We implement various efforts at Olympus to prevent traffic accidents at regional sites where employees mainly commute by car and with company cars used in sales and services divisions. At our Nagano Facility, managers accompany new employees when they start commuting by car and provide guidance such as the hazardous points on the commuting route and checks of driving skills. In addition, at Nagano Facility, Shirakawa Facility, Aizu Olympus and Aomori Olympus, managers check the switch to studless winter tires in winter to make it sure to switch them. Further, Olympus sites participate in the safety rallies hosted by each prefecture’s Traffic Safety Association each year, which connects to the improvement of awareness of traffic safety.
In Sales and services divisions, telematics are installed on their company cars to improve drivers’ observance of traffic rules and driving manners.
Occupational Safety and Health
- Occupational Safety and Health
- Global Safety and Health Organization
- Occupational Injuries Data
- Regional Activities
Occupational Safety and Health
The Olympus Group has stated its policies on occupational safety and health and its basic approach to employee health management and the actions necessary to achieve them in the Olympus Global Code of Conduct.
Under the Code of Conduct, we are developing working environments that ensure safety and health for our employees.
Safe and Healthy Workplace
Occupational health and safety is a major priority. We take proactive steps to prevent accidents and occupational illnesses at work. We want our employees to work in an ergonomic and work-friendly environment. At Olympus, we promote good health and wellness.
What We Do:
- Use good judgment and act in a manner that is safe for you and others.
- Report safety concerns and work-related injuries or illnesses.
- Never joke about violence and report any violent threats or warning signs from others.
- Comply with applicable health and safety regulations.
Establishing the Environmental Health and Safety Policy to practice the Code of Conduct, we are developing working environments that ensure safety and health for our employees.
Environmental Health and Safety Policy
Promotion Structure and Initiatives
Global Safety and Health Organization
The Olympus Group is promoting a global safety and health organization, as shown below. Based on the Environmental Health and Safety Policy, we set out an annual EHS (Environmental, Health and Safety) action plan and disseminate it throughout our global sites. With the aim to comply with laws and regulation and to reduce risks of occupational safety and health, we are promoting various initiatives in each global site, as establishing health and safety management system, risk assessment, risk reduction activities, employee education and training, internal audits, workplace patrol, risk assessments by outside experts, and so forth.
In the FY2022, we had promoted safety and health activities with the goals of achieving zero serious accidents and reducing the lost time injuries ratio. We promoted measures to address priority risks at each site, including measures against single-edged razors in the Japan region, and strengthened employee education and training in all regions. As a result of these activities, we achieved zero serious accidents and lower lost time injury ratio, the same level as two years ago.
External Certification (Occupational Safety and Health Management Systems)
For the maintenance and continual improvement of our occupational safety and health management systems and to retain the trust of our customers and stakeholders, we are acquiring certification for our occupational safety and health management systems. In FY2022, sites that have already acquired certification maintained it, and Olympus Iberia S.A.U. and Olympus Scientific Solutions Americas Corp. completed the transition from OHSAS18001 to ISO45001.
| Sites | Certification | Year of Certification |
|---|---|---|
| Aizu Olympus | JISHA OSHMS Standards*1 | 2011 |
| Shirakawa Olympus | ISO 45001 | 2020 |
| Aomori Olympus | JISHA OSHMS Standards*1 | 2009 |
| Olympus Scientific Solutions Americas Corp. | ISO 45001 | 2021 |
| KeyMed (Medical & Industrial Equipment) Ltd. | ISO 45001 | 2020 |
| Olympus Iberia S.A.U. | ISO 45001 | 2021 |
| Olympus Trading (Shanghai) Limited | Certified as Safe Production Standardized Company | 2015 |
*1 JISHA OSHMS Standards Certification: Certification bodies certify sites that comply with the JISHA OSHMS Standards certification conducted by the Japan Industrial Safety & Health Association.
Occupational Injuries Data
The scope of the data on occupational injuries is as follows.
Japan: Olympus Corporation and its major Japan subsidiaries
Americas: Olympus Corporation of the Americas (regional headquarters) and its major subsidiaries
Europe: Olympus Europa SC & Co. KG (regional headquarters) and its major subsidiaries
Asia/Oceania: Major manufacturing sites
Number of Occupational Injuries*2
| FY2018 | FY2019 | FY2020 | FY2021 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | 64 | 50 | 56 | 37 | 23★ |
| Americas | - | 73 | 55 | 26 | 52★ |
| Europe | - | 84 | 20 | 63 | 49★ |
| Asia/Oceania | - | 19 | 10 | 19 | 17★ |
| Total | - | 226 | 141 | 145 | 141★ |
★ Indexes certified by external assurance.
