Occupational Safety and Health | Sustainability

Policy and Basic Mindset

Basic Approach to Occupational Safety and Health Initiatives

The UBE Group strives to continue preventing occupational accidents by making operations inherently safe. The Group’s efforts are designed to foster a safety-driven corporate culture and to reduce risks by enhancing safety initiatives and making continuous improvements. In the area of occupational health, each business site establishes an occupational safety and health management system to maintain and improve corporate activities. The UBE Group also endeavors to ensure the mental and physical health of employees by improving lifestyle habits through health checkups and follow-up care as well as various measures such as mental health consultations.

Management System

We promote occupational safety and health activities under the Environment and Safety Promotion System as part of our responsible care activities.

Structure of Environment and Safety-Related Meetings

Targets and Performance

Eliminating Major Occupational Accidents

We have undertaken a range of activities to prevent occupational accidents. In recent years, we have positioned eliminating major occupational accidents as a priority item. We are therefore particularly focused on preventing accidents involving serious injuries.

Specifically, we conduct risk assessments of work that is highly susceptible to serious accidents by taking the characteristics of each workplace into account. Any risk identified through these assessments is robustly addressed as we implement systematic risk reduction measures and endeavor to make operations inherently safe. Other priority items include collaborating closely with partner companies* in safety activities and providing education and training aimed at enhancing safety awareness in order to ensure that safety activities undertaken by partner companies are on par with those undertaken by the UBE Group. Furthermore, we investigate the causes of all incidents regardless of whether or not such events result in lost time. And, based on lessons learned from these incidents and the success of countermeasures implemented, we horizontally roll out amendments within the Group, striving to prevent similar incidents.

*Partner companies: Including subcontractors like those who take on construction work.

Number of Fatal and Lost Time Accidents among Domestic Operations
Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate

Measures to Prevent Occupational Accidents

	Goals	Activities	Status and History of Initiatives
1. Setting occupational accident-related benchmarks	Prevent occupational accidents	Establish numerical goals	Fiscal 2023 target: Safety score of 280 or less (Grade B or above) Fiscal 2023 results: Safety score of 555 (Grade D or above)
2. Use of occupational accident information	Prevent similar accidents	Create occupational accident information database and publish it on intranet	We are using information on occupational accidents at each business site as important data sources for facilities and operational risk assessments.
3. Audits and inspections	Drive ongoing improvements at business sites and Group companies Improve weak areas Enhance safety levels	(1) Audits Audits conducted by the Head Office and business site environmental safety personnel Quantitative evaluation of business sites and Group companies in line with checklists and feedback	History of improvement activities inspired by audits and inspections Fiscal 2016: Begin assessments based on eight elements of a safety-driven culture, namely, governance, commitment, resource management, work management, motivation, learning, awareness, and communication Fiscal 2022: Initiated audits and inspections targeting Group companies, including those handling chemicals Business sites: Ube Chemical Factory, Sakai Factory, Ube Electronic and Industrial Materials Factory, R&D Division (Ube), and Future Tech Laboratory Group companies: UBE Elastomer Co. Ltd. Chiba Factory, Ube Exsymo Co., Ltd. Gifu Factory and Fukushima Factory, Ube Film, Ltd., UBE Hydrogen Peroxide, Ltd., UBE Scientific Analysis Laboratory, Inc., and UBE Machinery Corporation, Ltd. Fiscal 2023: Conducted special audits and inspections of Ube Steel Co., Ltd.
3. Audits and inspections		(2) Inspections Members of the president chaired inspection committee visit business sites Confirming results of audit and activity achievements and conveying reviews	Main themes for inspections Fiscal 2022: Clarify a fundamental rule of “Prioritize safety in everything we do” and thoroughly implement it Fiscal 2023: Ensure that the above rule is upheld throughout the workforce
4. Safety and health rallies	Share information Encourage activities	Annual UBE Group health and safety rallies participants: Approximately 300 people (the President and other Group executives as well as employees, including online) participating	Zero accident efforts and resolutions to enhance workplace environments Recognition by the president (to entities and individuals for outstanding contributions to health and safety) Small safety team presentations on experiences Special lectures from outside instructors on safety and health management Reciting safety goals after rallies

Note:Safety score = (Frequency rate of lost time accidents×500＋Frequency rate of without lost time accidents×100): Grade range A: 0 to 140, B: 140 over to 280, C: 280 over to 490, D: 490 over to 700, E: 700 over

Initiatives

Initiatives Toward Preventing Occupational Accidents

Fostering a Safety-Driven Corporate Culture

The UBE Group upholds a fundamental rule of “Prioritize safety in everything we do” and considers fostering a safety-driven corporate culture as the basis for its safety activities. To this end, we have defined eight elements of such a culture. These are governance, commitment, resource management, work management, motivation, learning, awareness, and communication. In keeping with the findings of assessments based on headquarters’ evaluation standards, business sites identify issues and formulate and execute plans to cultivate a culture of safety as part of ongoing improvement efforts.

Health and Safety Initiatives

UBE Group Safety and Health Rally

The UBE Group holds a safety and health rally every year. About 300 UBE Group officers and employees as well as business partners from across Japan participate, sharing information and fostering motivation. In addition, individuals and groups that have made particularly outstanding contributions to safety and health receive recognition from the company president. The event also features presentations from small safety groups on their experiences and special lectures from outside instructors about safety and health management, helping to raise safety awareness.

At the end of each rally, all participants, including officers, join together in reciting the Group’s safety pledge, renewing their commitment to eliminating accidents and improving work environments.

Occupational Safety and Health Council

This is a forum in which representatives of the Companywide union and UBE’s occupational safety and health officers gather to review annual occupational safety and health results and plans for the new fiscal year and discuss requests from both sides. Participants share prevailing issues and discuss ways to address them. We reflect forum results in the following year’s plans. Many major accidents have occurred among subcontractors. Labor representatives and management recognize the importance of coordinating better with those firms. Our annual plans accordingly include measures to foster safety activities with subcontractors.

Labor-Management Councils

Following Occupational Health and Safety Council discussions with Companywide union representatives, regional business sites convene gatherings to discuss local union and management requests.

Initiatives for Health Management

Health management initiatives at UBE

Social Occupational Safety and Health