Occupational Health and Safety
Our Approach
SUBARU regards occupational health and safety as a critical management issue. Our Health and Safety Philosophy is “SUBARU makes health and safety the first priority in all our work,” and we have separately formulated the Basic Health and Safety Policy. Furthermore, each of SUBARU’s affiliated companies in Japan and overseas establishes their own occupational health and safety policies in line with their business details, regional characteristics, and local laws and regulations, and implements initiatives based on these policies. In addition, the SUBARU Group is also making effective use of hands-on training facilities to provide health and safety education not only to its own full-time and part-time employees, but also to temporary employees, employees of contractors and outsourcing companies working on our premises, employees involved in construction work on our premises, and employees of suppliers.
Basic Health and Safety Policy
With the aim of reducing industrial accidents, traffic accidents, diseases, and fires and other disasters to zero, every individual will strive to create a safe, comfortable workplace through efforts to improve facilities, environments, and work methods, and to enhance management and awareness, based on a shared recognition of the importance of health and safety.
Central Health and Safety Committee
Established April 2002
Management System
SUBARU established the Central Health and Safety Committee, which is composed of members from management (executive officer in charge of health and safety and the manager in charge of on-site health and safety) and from the labor union, with a view to protecting employees (including non-regular employees) and our affiliates from industrial accidents and illness and improving the working environment. The committee, which meets for deliberations three times a year, is chaired by an executive officer and its vice-chairperson is elected from the Company’s labor union’s membership. Its deliberations primarily include occupational safety, occupational health, traffic safety, and fire and disaster prevention.
At the committee’s first meeting, participants check the fiscal year’s activities, including the year’s Basic Health and Safety Policy. At its second meeting, the committee summarizes the first half of the year by quantifying items from each business site and shares actions for the second half. At the third meeting, the committee summarizes the fiscal year based on numerical data and discusses health and safety policies (occupational safety, occupational health, traffic safety, and fire and disaster prevention) for the following fiscal year.
As for affiliated companies and resident contractors on our premises under the control of the Site Health and Safety Committee, we provide them with related information as necessary for the promotion of their occupational health and safety activities. At the Gunma Plant, we also provide support for overseas occupational health and safety activities by initiating regular information sharing meetings on health and safety with Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc. and affiliated companies overseas.
Health and Safety Organization Chart
Initiatives
At the start of every fiscal year, SUBARU notifies managers and supervisors about the health and safety policies for the fiscal year via heads of each site through their respective Health and Safety Committees. This is so that all employees can share the health and safety activity targets and plans as a unified team and raise their awareness about the prevention of industrial accidents, road safety, and health management.
Prevention of Industrial Accidents
Wearing of the safety declaration badge
In order to elevate safety awareness among SUBARU employees, all employees of SUBARU and its affiliated companies wear the safety declaration badge, on which it is clearly stated, “I always check for safety before performing any action.”
Promoting the practice of pointing and calling
For the prevention of mistakes and human error, we urge employees at all our sites to practice pointing and calling at the crosswalks and other places on the premises as the basis for occupational health and safety, thereby raising their awareness about the importance of safe behaviors and increasing the accuracy of their safety checks.
Road Safety
In order to prevent employees from getting involved in any traffic accidents while working, commuting, or enjoying their private time, we are implementing a range of measures as follows:
- Conduct awareness-raising activity, including introducing the cases of past accidents and showing a video on road safety, before the start of a long vacation, targeting all employees of the Automotive Business and the Aerospace Company, many of whom commute by car.
- Organize a lecture by the chief of the local police station to improve employees’ driving manners.
- Provide new employees with hands-on education using training institutions.
- Conduct psychological driving aptitude tests and use a driving recorder to help employees recognize their driving habits.
Industrial Accidents
As for industrial accidents and close calls that happened at our sites and affiliated companies, we comply with the following rule for the prevention of similar incidents at the sites: the department that has faced the incident shall disclose related information to other departments on the premises and affiliated companies via the department in charge of health and safety at the site.
For FYE March 2022, we had 17 industrial accidents, of which four were lost-time accidents and none were fatal accidents. The accident frequency rate was 0.43. These figures were significantly greater than those from FYE March 2021, and given this, we are taking action toward stronger daily prevention. However, in some instances, a single mistake can trigger a minor accident that could lead to serious incidents. Therefore, we are striving to reduce the number of these accidents by establishing measures such as a Group-wide back-to-basics program (pointing and calling week). In addition, each of our sites has a full range of hands-on training facilities, and we also focus on health and safety education for regular employees as well as non-regular employees. Furthermore, we are working to strengthen our daily accident prevention activities. Our policy is to use analysis of accidents to enforce more rigorous rule compliance to standardized work across the Group, have workers wear appropriate protective gear, ensure appropriate signaling and callouts, and other “rigorous compliance to basic matters (back to basics).”
Reporting Line for Industrial Accidents
Occurrence of Work Related Accidents and Accident Frequency Rate (Non-consolidated)
MESSAGE: Aiming to provide employees with safe and comfortable workplaces
As the Secretariat of the Central Health and Safety Committee, the organization responsible for overseeing safety at SUBARU, I work in partnership with on-site safety coordinators and the Health Promotion Group. In our work, we foster health management measures along with occupational health and safety activities so that all employees and executives can work healthily, soundly, and vigorously, take on challenges, and achieve growth. We take these actions in the belief that the health of employees and their families is essential for all our business operations. SUBARU works with the relevant units within the Human Resources Department to support the physical and mental health of its employees as well as to build a healthy organization and promote flexible working styles, and more. By doing this, it creates the underpinnings of a more comfortable working environment necessary for greater employee engagement. Similarly, we promote health management initiatives for employees and executives of all of SUBARU’s affiliated companies in Japan and overseas, in accordance with the business domain of each company and regional characteristics. And so, we work every day to provide employees with safe and comfortable workplaces, with the constant mindset toward enabling them to cheerfully leave home for work and also cheerfully return home after work.
Safety Planning Coordinator, Human Resources Department,
Secretariat of the Central Health and Safety Committee