Policies and Basic Concepts

Our employees are the greatest asset of the Inabata Group. We believe that ensuring a safe working environment and maintaining and improving health are important to enable employees to maximize their potential. No matter where our employees work, we establish appropriate management systems, and comply with labor standards and other laws and regulations in each country and region. On this basis, we implement measures to prevent overwork, long working hours, and occupational accidents, to reduce the risk of epidemics among employees, and to maintain and improve their health. The Group continues its efforts to create a workplace environment where all executives and employees (including nonregular employees and temporary workers) can keep working energetically, in good health, safely, and with peace of mind.

At the same time, we ask our business partners and other stakeholders for their understanding and cooperation in putting point 4 of our Supply Chain CSR Action Guidelines into practice: “To provide employees with a safe, sanitary, and healthy work environment, to prepare emergency countermeasures for dealing with disasters and accidents, and to publicize these countermeasures so that they are known by all concerned parties.”

Structures and Systems

The Inabata Group has an occupational health and safety management system in place where the senior managing executive officer in charge of human resources bears the ultimate responsibility while the Human Resources Office coordinates efforts.

We also have an Employee Health Committee, which is chaired by the general manager of the Human Resources Office and participated by industrial physicians, clinical nurses, public health nurses, health supervisors, and employees recommended by the labor union. The Committee meets once a month to discuss arrangements for supporting employee health and improving workplace safety and the working environment, among other matters, taking the advice of industrial physicians, clinical nurses, and public health nurses. At Committee meetings, in addition to regular reports on the results of environmental measurements and the status of long working hours, injuries, illnesses, and accidents, the members discuss a variety of topics that include regular health checkups, stress checks, and vaccinations. These reports and discussions are reflected in the Group’s occupational safety measures. The minutes of the monthly meetings are posted on the corporate intranet portal to keep employees informed.

Risk Assessment

As a tool to minimize various operational impacts and ensure smooth and sustainable management, we assess manufacturing management at seven overseas subsidiaries engaged in the resin compound business, one of the strengths of the Inabata Group. The assessment of manufacturing management is divided into three parts: production infrastructure, operations management, and cost improvement. Production infrastructure includes safety and sanitary management, disaster prevention, health management, and the environment. The aim of the assessment is to achieve a workplace where safety is the top priority and fulfill our obligations to employees and other stakeholders by properly managing the production infrastructure. Our factories use check sheets on criteria for health and safety management, disaster prevention, hazard prediction, safety rules, and other matters in factory operations to conduct self-assessments. The Plastics Compound Business Office at the Head Office also provides feedback assessment. These activities allow each subsidiary to identify the risks to their own company and to strengthen management in view of the identified risks, which leads to continuous improvement.

When new factories are built, we also assess the operations and working environment based on the same criteria with the aim of achieving workplaces where safety is the top priority.

Health and Productivity Management Declaration

In July 2022, we formulated the Health and Productivity Management Declaration.

Health and Productivity Management Promotion System

We have a health and productivity management promotion system in place, where the president is appointed chief health officer, the senior managing executive officer in charge of human resources is appointed to the post of health and productivity management promotion officer, and the Human Resources Office, the Medical Office, and Inabata Health Insurance Association work together. Also, the Employee Health Committee exchanges opinions and shares information with health and productivity management promotion members, and discusses health and productivity measures with employees, as needed.

Goals of Health and Productivity Management

Based on the Inabata mission of love (ai) and respect (kei) for people, we believe that the mental and physical health of employees is one of the most important issues for management. Employees, who create new value, are the greatest asset for the company, and whether everyone can fully demonstrate their abilities has a significant impact on sustainable growth at the company. Therefore, by identifying issues around employee health and promoting initiatives to solve them, we aim to become a corporation capable of sustainable growth where employees are healthy and energetic.

Our materiality also highlights “fostering and strengthening the human capital driving the value creation.”

• Sustainability at the Inabata Group：Materiality

Issues Facing Health and Productivity Management

Compared to the average for other companies in the same industry, we have more employees with abnormal findings in blood pressure, liver function, lipids, and blood sugar that may cause lifestyle diseases. Thus, we are focused on reducing the number of employees with such abnormal findings as much as possible. By doing so, we aim to prevent labor loss due to presenteeism or absenteeism*, and enable employees to perform to their full potential.

* Presenteeism is the phenomenon of employees who are present at work but do not improve their performance because of poor mental or physical health. Absenteeism is the phenomenon of employees unable to work due to poor mental or physical health, which includes arriving late, leaving early, being absent because they find work difficult, or taking leave.

Strategy Map

2023 Certified Health & Productivity Management Outstanding Organization

• Sustainability at the Inabata Group：External Evaluations

Mental Health

We recognize that the mental health of employees is important to the happiness and well-being of employees and their families, to creating a vibrant workplace, and to improving productivity. As well as addressing poor mental health, we work to promote health in a broad sense, including stimulating communication in the workplace, based on our mental health development plan.

All employees undergo stress checks every year. The main aim is to measure the degree of stress among employees, encourage them to be aware of their own stress, and prevent poor mental health. When employees are found to have high levels of stress, we urge them to consult the industrial physician, while also carrying out organizational diagnoses and feeding the results back to the workplace to improve the workplace environment.

To ensure that employees feel comfortable to consult whenever necessary, industrial physicians and nurses at in-house medical offices can provide detailed support through in-house consultations. Employees are also kept informed of the consultation service.

In addition, we provide mental health training for all employees and supervisors.

Checkups for Computer-Related Health Problems

Since many employees use computers or other IT equipment during working hours, we screen all Japan-based regular and nonregular employees for health issues related to IT equipment.

Once all employees have submitted their medical questionnaires, the industrial physician identifies employees requiring further examination. After examining those employees for physical and mental fatigue based on interviews, visual and palpation examination, and visual performance and musculoskeletal system tests, the physician provides health management and guidance. Individuals seconded from other companies, temporary workers, and employees who have not been contacted by the industrial physician may also undergo the examinations if they so wish.

Infectious Disease Control: Health and Safety of Expatriates

As a corporation with many overseas offices, the Inabata Group recognizes the importance of responding to global health issues including tuberculosis, malaria, and HIV/AIDS. Since there are many common infectious diseases overseas, we recommend that employees take precautions when they are overseas and get inoculated before leaving Japan. Employees posted overseas and their accompanying family members receive medical checkups and the required vaccinations before traveling. As well as suggesting recommended inoculations, we also advise employees to check the latest information about their destinations released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Quarantine Information Office at the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, and other agencies, and to receive the necessary vaccinations. All inoculation costs are covered by the company. Employees posted overseas and their accompanying family members must have medical checkups once every year. The results of the checkups for employees posted overseas must be submitted to the industrial physician for health management reasons.

When employees are posted overseas, we provide pre-departure training on safety measures, health management, and medical care.

Healthy and Safety Training

We provide training on health and safety, including stress checks and e-learning-based driver safety training.

• Sustainability Data：social：Occupational health and safety

Occurrences of Occupational Accidents

We disclose occurrences of occupational accidents at Inabata Co., Ltd. and the seven overseas resin compound manufacturing business bases. Specific items we disclose are the number of work-related employee fatalities, number of work-related contractor fatalities, lost-time injury frequency rate, and lost-time injury severity rate.

• Sustainability Data：social：Occupational health and safety