Health and Safety

We strive to maintain and advance the health of each employee and promote the development of comfortable workplace environments that ensure the health and safety of workers.

Health Promotion

To maintain and enhance the health of employees, all employees undergo periodic health examinations. Employees requiring subsequent attention are thoroughly followed up on by industrial physicians, including guidance on lifestyle improvements and recommendations for specific medical examinations. We also provide specific health checkups, specific health guidance, special medical examinations (conducted at research institutes, etc.), and encourage employees to undergo dental checkups and gynecological checkups as appropriate. We also actively encourage employees and their families to undergo examinations for lifestyle-related diseases. In fiscal 2021, 68.8% of employees' spouses and other family members underwent these examinations.
In recent years, we have introduced a health app with the aim of visualizing health issues across the organization while also helping each employee gain greater awareness of their health and make improvements to their lifestyles. We are also focusing on activities to encourage smokers to quit. From fiscal 2020 we prohibited smoking on all Company premises.
In fiscal 2021, the smoking rate had fallen to 9.6%. Going forward, we will continue efforts to reduce the number of smokers, aiming for a target of zero. As a member of the health-related industry, we will continuously and vigorously implement policies to promote health and support employees who are trying to quit the habit.

Smoking rate

Mental Healthcare

We have established a site on the Company intranet exclusively for providing mental health information and, through an outside counseling company and multiple in-house hotlines, have created an environment where any employee can undergo consultation at any time.
We also conduct yearly employee stress checks and have maintained a high response rate above 97%. We recommend that employees dealing with high levels of stress conduct interviews with industrial physicians, and work to prevent mental health issues by having a program in place at each workplace that leads to swift improvements when an issue arises based on organizational analysis results. In addition, to create pleasant working environments, we are conducting organized efforts in collaboration with the PERSONNEL division to strengthen time management to cut down on long working hours at each workplace and to raise productivity.

Response to COVID-19

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have taken steps to ensure the safety of employees and prevent the spread of infections.
We have endeavored to monitor the health of employees, had employees who may be infected take PCR tests, and prevented infections from spreading inside the Company.
In addition to ensuring temperature checks of employees as well as customer and business partners that visit Company premises, we have placed liquid antiseptic in various locations and used thorough alcohol-based sterilization. Particularly under state-of-emergency conditions, in the interests of health and safety we reduced the work attendance rate by recommending that employees work from home, instituted staggered work attendance, had employees commute in their own vehicles and took other necessary measures. In addition, we adopted a workstyle that took other circumstances into account, such as temporary closures of schools attended by the children of employees, and worked to curb infection risks.
We also conducted workplace vaccinations in an effort to increase the vaccination rate among employees.

Recognition as an Outstanding Health & Productivity Management Organization

In March 2023, Taisho Pharmaceutical was certified as an Outstanding Health & Productivity Management Organization for 2023 under the health & productivity management certification schedule run by the Nippon Kenko Kaigi.
We also survey our employees on health and implement health initiatives guided by employee perspectives.

Occupational Health and Safety Initiatives

To develop an environment in which employees can work safety and in good health, (Safety and) Health Committee meetings which comprise personnel-related divisions, industrial physicians, (health insurance association) and the labor union are held. At the committee meetings, various matters are investigated and discussed, including workplace inspections, reducing overtime work, encouraging employees to take paid leave, and measures to prevent infections.
In this way labor and management work together to ensure the health and safety of employees while preventing occupational accidents.

Management Process to Identify Work-related Dangers

In production divisions where risks during work are particularly high, we conduct risk assessments for work that may be dangerous or harmful and thus lead to an occupational accident or health issue as part of activities to manage work-related risks. We identify components of work that are hazardous or harmful such as areas of machinery, equipment and chemical substances, and implement measures to eliminate or at least minimize them.
Managers and workers regularly patrol the workplace, point out dangers and hazardous conditions, and take steps to improve the situation. We also collect and analyze information on near-miss incidents submitted by workers and conduct measures to prevent occupational accidents before they occur and to prevent reoccurrence.
In order to keep the work environment in good condition and avert workers' health problems, we measure the work environment and make improvements to ensure a comfortable setting based on the findings. We ensure worker safety by making sure each person wears the appropriate protective gear depending on the work environment through strict management. In addition, workers engaged in specific operations and handling harmful substances undergo the necessary health examinations periodically as part of our health management program.
In the event of an occupational accident, we conduct an investigation and analyze factors using a 4M (Man, Machine, Media, Management) approach to determine the root cause so that we can take the appropriate amelioration steps.

Elimination of Traffic Accidents

We are continually aware that efforts to ensure safe driving and eliminate traffic accidents are a not just the responsibility of a member of a company but a responsibility to society. Accordingly, we conduct education and training for the operators of cars and other vehicles to not just impart driving skills but also enhance their awareness of safety.
In addition to the awareness-raising activities we have implemented to date, the introduction of sales vehicles fully equipped with safety features has led to a downward trend in the number of accidents.
We will continue to make vigorous efforts to eliminate traffic accidents.

Considering Employee Safety During a Disaster

We also consider the safety of our employees in relation to sudden natural disasters.
As a part of these efforts, we have introduced a system that enables us to quickly confirm the safety of employees when a disaster such as an earthquake strikes.
We also recognize that arrangements and preparedness at all times are an important part of disaster response, and conduct awareness-raising activities for employees under normal circumstances.