Safety (General)
Measures for the Safety of Employees and Local Communities
Eliminating Accidents and Disasters
To ensure safe operations, we have been striving to maintain and improve the level of our facility management, production technology, human resource development, and environmental conservation. The foundation of these efforts is our “safety culture.” Safety culture is a safety-first climate that prevails throughout an organization from top management to each on-site worker. At the JSR Group, in order to build a more solid safety culture, it is assured that every employee shares the principle that safety takes priority over production and conducts safety activities on a daily basis to enhance the level of safety. In FY2014, however, a number of accidents occurred, causing injury to JSR employees and manufacturing partner employees, resulting in absence from work. We will review existing safety activities and identify and solve outstanding issues, and reconstruct a safety culture in which all concerned personnel including top management share the same safety principles, and in which safety is incorporated into all of our business practices.
Employees from various manufacturing partners work at our plants. Each plant has a Comprehensive Disaster Prevention Council (Disaster Prevention Council) to jointly promote occupational safety and health activities with our manufacturing partners. These organizations conduct various activities to increase safety and health levels, including investigating the causes of accidents that occur at manufacturing partners and devising preventive measures, providing instruction and education on day-to-day safety and health, and implementing joint inspections of workplaces when construction is underway.
We also have established a safety award system (the Kawasaki Commemorative Safety Award) that includes group companies to raise workers' awareness of safety.
(Accidents Resulting in Lost Work Time)
Frequency = (Death or injuries in Industrial accidents resulting in absence from work/Total working hours for all employees) x 1 million
An award ceremony for the KawasakiCommemorative Safety Award
Number of Labor Accidents (Employees)
The table below shows the number of labor accidents that occurred over the last five years. There were three accidents in FY2014.
No. of Labor Accidents| FY | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. of Cases | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
Data on Disasters at Facilities
The table below shows the number of facility accidents that took place in the last five years. There were two accidents in FY2014.
Number of Incidents(Number of accidents reported to authorities in accordance with the Act on the Prevention of Disasters in Petroleum Industrial Complexes and Other Petroleum Facilities)
| FY | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. of Cases | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Accident Summary
■ FY2010(1) A minor fire caused by electrostatic discharge during solvent sampling at the Yokkaichi Plant’s solution polymerization synthetic rubber facility
The cause of the fire was electrostatic discharge on spouting liquid. The fire was extinguished immediately with fire extinguishers and there were neither injuries nor any impact on production.
(1) A minor fire caused by electrostatic discharge, which broke out from the drain valve of an isoprene transfer pump at the Kashima Plant
The cause of the fire was electrostatic discharge on spouting liquid. The fire was extinguished immediately with fire extinguishers, but one worker sustained minor burns to the face.
(2) A fire at the Yokkaichi Plant’s emulsion polymerization synthetic rubber facility’s drying site
It is estimated that the fire broke out from aged polycarbonate fences which had been installed as a countermeasure against odors. The fire was extinguished by our own fire brigade as well as public fire-fighters, and fortunately there were no injuries.
(1) A minor fire at the Kashima Plant’s butadiene production facility
The cause of the fire was spontaneous ignition of a lubricant-soaked waste cloth temporarily placed near a heat source. The fire was extinguished immediately using fire extinguishers, with no external impact or injuries noted.
(2) Gas leakage at the Yokkaichi Plant’s rocket fuel interim product manufacturing facility
The cause of the leakage was poorly-controlled tightening of a gasket that maintains airtightness at the tank connection. The leakage was immediately reported to public fire-fighters and properly treated. There was no external impact or injuries.
Acquisition of Certification by Plants and Operators
In the spirit of our Responsible Care philosophy, we strive to help our plants and operators acquire certification under various security and safety laws. This enables plants and operators to create higher quality health and safety management systems in addition to clarifying their responsibilities and rights. As a result, certification plays an important role in improving safety technologies. At JSR, all plants have acquired plant and operator certification under the High-Pressure Gas Safety Act, Fire and Disaster Management Act, and Industrial Safety and Health Act. We will continue to maintain certifications with the aim of improving our environmental and safety standards.
Risk Communication*1 Initiatives
As part of our Responsible Care activities, we have issued a Responsible Care Report every year since 1998, taking the initiative on the disclosure of information related to environmental impact, environmental complaints, number of facility accidents, discharge and transfer volumes of harmful chemical substances, and other data. For the 2006 edition, the name of this report was changed to "CSR Report" to reflect increasing activity in the JSR Group to fulfill our corporate social responsibility. Since 2000, all three of our plants have been issuing their own Responsible Care reports. The report from our head office and all business site reports can be viewed on our website.
JSR strives to improve communication with local communities by conducting a variety of initiatives, including tours of factory facilities for local residents’ association and participation in government-hosted town meetings on the environment.
*1 Here, risk communication refers to achieving a mutual understanding of the risks associated with certain chemical substances by sharing information with stakeholders and discussing measures to properly manage such substances
Participation in the Japan Safety Competency Center
In order to maintain and enhance their safety competency, 19 petrochemical companies, including JSR, established the Japan Safety Competency Center in April 2013 in response to a proposal from the Japan Society for Safety Engineering (JSSE). The members of the center, who are active engineers sent from each company, developed a Safety Competency Evaluation System that visualizes the level of safety measures taken. The system can be used to evaluate the safety level of each business site on five scales from the viewpoint of “safety infrastructure” and “safety culture”.
And this system will contribute to improving the Safety Competency of each site by clarifying their strengths and weaknesses, planning measures for improvements, and quantifying the level of improvements achieved.
In FY2014 based on the system, JSR Conducted a self-evaluation of the Yokkaichi Plant, which was its main plant. In FY2015 and onward, JSR will conduct the evaluation at other plants. We will act to improve Safety and Competency by organizing strengths, weaknesses and issues of safety system based on the evaluation results, planning and implementing specific measures.
Safety Assessment prior to the Start of Full-Fledged Production at
Overseas Group Companies
JSR conducts a preliminary safety assessment to ensure safety when a new plant is established or begins full-fledged operations at its overseas sites, as well as at business sites in Japan. In FY2014, JSR conducted an assessment (at the same level as its domestic assessments) of JSR BST Elastomer Co., Ltd. in Thailand prior to its full-fledged operation to ensure stable operation.
Response to the Action Plan for Industrial Safety
Five requirements for member companies were defined in The Action Plan for Industrial Safety by the Japan Petrochemical Industry Association in July 2013. (1) business owners’ commitment to industrial safety, (2) setting goals for industrial safety, (3) formulating a plan to implement measures for industrial safety, (4) investigation and assessment of the status of achieving the goals and progress regarding implementation of measures, and (5) initiatives to facilitate voluntary safety activities. We have taken actions for these requirements in our RC activities. Based on our Management Policies, we set goals and formulated implementation plans under the leadership of the RC Committee and checked on their progress with an environmental and safety audit conducted by Head Office staff. We also began using the Safety Competency Evaluation System in FY2014.
JSR Micro Taiwan Co., Ltd. (Taiwan)
Safety and health management
In October 2013, the company received recognition and an award from the Council of Labor Affairs (current Ministry of Labor), the Executive Yuan, as a FY2012 excellent company in the area of safety and health. This was the result of the company’s ongoing efforts toward safety and health such as introducing and promoting a safety and health system certified under the Taiwan Occupational Safety and Health Management System (TOSHMS) ahead of other companies, conducting a safety assessment prior to starting construction and engineering work, providing beginners’ training, and promoting both physical and mental health in each workplace. The company was one of only 19 selected from throughout Taiwan to receive the award.