*2 Total of lost time injuries and non-lost time injuries
Number of Lost Time Injuries
| FY2018 | FY2019 | FY2020 | FY2021 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | 10 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2★ |
| Americas | - | 37 | 20 | 4 | 12★ |
| Europe | - | 11- | 6 | 16 | 14★ |
| Asia/Oceania | - | 14 | 8 | 6 | 4★ |
| Total | - | 68 | 38 | 28 | 32★ |
★ Indexes certified by external assurance.
Lost Time Injuries (of one day or more) Frequency Rate*3 (LTIFR)
| FY2018 | FY2019 | FY2020 | FY2021 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | 0.34 | 0.20 | 0.13 | 0.08 | 0.08★ |
| Americas | - | 3.27 | 1.93 | 0.39 | 1.13★ |
| Europe | - | 1.97 | 1.07 | 2.04 | 1.86★ |
| Asia/Oceania | - | 1.34 | 0.77 | 0.62 | 0.72★ |
| Overall | - | 1.17 | 0.66 | 0.52 | 0.67★ |
| All industries (Japan)*4 | 1.66 | 1.83 | 1.80 | 1.95 | 2.09 |
| Manufacturing industry (Japan)*4 | 1.02 | 1.20 | 1.20 | 1.21 | 1.31 |
★ Indexes certified by external assurance.
*3 Lost time injury frequency rate = number of lost time accidents ÷ (number of employees for that fiscal term × work hours) × 1,000,000
*4 Survey on Industrial Accidents, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare
Occupational Illness Frequency Rate*5 (OIFR)
| FY2018 | FY2019 | FY2020 | FY2021 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | 0.07 | 0.07 | 0 | 0 | 0★ |
★ Indexes certified by external assurance.
*5 Occupational illness frequency rate = number of cases of occupational illness that result in lost time*6 ÷ (number of employees for that fiscal term × work hours) × 1,000,000
*6 Industrial accidents found in the list of occupational diseases of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (Appended Table 1-2 of the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Labor Standards Act (Ordinance of the Ministry of Health and Welfare No. 23 of August 30, 1947))
Number of Fatalities
| FY2018 | FY2019 | FY2020 | FY2021 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0★ |
| Americas | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0★ |
| Europe | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0★ |
| Asia/Oceania | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0★ |
| Total | - | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0★ |
★ Indexes certified by external assurance.
Employee Training
To raise employee awareness of safety and health, the Olympus Group implements a variety of safety and health training programs, led by the safety and health officers at each site.
| Category | Subjects | Contents |
|---|---|---|
| Basic training | New employees |
Basic training on safety and health at time of hiring of new employees (safety and health-related laws and regulations, internal management systems, rules, etc.)
|
| Subject employees |
Basic training on safety and health (safety and health-related laws and regulations, risk reduction measures, etc.)
|
|
Display Screen Equipment Training and Assessment
|
||
| Specialized training | Subject employees |
Hazard experience training through "Anzen Dojo" (Training Center) (Simulated experience of hazards that may occur in the workplace)
|
Training for hazardous materials handlers
|
||
Training on customs regulations when importing hazardous materials
|
||
| Safety and health promoters |
Training to improve the competence of safety and health patrollers (risk base audit procedures through virtual site tours)
|
|
Risk Assessment Training
|
||
| Internal auditors |
Internal Auditor Training
|
Regional Activities
Activities in Japan
In line with our Occupational Safety and Health Management Rules, we have established a Safety & Health Promotion Committee in Japan. The Committee consists of representatives of the safety & health promotion committees at each business site and plans activities that help to achieve our safety and health activity plan. Specifically, we are working on initiatives to improve our current safety and health management system, establish a risk management based on risk assessment and introduce more employee training and education to raise awareness.
Hazard Simulation Training
Occupational incidents occur when unsafe conditions in the workplace coincide with unsafe human behavior. Until now, the Olympus Group has focused on reducing hazards that were founded on unsafe conditions in the workplace. Our current training focuses on unsafe human behavior, a characteristic of our manufacturing sites at Aizu Olympus, Aomori Olympus, Shirakawa Olympus and Nagano Olympus. We provide training programs to experience simulated hazards such as slipping on slippery floors or electric shock using low frequency waves.
Skill improvement training for workplace patrollers
We provided online patrol skill improvement training by an external trainer for health officer and safety and health managers aimed at improving the quality of workplace patrols to reduce safety and health risks.
68 participants from sites in Japan attended this training and learnt patrol methods based on risk base audit procedures through a virtual site tour.
Elimination of hand-held work with single-edge razors in manufacturing processes (Aizu Olympus, Aomori Olympus)
Safety and Health Management Division and Manufacturing Division collaborated to implement efforts aimed at changing from holding single-edge razors to box knives, etc., and abolishing work holding single-edge razors by means of the preparation of jigs in order to make the use of knives in manufacturing processes safer.
