Safety, Industrial Hygiene

The Bridgestone Group refined the Bridgestone Safety Mission Statement in 2012, changing the wording to “Safety First, Always” and “At Bridgestone, we make safety a business value. Creating a safe working place is everyone’s responsibility.”

Along with refining the Group-wide guidelines for Safety, Health and Disaster Prevention activities, we established Bridgestone Safety Fundamental Activities:

(1) 3S : Select and Remove, Sort, Keep Clean
(2) KY : Finding hazards beforehand
(3) RA : Risk Assessment
(4) Safety Rules

Those activities are to be conducted by all employees in all workplaces. We have been challenging employees to understand objectives and expectations of the activities and asking them to proactively conduct these activities.

To promote Group-wide sustainability activities, Bridgestone created a structure comprising a global CSR management system, a regional CSR management system, and working groups (WGs) for each area of activity.
The global CSR management system prioritizes initiatives in areas pertaining to a variety of global issues, formulates global sustainability strategies, confirms the progress of activities in each area, reports to the Global EXCO,^*1 and confirms the in-house penetration of CSR activities conducted by the Global CSR Enhancement Committee (GCEC).

The Safety, Industrial Hygiene Working Group considers the most effective means to implement the Bridgestone Fundamental Safety Activities on a global basis. The WG has three task forces (Global Management Systems, Global Standards, and Benchmarks/KPI), and drafts global standards from each perspective. The GMP^*2 collects information on disasters and prevention related to health and safety and prepares a quarterly report that the WG utilizes for practical application.
During 2016, the Safety, Industrial Hygiene WG reviewed the scope to which the Bridgestone Safety Mission Statement and general regulations are applied to employees, contractors, and visitors and reported its findings at the GCEC.

The Bridgestone Group is establishing a network comprising the Safety, Disaster Prevention and Environmental Enhancement Division and its SBUs to share information on accidents and the prevention of similar accidents, and for determining issue resolution and action policies. To share policies and details of measures throughout the corporate group, we also hold meetings with health and safety-related personnel at Bridgestone Group companies to facilitate exchanges of opinion with business managers and the safety personnel at SBUs.

To discuss and deliberate substantial safety issues from a management perspective, Bridgestone corporate officers in charge of safety, disaster prevention, and quality cooperate with Human Resources and General Affairs and other divisions to promote health and safety activities throughout the entire Company, review issues, and confirm the implementation status of the Bridgestone Fundamental Safety Activities.

In addition, the Central Health and Safety Committee, the company-wide organization comprising representatives of both labor and management, proactively discusses issues to improve health and safety in the workplace.

Safety and health management organization at Bridgestone

The Bridgestone Group developed a Safety and Health Mid-term Management Plan that aimed for ideals to ensure safety and health and promotes specific policies in the areas of awareness, engineering and systems (management) to achieve those ideals.

In 2012, we formulated the Bridgestone Safety Fundamental Activities, which bring together our efforts to date and promotes Group-wide discussion and activities concerning the specific content of the mid-term safety and health plan.

Moreover, to facilitate accelerated adoption of strategies throughout the Group, we formulated and executed specific Group-wide strategies based on the Group Global Quality Management Activities.

The Bridgestone Group has been promoting the activities set forth in the Bridgestone Safety Fundamental Activities as standard safety activities for all of our workplaces. Under this approach, the basic safety activities are 3S (Select & Remove, Sort, Keep Clean), KY (Finding hazards beforehand), RA (Risk Assessment), and Safety Rules. All Bridgestone Group employees and workplaces are making constant efforts to implement these activities in a consistent manner.

In order to standardize the content of the activities in all of our workplaces, we have issued Activity Guidelines setting forth the specific items to implement and activities to promote in accordance with these guidelines. In addition, we have assigned instructors who are familiar with the Bridgestone Safety Fundamental Activities to each workplace to establish a structure facilitating the development and implementation of standard activities.

