Sustainability

Security, Disaster Prevention, and Occupational Safety Activities

Following the principle of safety first in everything, the Teijin Group aims to realize zero disasters and zero accidents.

Security and Disaster Prevention Activities

System to promote disaster prevention management

The Teijin Group is engaged in disaster prevention management and has established Groupwide disaster prevention guidelines. For each fiscal year, we design plans based on these guidelines relating to preventative measures, such as disaster prevention assessment, fire prevention, and earthquake countermeasures, as well as planning and implementing initiatives including the strengthening of disaster prevention training and drills and upgrading of fire prevention equipment.

Each business unit / manufacturing site manages the implementation status and achievements of these disaster prevention activities and gives guidance to improve any areas of noncompliance. The results of this are then audited by the Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) at the end of each fiscal year.

Implementing disaster prevention assessments

The Teijin Group has been conducting disaster prevention diagnoses since 1980 and mini disaster prevention diagnoses since 2008 in line with our own independent standards.

In Teijin's aramid business, process safety management (PSM) has been introduced at Teijin Aramid affiliated chemical plants in Japan and Asia. In FY2022, we made efforts to introduce PSM at certain plants in the Resin & Plastic Processing Business Unit.

Disaster prevention diagnoses and PSM are used to assess safety every five years by experts in manufacturing, facilities, and ESH at a total of 15 plants globally. These are Teijin Group plants where large amounts of hazardous substances are handled.
In FY2022, disaster prevention diagnoses were conducted at two plants and PSM was implement at one plant.

Mini disaster prevention diagnoses mainly examine fire prevention, focusing on small-scale locations with a risk of fires, such as boilers and places where hazardous materials and combustibles are stored (25 factories). We conduct an examination every five years.
In FY2022, we carried out diagnoses at 20 risk areas in six factories.

Trends in the Number of Disaster Prevention-Assessed Plants

防災診断件数の推移

Other activities aimed at realizing zero serious accidents

To achieve our aim of zero "serious accidents," which we have defined as including explosions, fires, and external leakage/spills of hazardous substances, we are taking various measures to reinforce disaster prevention including disaster prevention diagnoses, training, and drills at our chemical plants and power plants.

In FY2022, there was a fire at the Delfzijl Plant of Teijin Aramid. Although there were no casualties from this fire, it did cause damage to the plant's equipment, which significantly impacted production activities.

Trends in the Number of Serious Accidents and Disaster

We are continuously taking various measures to reinforce disaster prevention, including disaster prevention diagnoses, training, and drills.

Trends in the Number of Serious Accidents and Disaster
  • *A serious accident refers to explosions or fire accidents, accidents involving leakage or outflow of hazardous materials or hazardous substances, which have caused human damage (lost-time injury accidents), or have affected the local community, or have involved full-scale company-external support.
  • * Figures are calculated based on calendar years

Fire prevention activities

Fire drill at Iwakuni Factory

Since 2008, November 10 has been the Teijin Group Fire Prevention Day. On this day, each Group company conducts its own fire prevention activities, as well as common activities for the whole Teijin Group, such as periodical fire prevention checks. These activities are shared Groupwide in order to strengthen the fire prevention system.

Disaster prevention training (evacuation drills)

Evacuation drill at Ibigawa Factory

Since the Great East Japan Earthquake struck on March 11, 2011, the Teijin Group has continued to implement evacuation drills assuming the outbreak of a natural disaster. After the drills, we hold review meetings and endeavor to improve our antiearthquake manual.

Training was carried out at plants and facilities in Japan in FY2022 as well (including tabletop exercises).

Occupational Safety Activities

Occupational safety promotion system

Current status of OHSAS management system certification

To reduce risk in the workplace, the Teijin Group encourages its manufacturing and processing sites to obtain occupational health and safety management system certification (the ISO 45001 and Standardization for Safe Production).

As of the end of March 2023, a total of 38 business sites and plants, comprising 70% of the total worksites recommended to acquire certification have acquired the occupational health and safety management system certification.

Japan
(11 companies, 17 factories)
Teijin (Iwakuni, Matsuyama, Mishima, Ibigawa, Mihara)
Teijin Frontier (Matsuyama, Ibigawa)
Unisel (Iwakuni)
Teijin Tedy (Matsuyama)
Hiroshima Plastic (Hiroshima)
Teijin Eco-Science (Matsuyama)
Teijin Pharma (Iwakuni)
Teijin Kosan (Ehime)
Toho Chemical Engineering & Construction (Mishima, Tokushima)
Toho Machinery (Tokushima)
Infocom West Japan (Matsuyama)
Overseas
(15 companies, 21 factories)
  • Netherlands: Teijin Aramid (Delfzijl, Arnhem, Emmen)
  • China: Teijin Chemicals Plastic Compounds (Shanghai), Teijin Polycarbonate China (Zhejiang), Nantong Teijin* (Nantong), N.I. TEIJIN AIRBAG FABRIC* (Nantong), Teijin Automotive Fabrics Finishing* (Nantong), Teijin Product Development China* (Nantong)
  • Thailand: Teijin Corporation (Thailand)(Ayutthaya), Thai Namsiri Intertex (Weaving: Chacheongsao, Dyeing: Samutprakarn), Teijin (Thailand)(Ayutthaya), Teijin Polyester (Thailand)(Pathumthani)
  • Germany: Teijin Carbon Europe (Heinsberg)
  • Spain: Esteve Teijin Healthcare (Castelldefels)
  • Portugal: Teijin Automotive Technologies Portugal (Leça do Balio, Palmela)
  • Czech Republic: Teijin Automotive Technologies Czech (Čejetice, Čejetičky, Milovice)
  • *Standardization for Safe Production

