Building Safe Workplaces

The Ajinomoto Group is striving to build safe workplaces and establish a culture of safety by putting in place an intra-group cooperation framework that makes use of the unique strengths of the members of the group. The group has established a cooperative framework in which it shares examples of useful initiatives and systematically develops preventive safety measures.

Safety management execution and promotion system

Targets for disaster prevention and occupational health and safety activities in fiscal 2009

In fiscal 2008, the Ajinomoto Group aimed to completely eliminate all serious occupational accidents. Ajinomoto Co., Inc. sponsored programs for danger prediction trainers and danger prediction training sessions focused on risk assessment. These programs and training sessions were held group-wide with the aim of fostering human resources that can effectively predict potentially dangerous situations. As are result, danger prediction activities were improved at each group company, and the implementation of various safety activities led to fewer accidents resulting in time off work in fiscal 2008 compared to the previous year. In fiscal 2009, the group will pursue further improvements with the goal of completely eradicating all serious occupational accidents.
At S.A. Ajinomoto OmniChem N.V. in Belgium, a tragic accident occurred in which one person died when a spark of static electricity caused organic solvent fumes to explode. The cause was thoroughly investigated and measures were taken to prevent a recurrence. Checks were undertaken throughout the entire Ajinomoto Group to confirm that the same risk did not exist elsewhere. A full-scale review of the standards for handling solvents was also conducted to ensure the prevention of similar accidents. Major accidents, including this one, tend to be relatively more common at facilities outside Japan. Accordingly, the group will expand its efforts in danger prediction initiatives to aggressively promote Japan's safety standards to sites outside the country.

FY2009 Ajinomoto Group “disaster prevention” and “occupational health and safety” target

Key target: “Zero” serious accident

Measures for safety

1. Line managers to carefully supervise each site, train workers and promote them to comply with regulations and rules
2. To implement risk assessment and ensure the safety of work environment
3. To predict potential risks beforehand, and risky actions
4. To prevent traffic accident by raising awareness for oneself and others

Measures for disaster prevention

1. To continue emergency training to take hold

Measures for occupational health

1. To promote improving mental and physical health on a self-care basis
2. Line managers to maintain and improve work environment

Frequency of accidents resulting in time off work

　Frequency = Number of deaths and injuries / Total actual working time x 1,000,000

Severity rate of accidents resulting in time off work

Severity rate = Number of lost work days / Total actual working time x 1,000

Group-wide safety slogan

The group-wide safety slogan (Click on the image to enlarge.)

In fiscal 2009, the Ajinomoto Group is undertaking occupational accident prevention activities under a common group-wide slogan in order to strengthen the coordination of these activities throughout the group. Initially proposed by the Ajinomoto Logistics Corporation's Administration Division, Safety Management Department, the fiscal 2009 slogan is “Safe work place, Continuous efforts. Depends upon you and me.”

Safety confirmation drill

Nearly all employees at a majority of company sites have been registered in the Safety Confirmation System¹, introduced two years ago by Ajinomoto Co., Inc. Safety drills have been performed using the system two or three times per year at each site. The safety of employees was quickly confirmed using the system when the Tohoku Branch experienced two actual earthquakes. The company is preparing an English version of the system for its international employees. The company is also considering using the system for emergencies other than earthquakes, such as influenza outbreaks. In the current fiscal year, the system will be tested and developed in drills under a variety of scenarios.
In addition, the company is continuing to employ its Emergency Earthquake Rapid Information Service at five sites. The service has also been linked to the elevators at Head Office, enabling the elevators to quickly stop at the nearest floor to prevent people from becoming trapped inside.