We are making Group-wide efforts to promote safety and health under our Code of Conduct, which states that “We are committed to providing a safe and healthy environment for all our stakeholders.” In particular, regarding operations related to hazardous substances, we place an emphasis on preventing occupational disease and are committed to continually reducing exposure risks, such as by managing workplace environment and by thoroughly ensuring that occupational health protective equipment (protective respiratory equipment, protective gloves, etc.) are worn. In addition, for employees who have regularly engaged in work handling hazardous substances (including work involving exposure to asbestos) in the past, we continuously conduct special health checkups until retirement. To actively address global health issues, for workers assigned overseas we provide health education that includes infection prevention measures for HIV, malaria, yellow fever, rabies and other conditions during pre-assignment orientation, and shoulder the cost of vaccinations recommended by the Quarantine Station of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for each destination region.
We introduced our health management system in 2018 to centrally manage health management information such as health check results using electronic data, and the system is operated by our industrial healthcare staff. We upgraded this system in September 2020, which has enabled more precise aftercare measures and data analysis. Additionally, in October 2023 we further customized the system and began recording reexamination rates set as a priority implementation item in our health and productivity management activities. We will continue working to implement effective health promotion measures.
As our primary mental healthcare initiative, we continuously provide a range of mental healthcare training to prevent employees from developing mental health issues. Specifically, we provide job-class-specific mental healthcare training in addition to "Self-care training" for all employees and "Line-care training" for management supervisors. In the fiscal year ended March 2019, we introduced a consultation service provided by a clinical psychologist stationed at each office and plant for employees who are in their third year at the Company, in an effort to prevent mental health issues from developing.
We make all employees aware of our response policy, procedures and consultation services available when they develop mental health problems. We have developed an environment in which employees can seek consultation with peace of mind, and we continue to offer meetings and consultations with industrial healthcare staff at each of our offices and plants. For employees who are taking sick leave, we operate a program to support them in returning to work, including the use of external back-to-work programs and other initiatives to help them work smoothly after recovery.
We simultaneously perform stress check surveys at all offices and plants, including those with less than 50 employees, offering face-to-face guidance with physicians as needed for those diagnosed with high stress levels, including interviews with industrial healthcare staff (public health nurses and clinical psychologists) as a preliminary step. We also analyze the survey results by attribute and changes in the results over time and share information with Business Divisions to identify issues and formulate countermeasures. Thus, we will continue to drive the creation of workplace environments that are comfortable for employees.
We have been positioning employee safety and health as the top-priority issue. Accordingly, diverse initiatives have been taken at each office and plant. However, we have begun to see issues that should be addressed in a Group-wide manner, including issues associated with the declining birthrate and aging population, mental health measures, and the balance between treatment and work. In response, we positioned employees' health management as a business challenge and have decided to strategically work on health and productivity management in a Group-wide manner. We are promoting the mental and physical health of employees and their families in collaboration with the Mitsubishi Materials Health Insurance Society.
Specifically, “The Mitsubishi Materials Group Health and Productivity Management Declaration” was enacted in October 2020, and the Health and Productivity Management Panel was established as a specialized committee under the SCQ Promotion Office headed by the Chief Executive Officer. In this system, we have implemented a variety of Company-wide measures related to maintaining and improving health.
The progress of each measure is regularly reported at the SCQ Promotion Office, which is attended by Executive Officers. In addition, the Responsible Executive Officer of SCQ promotion reports to the Strategic Management Committee and the Board of Directors for appropriate monitoring.
We have set medium-term health and productivity management targets in conjunction with the Group’s Medium-term Management Strategy. For factors that increase the risk of death including high blood pressure, diabetes and smoking, as well as each site’s health and vitality level that serves as an indicator of mental health, we define medium-term numerical targets and work to tackle them systematically. In addition, to prevent employees from engaging in overwork, we implement initiatives including the formulation and dissemination of overwork prevention plans and ongoing follow-ups on employees given guidance in mental health interviews based on our Company-wide policy to shorten working hours. We are making steady progress on these initiatives to prevent overwork through a meeting body on the reduction of working hours convened between labor and management.
Each office and plant is engaged in activities for maintaining and improving the health of employees in a well-planned manner following Company-wide priority action items. In September 2023, we were recognized for the first time as an Excellent Health Company (Gold Certification) by the Tokyo Promotion Council for the National Federation of Health Insurance Societies under the Certified Health & Productivity Management Outstanding Organizations Recognition Program designed by the Healthy Company Declaration Tokyo promotion meeting. In addition, in March 2024, Nippon Kenko Kaigi (Japan Health Council) recognized us for the first time as a Health & Productivity Management Outstanding Organization White 500 (large enterprise category) under the Health & Productivity Management Outstanding Organization Recognition Program promoted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).
We will continue to pursue our activities to promote safety and health and create workplaces where employees can work in a healthier way and enjoy working, through health and productivity management activities, so that the activities will be very meaningful for both the Company and its employees.
Under our Corporate Philosophy of "For People, Society and the Earth" and our Code of Conduct which states that “We are committed to providing a safe and healthy environment for all our stakeholders,” Mitsubishi Materials Group will make maximum efforts and engage in continual improvement to prevent occupational accidents, ensure occupational hygiene, and manage the health of its employees.
Specifically, we will develop initiatives to work system reform and measures to improve the mental and physical health of employees and their families in cooperation with the health insurance society.
In response to global pandemics and other new diseases, too, we will work to prevent infections and ensure the health of employees and their families.
Click here to read about our "Health Management Initiatives".