To kick off safety and health initiatives for fiscal 2023, the president sent a message to all employees, including those at Group companies, emphasizing that “safety is our top priority.”
Towards the Establishment of a “Safety First” Principle (PDF) 109KB
The Nissui Group has designated departments in each segment to oversee the Safety and Health Committees of each business location and established the ”Occupational Safety and Health Subcommittee,” with the heads of each overseeing department as members. The subcommittee is held once each quarter and addresses various issues relating to “labor safety,”“work hours” and “harassment” matters of Nissui, including its Group companies. Furthermore, in accordance with the law, the rate of establishment of Safety and Health Committees has reached 100% for workplaces in Japan with 50 or more employees.
The Occupational Safety and Health Subcommittee, under the secretariat of the Human Resources Department, compiles work-related accident trends for the entire Nissui Group in Japan, focusing on the type, severity, and frequency of accidents. By sharing this information with each department and raising awareness throughout the company, the subcommittee aims to prevent similar accidents in the future. In addition, each department formulates priority issues and activity plans for the fiscal year, and subcommittees periodically report on the progress of these plans to strengthen the safety framework through horizontal deployment of initiatives.
Nissui expresses the message of “aiming to create a safe and comfortable work environment in which each employee will be able to demonstrate his or her capabilities in a healthy way, fulfill the role assigned to him or her and work energetically.
Details of Initiatives | |
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FY2021 |
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FY2022 |
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FY2023 |
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Since fiscal 2021, the "Nissui Group Safety Convention" has been held as a Group-wide activity with the participation of the President, officers, members of the Occupational Safety and Health Subcommittee and the respective safety management chiefs and persons in charge of safety at the Group companies.
At the Convention, the President announced the "Nissui Group's Declaration of Safety" as his message to all employees in the Nissui Group in Japan, reiterated that both safety managers and site staff must give top priority to safety in any and all situations and made sure everyone is on the same page with respect to the importance of safety, in order to realize a "workplace free of work-related accidents in which everyone can work safely with a sense of security."
In addition, at the convention, Nissui commends safety activities by presenting an award for safety activities conducted by Group companies that are particularly outstanding and widely spreads good examples among Group companies in an effort to invigorate safety activities of the Group as a whole. Nissui also makes time for a lecture on safety management given by an outside lecturer to boost the safety management standards on a Group-wide scale.
In addition to the translation of educational tools for non-Japanese workers who speak a variety of languages, we are also enhancing safety education using pictograms that do not rely on language, soliciting safety slogans from employees to raise safety awareness in each department, and conducting video conferences using remote means to track progress of these initiatives.
Department | Details of Initiatives | |
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Food Products Business Group |
Food Processing |
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Chilled |
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Fisheries Business Group |
Marine Products Processing |
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Aquaculture |
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Fishery |
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Fine Chemicals Business Group |
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Logistics |
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R&D |
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At the Nissui Group's production plants in Japan, risk assessments relating to tools, machinery and equipment, and work methods are conducted on a regular basis, in addition to those required by law, such as risk assessments pertaining to the handling of chemical substances and the introduction of new machinery. By verbalizing the process that may lead to an accident, inherent risks are clarified. The level of risk can then be evaluated and examined in terms of the severity of the injury, the degree of urgency, etc., and appropriate measures can be taken to prevent such accidents from occurring. In addition to the above, the supervising offices of each department support voluntary activities by participating in safety patrols and safety and health committee meetings at directly managed business sites and domestic Group companies and providing education on methods and concepts such as risk assessment.
Furthermore, through regular gatherings of relevant Group companies by department to exchange information, as well as regular quarterly meetings of all departments' supervising offices, information is shared regarding the occurrence of accidents within the Group, the progress of action plans, the status of countermeasures against serious accidents, etc., in order to improve the level of safety management throughout the Group while determining relevant policies and accumulating know-how.