Bridgestone offers safety education in workplaces that is position-specific, including managers and supervisors, and aimed to heighten awareness for everyone in an effort to protect all employees and colleagues from serious injury. Bridgestone encourages proactive measures in which all staff members participate. Moving forward, the Bridgestone Group will continue its efforts to spread and establish these activities in the Group.

Employees engaged in Instructor Training

Training of Bridgestone (China) Investment Co., Ltd.

Training of Bridgestone Logistics Europe NV

To create safe workplaces, it is essential to foster safety awareness as a means of ensuring every employee adheres to applicable standards. The Bridgestone Group has been conducting Safety Consciousness Surveys since 2009. These surveys identify safety issues at each workplace through a questionnaire related to the occurrence of accidents, with the results used to make Group-wide improvements. In 2016, the survey was conducted at group company workplaces worldwide.

In addition, to enhance safety awareness, Bridgestone managers regularly visit worksites in Japan and overseas to discuss the importance of prioritizing safety. Going forward, we will continue these initiatives, with management taking a leading role to actively promote the Bridgestone Safety Fundamental Activities and foster safety consciousness in the workplace.

Work procedures and equipment that could lead to serious injury require reliable technical measures to prevent future incidents. Therefore, the Bridgestone Group is working to lower risk by pursuing safety from the equipment design stage and maintaining safety during equipment use. This includes store and warehouse equipment, as well as production equipment. These efforts include conducting risk assessments to identify risk and establish engineering controls or work procedures to reduce risk and potential for serious injury.

During 2016, we continued with efforts to assign and train safety engineers (SEs) as experts in equipment safety and conduct risk assessments. Based on the results, we are working to identify hazardous equipment and implement safety measures, giving priority to equipment with major injury risks. This effort includes both store and warehouse equipment. In addition to these measures, we have been re-appraising the hazard level of procedures and implementing the necessary safety measures through risk assessment (RA) activities associated with the Bridgestone Safety Fundamental Activities and constantly promoting the creation of safe workplaces.

Standard chart for evaluating the risk of equipment use

The majority of the Bridgestone Group’s production work sites use a checklist to assess the status of safety and health activities including legal compliance, while working to strengthen areas needing improvement.

Information on industrial accidents and fires that have occurred within the Group is shared along with information on the same kind of accidents at other companies in our industry and companies at large. Where necessary, we take measures to prevent similar accidents from occurring.

We are currently implementing and expanding safety and health management systems across the Bridgestone Group. These efforts ensure that the Bridgestone Safety Fundamental Activities function appropriately, and support ongoing improvements.

The Bridgestone Group has established Global Criteria for Occupational Injury to assess injuries occurring at Group production, distribution and sales facilities, as well as warehouses. In addition to compiling injury statistics on a quarterly basis, we put the results to use in preventing similar injuries.

During 2016, the number of work-related injuries was below the average Japanese manufacturing industry level in terms of frequency^*1 and below the average industry level in terms of severity^*2. During 2016, for all of Bridgestone Group's 190 production and logistics sites, there were 24 fatal or serious injuries (+3 instances compared to 2015), including fractures due to falls (at December 31, 2016).

Bridgestone will continue to promote safety activities centered on the Bridgestone Safety Fundamental Activities without compromise, deviation or exception, with the aim of reducing the number of serious accidents closer to zero.

Within the Bridgestone Group (with the exception of some Group companies) checklists are used to confirm the status of training, education and drill execution; work rule guide composition and abnormality data uptake and improvement action; daily and regular fire equipment testing; and other safety activities. By understanding the results of these evaluations and moving forward steadily with improvements, we can enhance our status.

We have created a Disaster Prevention Global Guideline based on previous incidents with primary focus on Disaster Prevention preparedness exercises, including incipient fire-fighting drills, and preventative inspections such as electrical wiring. We will strengthen fire prevention activities and strive to create safe and stress-free workplaces.
Additionally, we share information on fires that occur within the Group and the measures taken to prevent similar accidents.
We have designated September 8 as Bridgestone Group Disaster Prevention Day, and all of our workplaces now conduct disaster prevention drills every year on that day.

