Occupational Safety and Health Education Center - “Midori-kan”
Monument for safety and health
The monument for safety and health in the courtyard of the Midori-kan. The design consists of a green cross, meaning safety, surrounded by five materials symbolizing our business.
We thought that personal experiences of hazards are important to improve hazard awareness, so started running an Occupational Safety and Health Education Center -“Midori-kan” in March 2017. The center has 50 different hazard experience facilities inspired by the actual work environment and the dangers that hide in everyday tasks. It also regularly provides specialized education needed for work safety and health in dedicated classrooms, in addition to hazard experience education by expert instructors. Since its establishment until March 2022, the center provided hazard sensitivity training for more than 4,100 Group employees, approximately 900 of whom have also completed specialized training courses.
We introduced VR hazard experience education at our Occupational Safety and Health Education Center in May 2018 to allow participants to experience hazard difficult to simulate with regular equipment. VR allows participants to have a 360° field of vision, better realism and immersion through haptic and other technologies, and experiences of hazard until the end (e.g., before, during and after falling). It is helpful for creating better hazard awareness. Because the devices are portable, we provide the training at each plant of the Group. In 2019, we introduced the second and third sets of devices and added five new hazard experience courses. We added another four courses in 2021. We began to lend them to Group companies as well, aiming to improve hazard awareness further.
High temperature accidents
(gas releases)
High temperature accidents
(steam explosions)
Forklift accidents
(driver moving forward)
Forklift accidents
(pedestrian moving backward)
Falling accidents
(falling from crane)
Falling accidents
(stepping through the floor)
Caught-between accidents
(press)
Caught-in accidents
(high-speed conveyor belt)
Caught-in accidents
(slow-speed conveyor belt)
Electric shock accidents caused by contact with power panel
Tripping accidents caused by difference in height
Cutter accidents resulting in incision wounds
Falling accidents while descending stairs
Stepladder fall accidents
Flying object accident caused by failed crane operation
Grinder kickback accident
Fall accident while putting a cover on a trailer
Pinched in a V-shaped belt
We commend facilities that make significant progress in safety management and achieve excellent results that are exemplary to other facilities, as an opportunity to encourage the improvement of safety management within the Mitsubishi Materials Group.
Facilities that are eligible for commendations are those of Mitsubishi Materials Corporation, consolidated subsidiaries in the manufacturing and construction industries in Japan, and unconsolidated subsidiaries.
Commendation criteria stipulate that the facility must achieve the required period (number of years) with no accidents requiring employees to take leave (a period during which no accidents requiring employees to take leave occur with regard to either company employees or contractors). Commendations are classified into the following three types.
(1)Safety distinction award (Facilities that achieve the number of years stipulated by commendation criteria)
(2)Safety excellence award (Facilities that achieve the number of years stipulated by commendation criteria x 2)
(3)Safety grand prize (Facilities that achieve the number of years stipulated by commendation criteria ×3 or more)
Since risks vary significantly between industries and business types, the number of years stipulated as commendation criteria is set for each facility based on the business type. Facilities are classified into the following groups.
Advanced Products Company | Goto Mfg. Co., Ltd. (IV, 12 years) A, Diarecs Corporation (II, 12 years) B |
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Cement Company | Shinkansai Ryoko Ready Mixed Concrete Co., Ltd. (4 years) A |
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Advanced Products Company | Tamagawa Engineering Co., Ltd. (2 years) A, Mitsubishi Materials Electronic Chemicals Co., Ltd. (2 years) A, Mitsubishi Cable Industries, Ltd. Minoshima Works (3 years) B |
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Metalworking Solutions Company | MOLDINO Tool Engineering, Ltd. Narita Plant (3 years) B, Japan New Metals Co., Ltd. (2 years) A |
Metals Company | Onahama Smelting and Refining Co., Ltd. (2 years) A |
Cement Company | Tokyo Ryoko Concrete Corp. (2 years) A |
Affiliated Corporations & Aluminum Div. | MA Packaging Co., Ltd. (2 years) A, Universal Can Corporation Gunma Plant (2 years) A |
Metals Company | Materials Eco-Refining Co., Ltd. (I, 6 years) A |
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Affiliated Corporations & Aluminum Div. | Shinryo Aluminum Techno Co., Ltd. (VIII, 20 years) A, Maintenance Techno Corporation (II, 8 years) A |
Advanced Products Company | Sambo Forging Co., Ltd. (currently MM Copper Products Co., Ltd.) (4 years)A |
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Cement Company | Higashitani Mine (4 years) A |
Advanced Products Company | Tamagawa Seisakusyo Co., Ltd. (2 years) A |
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Environment and Energy Business Company | East Japan Recycling Systems Co., Ltd. (3 years) B |
As the results of an analysis of past occupational accidents revealed issues in risk identification, we have been providing MMC Group facilities with safety and health guidance through outside consultants. Risks that have yet to be identified are extracted from the viewpoint of an external expert and measures are taken to reduce such risks. This helps raise the on-site safety level and improves the hazard sensitivity of employees.
The Safety, Environment & Quality Department has been running an internal portal website since February 2017 for the collection, dissemination, and viewing of information about safety, health, disaster prevention and the environment. Safety data and safety chronology that had previously only been stored on head office servers with limited access along with occupational accident case studies, documents used for safety and health training and information concerning health and mental health have been classified, organized and published to the internal portal website.
We produce videos depicting cases of typical occupational accidents that have occurred in the MMC Group, thus offering straightforward explanations of the conditions of an occupational accident, its cause, countermeasures taken and the lessons learned.
All past accidents in the Group have been entered into a database. That database has been available on the internal portal website since June 2017. It allows keyword and full-text searches and the creation of accident calendars, contributing to the preparation of safety education materials as well as measures against similar accidents. It is constructed so that all plants can obtain the necessary information swiftly and accurately, helping to bolster our safety foundation and foster a safety culture.
Since 2014, we have been compiling a collection of safety and health best practices on a yearly basis, highlighting unique and highly-effective initiatives implemented at each MMC Group facility to prevent occupational incidents. We are promoting the spread of best practices by presenting them during National Safety Week as a shared asset for improving the Group’s safety and health. For example, we introduce individual case examples on the internal portal site.