Occupational safety promotion activities

Promoting the three pillars of safety activities

In order to prevent occupational accidents, the Teijin Group has established three pillars of safety activities: the “5S” initiative (referring to the five Japanese words seiri, seiton, seiso, seiketsu, and shitsuke, which correspond to organization, tidiness, cleaning, hygiene, and discipline); the “Hiyari” or “Hatto” (meaning close call or near miss) initiative; and safety patrols. These activities from Japan are expanded as activities common to the Teijin Group including overseas Group companies.

Utilizing the information obtained through these activities, we aim to enhance individual awareness of risks and communication in the workplace in order to eliminate occupational accidents within the Teijin Group.

Teijin works to ensure employees’ safety in the workplace and improve its safety activities. To this end, it holds legally stipulated meetings, such as convening of the Health and Safety Committee, and shares information and holds discussions through its own original activities, such as convening of the ESH Promotion Committee.

Initiatives aimed at preventing lost-time injuries

Safety education using VR technology

In FY2022 (April 2022 through March 2023), there were two lost-time injury accidents related to rotors.

Prevention of entanglement in rotors (rotor-related accidents), which can cause serious injury, is addressed as a priority issue. We confirm in detail the conditions of occurrence and identify the causes from a variety of perspectives and strive to implement more specific and concrete measures to prevent reoccurrence.

Furthermore, in training seminars on machine safety, we are reinforcing awareness of the safety standards and approaches regarding measures to prevent accidents caused by rotors and implementing measures in line with these standards. As for equipment-centric countermeasures, we regularly confirm the status of machine safety promotion within our Group, including overseas locations, and aim to have safe equipment so that disaster can be avoided even in the case of human error.

In FY2023, with the aim of minimizing the occurrence of accidents caused by work or conduct, which have accounted for the majority of lost-time injury accidents, countermeasures utilizing virtual reality (VR) technology to raise hazard perception and enhance sensitivity to danger will be taken, along with awareness-building efforts to achieve safe behaviors based on the BBS (behavior-based safety) process. At the same time, we are focusing on measures targeting inexperienced workers with limited field experience, in particular, and roll out relevant measures in our overseas businesses.

Moreover, the Teijin Group receives and assesses reports on lost-time accidents of subcontracting companies that occur at Group business sites and supports/promotes initiatives by subcontracting companies to secure safety.

Groupwide sharing of occupational accident information and responses at the time of an accident

Information relating to all occupational accidents resulting in lost time due to injury that occur at Teijin group companies is distributed via an Intranet to enable these experiences to be used as a reference and to help prevent the recurrence of similar accidents.

In particular, if the circumstances and cause of the accident satisfy the requirements for a special audit as described in the ESH Audit Regulations, a special audit is performed either by the head office or the relevant business unit, depending on the details of the accident. Special audits check the status of onsite investigations to determine the cause of the accidents, the progress of recurrence prevention measures, and whether or not there are any points for improvement.

Through one of our business units, we will conduct a special audit of the rotor-related accident that occurred in FY2022 (April 2022 through March 2023) and implement thorough measures to prevent such an accident from reoccurring.

State of occurrence of occupational accidents

In 2022 (January-December), there were no occupational accidents resulting in the death of an employee or contractor employee.
(There have been no occupational accidents resulting in the death of an employee, including contractor employees, over the past five years.)

The frequency rate for all occupational accidents* in 2022 (January-December) was 1.35 (0.86 in Japan), meaning that we were not able to achieve our target of 1.0 or less.

  • *All occupational accident frequency rate indicates both lost-time injured persons and non-lost-time injured persons per one million working hours (figures are calculated based on calendar years). Includes full-time employees, fixed-term employees, part-time employees, and temporary employees. This rate has been assured independently since 2022.

Lost-Time Injury Frequency Rate and All Occupational Accident Frequency Rate

  • * Lost-time injury frequency rate indicates the number of lost-time injured persons per one million working hours (figures are calculated based on calendar years).
  • *All occupational accident frequency rate indicates both lost-time injured persons and non-lost-time injured persons per one million working hours (figures are calculated based on calendar years). Includes full-time employees, fixed-term employees, part-time employees, and temporary employees. This rate has been assured independently since 2022.
  • *Corrected the all occupational accident frequency rate for FY2021 in January 2024.