Occupational Safety and Health
SIR Group Safety and Health Management Structures aim to prevent occupational accidents and maintain and promote the good health of Group employees, affiliates, and business operators who enter the Group’s premises on a temporary basis and also clarify responsibilities relating to safety and health in the SIR Group and stipulate fundamental matters in the Group Safety and Health Management Rules.
Basic Matters
- Group’s safety and health promotion plan
- Provision of information and guidance about safety and health operations to Group companies, management of operations, and reporting of occupational injuries that have occurred
- Safety and health management operations of worksite in Vientam and overseas
In worksites in Vietnam and other countries, the head of each worksite with responsibilities and authority serves as the safety and health manager, exercising the overall management of safety and health operations and establishing the safety and health management structure.
In Vietnam, the heads of mills and other worksites who undertake the overall management of worksites have been appointed as the general safety and health manager regardless of the scale and industry prescribed in the Industrial Safety and Health Act.
Safety and Health Policies and Targets
Under the policies of "thorough compliance, safety, and the environment are the foundation of our corporate activities" and "the basic principle of absolute safety priority," the SIR Group stipulates occupational safety and health in the SIR Group Corporate Code of Conduct and the SIR Group Behavior Standard. We secure the safety and health of workers by ensuring that every Group employee is aware of these rules and standards on occupational safety and health, practices them, and complies with them. At the same time, we promote the creation of comfortable worksite environments and strive to create better worksite safety climates so that all workers in the SIR Group can work in a safe environment and with a sense of security.
SIR Group’s Safety and Health Promotion Plan
Every year, the SIR Group formulates the Group’s safety and health promotion plan based on the safety results and reflections of the previous year and distributes it to Group companies.
Based on the plan, each Group company formulates its safety and health promotion plan and specific action plans for each company and business site and promotes activities aimed at eliminating industrial accidents in cooperation with not only Group employees but also contractors/contractors who enter facilities temporarily.
Basic policies
- The SIR Group will promote activities with the target of zero work-related accidents across the entire Group with safety as its absolute top priority.
Slogan
- Always Follow the Main Principles for Safety and the Safety Rules and Ensure that Others Follow Them to Prevent Fatal and Serious Accidents
Key Targets
- To achieve the zero fatal and serious work related accidents
Distribution of Safety and Health Information and Occupational Accident Reports
The SIR Groups Safety Administration Department provides the Group companies with safety and health information, including the Group’s safety and health promotion plan and notices and guidelines on safety and health.
We have built a structure that ensures that a serious injury, death, or accident reported by news media will be reported to the management immediately after its occurrence and handled appropriately in accordance with the Group Emergency Response Regulations.
In the event of an occupational injury (resulting in one or more lost work days), a Report on Occurrence of an Occupational Injury with Temporary Incapacity for Work is submitted to the Safety Administration Department within three days after the occurrence. The department confirms basic information about how and why the accident occurred and how to prevent it, and then provides the information to domestic and overseas Group companies to share the information and issue instructions to prevent similar accidents in the overall Group.
Further, where an accident has occurred at a Group company in Japan, how and why it occurred is studied and analyzed, measures for preventing its recurrence and horizontal deployment are discussed and implemented, and a Report on Occurrence of an Occupational Injury with Temporary Incapacity for Work.
Employee Participation
Occupational safety and health committees, worksite safety and health meetings, and worksite discussions
At each domestic worksite, occupational safety and health committees are established in accordance with legal provisions. Under these committees, safety and health activities are carried out through labor-management cooperation by formulating plans to prevent occupational accidents and health impairment, creating a comfortable working environment, formulating a plan for maintaining and promoting good health, and having discussions to confirm and improve initiatives taken under the plan and other relevant issues. We also create opportunities to receive opinions from many employees, including safety and health meetings and gatherings, which are held at each worksite.
At worksites where the establishment of a safety and health committee is not required by law, we also hold a safety and health meeting, a gathering, or a similar event on a monthly basis to receive opinions about safety and health from employees. In addition, because it is essential for all employees to work together with the cooperative associations (onsite contractors) in safety and health activities to create an open workplace environment, SIR Group companies and workplaces in Vietnam mutually attend and jointly hold safety and health meetings with the cooperative associations, and hold safety and health meetings that include non-regular employees and temporary employees. Online meetings are also being promoted to prevent new coronavirus infection.
At overseas companies and workplaces, we promote the establishment of safety and health committees and safety and health management at each workplace in accordance with the laws and regulations of each country and locality. In addition, we have introduced a safety and health meeting, a gathering for talking about safety and health, or a similar session at each worksite to listen to employees’ opinions about safety and health.
Occupational Safety and Health Management Systems
In Vientam, Other domestic Group companies also carry out safety and health activities based on the occupational safety and health management system, including the announcement of the safety and health policy, the reflection of workers’ opinions, setting and implementing the safety and health policy, safety and health targets, and safety and health plan, as well as daily inspections and improvements.
Overseas Group companies have also built and operate occupational safety and health management systems that are recommended by an organization that oversees occupational safety and health in each country, or engage in similar safety and health activities.
Risk Assessment
We have set "promotion of equipment safety" as a priority measure in our group health and safety promotion plan, and have decided to actively conduct risk assessments with the participation of all employees, and to prevent accidents by implementing specific safety measures for which the top management and supervisors of business units and workplaces are responsible.
We have focused our risk assessment efforts on the following (1) safety measures for work near rotating parts, (2) measures to prevent crashes and falls when working at heights and from roofs, (3) measures to prevent contact with transport vehicles, heavy cargo handling equipment, and heavy lifting equipment, and (4) safety measures for conveyors, balers, and pulpers, and measures against exposure to liquid.
In addition, we have taken concrete measures that are effective in preventing recurrence and similar accidents by implementing specific measures that are effective in preventing repetitive accidents, such as intrinsic safety and engineering measures.
Safety Audits and Safety Patrols
Safety Audits and Safety Patrols
The SIR Groups Safety Administration Department and the safety departments of each COMPANY and Lead Company conduct safety audits and safety patrols of the companies and worksites that they oversee including overseas companies and worksites to raise safety and health management levels. As a new initiative, we started fixed-point observation in enhanced safety patrol. In addition, we are actively improving the safety of machines and equipment.
Designated system for special guidance on enterprise safety management
The SIR Groups Safety Administration Department and the safety departments of each COMPANY and Lead Company established the Designated System for Special Guidance on Enterprise Safety Management. Under this system, companies and worksites at which improvements in safety management are deemed necessary such as those where occupational accidents resulting in a serious injury or death or resulting in a temporary incapacity for work have occurred repeatedly within a short period of time are designated as worksites needing special guidance on enterprise safety management. Inspections are conducted and guidance is provided, not only regarding measures for preventing recurrence but also about safety management systems, improvement plans, the status of activities, and other matters, to improve the safety management level at each designated worksite.
The SIR Groups Safety Administration Department and the safety departments of each internal division/lead company share information and work together to prevent accidents.
On-site accident investigation
The SIR Groups Safety Administration Department and the safety departments of each COMPANY and Lead Company immediately visit worksites where accidents occurred to confirm how and why the accident occurred and countermeasures and also conduct thorough confirmation and hold discussions with worksite executives and worksite managers regarding measures for preventing the recurrence of accidents and daily safety management activities, thereby providing guidance aimed at improving the safety management activities of and creating a better work safety climate at the worksite as a whole.