures that corrective actions are taken and that the entire Company is aware of the situation.
To prevent occupational accidents, it is crucial to enhance our safety management system and heighten every members’ awareness of occupational safety. In addition to safety awareness education via Company-wide internal e-learning and implementing risk simulation training using conventional machinery, Lion uses digital technology to provide hazard sensitivity training, such as VR risk simulation training, at our plants and research institutes.
To reinforce safety culture, we also hold safety training development programs for managers and key persons in the workplace, including Plant Top Safety Training and Workplace Safety Training for Key Persons at all production division plants.
| Eligible employees | Participation rate |
|---|---|
| 4,306 | 97.8％ |
| Chiba Plant | Odawara Plant | Osaka Plant | Akashi Plant | Hirai Research Center | Odawara Research Center | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 81 | 127 | 29 | 78 | 134 | 68 | 517 |
| Plant Top Safety Training | Workplace Safety Training for Key Persons |
|---|---|
| 32 | 16 |
Targeting plantmanagers and key persons in 2022
Occupational Accidents*1
*1 Excludes accidents that occurred during commutes to work
Production Division
Occupational Accident Frequency*2
＊2Rate of accidents leading to death, lost work time of one day or more, or loss of bodily function without loss of work time
Production Division
Occupational Accident Severity Rate*4
*4Severity rate: Lost work days / Total work hours (thousands of hours)
| Research and development divisions | Production divisions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hirai | Odawara | Chiba | Odawara | Osaka | Akashi |
| 6,251 | 4,503 | 185 | 1,977 | 534 | 2,845 |
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employee (Lion Corporation) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0*3 |
| Employee (Domestic Group Companies) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1*3 |
*5 Including dispatched employees and part-time employees
In 2022, representatives from the Safety and Disaster Prevention Department and overseas managerial divisions visited PT. Lion Wings (Indonesia) to provide direct guidance on the improvement of insecure areas and disaster prevention training. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we had been striving to provide this and other overseas Group companies with timely advice and guidance through remote meetings and internal e-mails. Going forward, we will continue to provide guidance and support according to the situation at each company and strive to reinforce the Lion Group's safety, health and disaster prevention systems.
Overseas companies are also continuing to strengthen hygiene protocols (temperature checks, hand washing, disinfection, and wearing masks) aimed at preventing COVID-19 infection, which is having a synergistic effect with occupational safety measures.
To strengthen the safety, health and disaster prevention systems at All Lion (AL), we hold a safety exchange conference that brings together safety managers from overseas and domestic production division plants. Although the 2022 conference was also held remotely due to COVID-19, a total of 64 participants, 27 from overseas and 37 from Japan, exchanged opinions and information on safety and disaster management and the challenges they face. We are working to strengthen cooperation at AL and to improve the level of safety throughout the Group by, for example, introducing best practices at our domestic plants. We will continue to hold regular meetings to improve our safety, health and disaster prevention activities, while working to create a safe and secure work environment for the entire Group.