At the Nissui Group's production plants in Japan, safety education is provided to employees not only at the time of employment or transfer, but also through daily KYT activities, on-the-job training, reminders on bulletin boards (pictograms, etc.), and opportunities to learn about near-miss incidents and other accidents at morning meetings. We also provide training on occupational safety and health and traffic safety courses for new employees, as well as strengthen safety awareness activities at domestic Group companies in conjunction with national campaigns (National Safety Week, Occupational Health Week, New Year's holidays, etc.).
Additionally, at Nissui’s food production plants safety training programs called “Safety School” are being carried out using machines that allows participants to experience what it feels like to be entangled in conveyor belts and machines to experience confirmation by finger pointing and calling out, to raise the safety awareness of its employees.
Labor safety training for foreign employees is here
Machines that allow participants to experience what it feels like to be entangled in conveyor belts
Machines to experience confirmation by finger pointing and calling out
Pictograms example (Caught in machinery)
Nissui is in the process of acquiring ISO45001 certification for all of its business sites in Japan. By receiving this certification, we will work to ensure a safe and healthy working environment for our employees.
Fine Chemicals General Plant Tsukuba Plant had decided to adopt occupational health and safety management system ISO45001 for the purpose of enhancing safety and health activities, and in April 2020, kicked off its initiative to acquire ISO45001 certification. Having completed a labor safety and health manual in June, an internal audit and a management review were conducted based on the manual and problems were rectified. Safety and health policies and goals were translated into targets on a department-and-department basis, and new activities were incorporated, such as enhancing measures to reduce areas at risk of "close call" incidents and emergency supplies to prepare against emergencies (e.g., cut wound, bone fracture, heat stroke) and undergoing experiential safety education, in an effort to instill and strengthen the system. In January 2021, the Plant became the first in Nissui to acquire ISO45001 certification. Going forward, we will continue to further improve employees' safety awareness and create a safe work environment, and promote initiatives in pursuit of a plant with zero work-related accidents.
In fiscal 2022, as a preliminary step towards obtaining ISO 45001, various training sessions on the Occupational Safety and Health Management System (OSHMS) were conducted for all companies within the Nissui Group. The goal of these training sessions was to promote a better understanding and implementation of a safety management system based on the PDCA cycle. In addition, these sessions helped to standardize the level of safety personnel throughout the Nissui Group.
Training Date | Training Content | Training Provider |
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June 2022 |
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Japan Industrial Safety and Health Association (JISHA) |
July 2022 |
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Nippon Kaiji Kentei Kyokai (NKKK) |
September 2022 |
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Tsukuba Plant (Nissui) |
Within our fishing operations, we actively work at the level of each Group company to ensure a safe working environment for employees involved in fishing activities. We prioritize the safety of crew members on fishing vessels and strive to improve the working environment, while ensuring third-party monitoring to increase transparency.
We strive to achieve zero occupational accidents; however, our immediate goal is to limit the number of accidents to 100 or less per year for the entire Nissui Group in Japan. Based on the number of accidents (cases without/with lost workdays/cases resulting in fatality) by department, type, etc. as the main indicator, we have established a system to compare the frequency rate with the industry average.
FY2018 | FY2019 | FY2020 | FY2021 | FY2022 | |
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Number of work-related accidents | 132 | 147 | 123 | 133 | 121 |
(Number of those that led to time off from work) | 72 | 74 | 66 | 65 | 63 |
(Number of those that led to deaths) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Scope: Total of 37 companies, Nissui Corporation and its group companies in Japan (including unconsolidated affiliate companies in Japan)
FY2018 | FY2019 | FY2020 | FY2021 | FY2022 | |
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Frequency rate (Note) | 1.99 | 3.06 | 1.70 | 0.61 | 1.21 |
Reference: Manufacturing industry (food, beverages, tobacco, feed) | 3.32 | 3.48 | 3.51 | 4.01 | - |
Scope: Nissui Corporation
(Note): One of the safety indices to indicate the incidence of work-related accidents, calculated by the following formula: Frequency rate = number of those who suffered from injury resulting in lost work time ÷ total working hours × one million actual work hours
Scope: Total of 37 companies, Nissui Corporation and its group companies in Japan (including unconsolidated affiliate companies in Japan)
Nissui complies with labor laws and regulations regarding minimum wages and sets its wages with consideration of regional market rates so as not to threaten the livelihood of its employees. We also comply with applicable laws and regulations regarding their payment.