As a result, it was possible to abolish 100% of work holding single-edge razors at Aizu Olympus and it has subsequently maintained zero occupational incidents due to single-edge razors.
Traffic safety efforts
Activities in Americas
Environmental safety and health training
(Olympus Corporation of the Americas)
Olympus Corporation of the Americas implements basic environmental safety and health training for all employees in October, every year. In FY2022, in addition to training on regulatory topics such as the safety of chemical substances and environmental management systems, the company strengthened the program to include content on ergonomics and the safe handling of heavy objects. In addition, from FY2022, it expanded the range of trainees from employees in the United States of America alone to employees in all regions of the Americas by implementing training online, and 4,705 employees participated in the program.
Activities in Europe
Maintenance of ISO 45001 certification and operation of the management system
(KeyMed (Medical & Industrial Equipment) Ltd.)
KeyMed (Medical & Industrial Equipment) Ltd. is maintaining the ISO 45001 certification acquired for all sites in January 2021 and operating its management system. In FY2022, the company is implementing training for risk assessors including hazard and risk assessments, and conducting activities to reduce accidents in the course of business. In combination, it is also providing training to improve the skills of internal auditors.
Transition to ISO 45001 certification
(Olympus Iberia S.A.U.)
Olympus Iberia S.A.U., formerly promoted occupational health and safety under OHSAS 18001 certification. The company completed the transition from OHSAS to ISO 45001 in March 2021. It will continue to maintain this certification from now on by receiving external audits on the sate of compliance with each article of the management system standards.
COVID-19 vaccination center
(Olympus Europa SE & Co. KG / Olympus Winter & Ibe GmbH.)
Olympus Europa SE & Co. KG, and Olympus Winter & Ibe GmbH established a COVID-19 vaccination center from June 2021 to ensure the safety of employees and customers and maintain business in Hamburg. To this point, about 3,000 employees, their families and partners have received vaccinations and boosters.
Activities in China
Renewal of certification as a manufacturing safety standardization company
(Olympus Trading (Shanghai) Limited)
Olympus Trading (Shanghai) Limited has developed a safety production management system that includes manufacturing safety, industrial health and workplace environment evaluations in compliance with the basic requirements of corporate safety production standards mandated by the Shanghai Emergency Management Bureau. The company has established a policy and targets for manufacturing safety, set up a committee, assigned detailed responsibilities and produced an emergency response manual, all aimed at putting top priority on safety, prevention and total management. It also organizes annual emergency response drills.
The company’s certification as a manufacturing safety standardization company was renewed in FY2022 in association with the establishment of a new base.
The company analyzes the risks and looks at case studies of manufacturing safety on a regular basis, at the same time working to improve employee awareness of manufacturing safety through a range of training programs.
Health and Safety Patrols & Firefighting & Evacuation Drills
(Olympus (Guangzhou) Industrial Co., Ltd.)
Olympus (GuangZhou) Industrial Co., Ltd. conducts a safety check twice a day to maintain a safe and healthy workplace. In addition, an extensive health and safety patrol takes place before holiday periods, such as for the foundation anniversary. The Company organizes annual firefighting & evacuation drills as part of its efforts to raise employee awareness of safety. This is aimed at raising coordination among firefighting organizations, upgrading leadership capabilities, improving the capabilities of firefighting team in evacuation, rescue and firefighting, as well as in improving employee awareness of firefighting and safety.
Promotion of Safe Driving
(Olympus (Guangzhou) Industrial Co., Ltd.)
Olympus (GuangZhou) Industrial Co., Ltd. forms teams of employees who implement efforts for the observance by each other of traffic safety rules, and carries out activities to prevent traffic accidents.
Activities in Asia/Oceania
Labor Safety Training and Near-Miss Activities
(Olympus Vietnam Co., Ltd.)
Olympus Vietnam Co., Ltd. (OVNC) provides labor safety training at least once a year based on Vietnamese regulations. Since OVNC has a large number of employees, up to about 5,000, it uses internal and external venues to hold training. In addition, OVNC is conducting near-miss activities gathering and analyzing information on near-misses that occur internally and making improvements to try and reduce risks in the workplace.
OVNC is committed to training and improving knowledge on occupational safety and health for employees to ensure compliance with the principles and rules of labor safety in the factory. To all people—support the criteria: "Safety comes first."
Emergency Drills and Chemical Substance Leak Response Drills
(Olympus Vietnam Co., Ltd.)
Olympus Vietnam Co., Ltd. (OVNC) conducts on-site drills for firefighters regularly each year in addition to inspections of firefighting equipment aimed at improving the skills of its internal firefighters. In addition, OVNC has also formed a chemical substance leak response team, holding on-site drills each year and making improvements to the response process.