To instill in all Group employees the Bridgestone Safety Mission Statement of “Safety First, Always” from a disaster prevention perspective, the Global Disaster Prevention Center was established in Kodaira, Tokyo, located inside the Bridgestone in September 2015.

The Global Disaster Prevention Center engages in education and training to review the causes of unforgettable disaster prevention failures, such as the fire at the Bridgestone Tochigi Plant on September 8, 2003. Bridgestone conducts various types of training at the Global Disaster Prevention Center, including sessions that resonate with employees by telling stories about the fire disasters in the past, and sessions that demonstrate the danger of fire by allowing employees to experience the sensations of static electricity and dust explosions. Bridgestone also conducts training that leads to prevention and early detection of disasters using wreckage found in fire-devastated areas and model facilities. By introducing examples of fires that have occurred not only in Japan but also overseas, the center has established a hands-on learning environment for global disaster prevention training.

Bridgestone has continually enhanced the trainings provided at the Global Disaster Prevention Center. Sessions related to natural disasters were added on March 11, 2016, the anniversary of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, presenting the lessons learned from that disaster.

Our goal at Bridgestone is “To Maintain a Sound Labor Force and Create a Pleasant Workplace,” and we conduct our health management, including healthcare management, accordingly.

Regular Check-ups

In Japan, Bridgestone conducts regular and special health check-ups, as well as health exams, for employees working overseas as required under the Industrial Safety and Health Law. Employees facing health issues are given proper healthcare guidance, typically by resident industrial physicians at our Health Care Center.

In addition to having 12 industrial medicine specialists available at 12 sites nationwide, we hold an annual meeting in which all industrial physicians participate. We also have a full industrial health staff, including public health nurses, for handling special examinations and health insurance guidance.

Preventing Overwork

Bridgestone recognizes the need to prevent long hours at the office and unusual amounts of overtime or late-night work to prevent health risks caused by overwork. Bridgestone complies with the Labor Standards Act by working to reduce overtime and encouraging employees to use their annual holiday leave. In 2016, the rate of employees taking annual paid leave was 75.5%, with an average of 15.1 days.

We also have a program requiring employees working more than a fixed number of hours to consult with industrial physicians to help maintain good health.

Total annual hours worked^* 2,060 hours (FY 2016)
Annual overtime hours worked 259 hours (FY 2016)

* Total annual hours worked = (Annual regular hours worked) + (Annual overtime hours worked) - (Annual paid holidays taken) - (Other holidays taken)

Thorough Smoking Area Enforcement

Bridgestone complies with the Health Promotion Act executed in Japan in May 2003 by thoroughly enforcing smoking in designated areas only. This policy applies to visitors.

Mental Health Efforts

In Japan, Bridgestone is concerned about the psychological and physical health of its employees. Industrial physicians and industrial medical staff serve as the core of Bridgestone’s mental health efforts, along with an external Employee Assistance Program (EAP). In line with Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare guidelines (covering self-care, consultation line care, on-site industrial medical staff care, and off-site care), we have established a mental health plan for each office.

In February 2016, Bridgestone was named a “Health and Productivity Brand” through joint selection by the Japan Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE).

Under this program, METI and TSE select and publicize outstanding enterprises listed on the TSE that focus on employee health from the viewpoint of management and undertake strategic initiatives. METI and TSE select and introduce investors to attractive enterprises that prioritize improvement in corporate value from a long-term perspective, and aim to make the program an incentive for more enterprises to undertake health and productivity management.

Bridgestone was selected under this program for the numerous measures it is undertaking to further employee health management, including efforts to prevent overwork, enhance mental healthcare and counter lifestyle diseases.

Bridgestone seeks transparency in its approach to evaluating occupational health efforts. We formulated a management status checklist based on our original standards concerning five areas of occupational health: overall management; health education; work environment management; work management; and health management.
Bridgestone introduced this checklist at factories and/or offices in 2010, extending it to Group companies in Japan in 2011, and conduct regular checks and make improvements, in an effort to establish and maintain the system. Going forward, we will further enhance health education, and continue activities to maintain and improve the system for compliance with regulations and standards for occupational health in the Bridgestone Group.