Nissui manages working hours to prevent employees from working excessive hours based on the Labor-Management Agreement, which provides for even stricter limits than the law. More specifically, our attendance management system is used to manage work hours at the workplace; the Human Resources Department monitors the situation mid-month and at the end of the month, and issues warnings as necessary to ensure thorough management. In addition, we are promoting understanding of working hour management by distributing a video explaining the content of the work hour agreement (known as the “Article 36 Agreement”) and how to enter information into our attendance management system. Furthermore, we promote flexible work styles, such as flextime and telework, while striving to prevent health problems caused by excessive workloads. Depending on work performance, interviews with industrial physicians and public health nurses are conducted, and if necessary, measures such as work restrictions are put in place.
The Guidelines of Ethical Conduct set out in Nissui’s Code of Ethics states “respect our frank and openhearted communication environment and make an effort to maintain a sound and effective system of internal checks and balances,” and to respect fundamental human rights of individuals as well as prohibit all forms of discrimination and harassment. This Code of Ethics is posted on Nissui’s internal portal site and shared with its employees to instill awareness of the prevention of discrimination and harassment among them.
In order to prevent incidents of harassment, harassment study groups (seminars, e-learning, and similar) are being conducted. A Harassment Desk has also been set up for employees to consult, and a structure to handle any problems has been established.
On June 1, 2020, the revised power harassment prevention law (Act on Comprehensively Advancing Labor Measures, and Stabilizing the Employment of Workers, and Enriching Workers' Vocational Lives) came into force; in conjunction with this, the President delivered a message to all employees of the Nissui Group in Japan, strongly urging them once again to eliminate workplace harassment. On April 1, 2022, when the power harassment prevention law became applicable to small and medium-sized enterprises as well, the President newly announced "Nissui's Declaration to Eliminate Harassment," taking it as an opportunity to send an even stronger message than before, including Group companies.
Going forward, the Nissui Group will continue to take various measures to prevent harassment and aim at "enabling each and every individual to fully demonstrate his/her abilities."
The Nissui Group respects the freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining in accordance with the laws and regulations of each country in which it operates. In countries and regions where association is not permitted by law, we recognize the importance of collective bargaining and promote collaborative efforts between labor and management to resolve issues.
Nissui has concluded a labor agreement with its labor union (Nissui Adventure Club), and is striving to create and maintain a healthy labor-management relationship through sincere and proactive communication between employees and management for the realization of a better working environment. Furthermore, a union shop agreement has concluded, and the membership rate in the labor union for regular employees at Nissui is 100%.
At Nissui, important management policy and themes are explained by the president and other executive officers of all businesses at the Annual Policy Labor-Management Meeting, and directors in charge of each business explain important management policies and issues at the Central Labor-Management Council for each business. In addition, proposals are received from the labor union based on the situation in the field, and discussions are engaged in a spirited manner. Furthermore, the company establishes opportunities for regular meetings, such as the Labor-Management Liaison Council, which shares the discussions of the Occupational Safety and Health Subcommittee and facilitates the exchange of opinions; the Safety and Health Committee, where discussions are held between representatives of the company and the labor union at each business site; and the Labor-Management Review Committee, which discusses various personnel, labor, and work-related safety issues with the Human Resources Department. Whenever necessary, such as when revising systems or in cases of labor problems, we hold good-faith labor-management consultations and strive to resolve issues through labor-management cooperation.