Rapidly Comprehending and Dealing with Occupational Injury

The Sumitomo Forestry Group operates Two-hour Rule system designed to quickly and accurately communicate information to management in the event of an emergency situation that may have a grave impact on company management. In addition to the regular reporting line, it utilizes communication via the division responsible for risk management. Through this system, management can take the best decision speedily, ensuring an initial response which avoids loss and controls the situation. Moreover, it serves a role in collecting and accumulating reported cases and assists in improved business practice and prevention of recurrence.

Furthermore, the structure is organized so that, by sharing information with the public relations departments, important situations are disclosed to stakeholders properly and in a timely manner.

Serious occupational injuries are reported and managed through case reports on risk manifestations at monthly meetings of the Board of Executive Officers, as well as at quarterly meetings of the ESG Sustainability Committee and Risk Management Committee.

Countermeasures against Heatstroke

Since 2022, we have been introducing heat prevention watches on a trial basis for employees working at housing construction sites and forests in Japan. When a wearer's core body temperature rises, it alerts the wearer to take a break or stay hydrated, thus avoiding the risk of heatstroke before the wearer becomes unwell. In 2024, we will fully introduce heat prevention watches for domestic Group companies. Since 2023, a communication-type watch that alerts an administrator at a remote location has been adopted. We analyze trend of alert occurrence and return the information to each department to help prevent occupational injury.

In May 2023, we held an online screening of a video on countermeasures to prevent heatstroke. Purpose of this program is to improve safety awareness and knowledge of employees involved in Sumitomo Forestry Group by watching safety education videos. There were more than 400 accesses for a total of four times of screening in two days.

We will continue to implement safety education and support horizontally to achieve zero work-occupational injury for the entire group.

Environmental Energy Business Initiatives

In addition to safety patrols by employees, the Environment and Energy Department and the Quality Control and Worker Safety Management Department conduct annual internal audits at the fuel chip plant of the Environment and Energy Business to prevent occupational accidents for employees and business partners who enter and leave the plant. Improvements and corrections are made at the work site.

In fiscal 2023, there was one instances of occupational injury requiring payment of compensation benefits for absence from work in accordance with the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act at the work sites of our environmental and energy business. As a result, with the contractors involved, response measures to prevent recurrence were discussed and agreed. Additionally, warnings were issued to other contractors through the Workplace Safety Conferences.

Manufacturing Business Initiatives

Japan

Sumitomo Forestry Crest's Occupational Health and Safety Policy is to provide its employees and subcontractors with a workplace environment that aims for "Zero Accidents to Zero Hazards." To accomplish this, we are working to develop a system that allows all employees to make continuous improvements, and employees at each plant proactively report near-miss incidents (545 reports from 515 employees in fiscal 2023) to the Health and Safety Committee, as well as other small group activities (TPM activities) in the workplace to exchange opinions and implement the PDCA process. Management cycle of PDCA is used to improve the efficiency of manufacturing activities while reducing risk.

In fiscal 2023, there were three occupational injury resulting in lost time from work. Based on the fundamental concept of "Safety First," the Sumitomo Forestry Group will continue to strive to create a thriving workplace by improving a healthy and safe workplace environment.

Safety and Health Improvement Activities, etc.

Regular workplace safety patrols are conducted at each Sumitomo Forestry Crest plant to identify risks and make improvements. Near-misses and risk assessments are conducted on some of the identified risks, which are then horizontally distributed to other departments and basic safety measures are adopted to prevent accidents.

Risk assessments are conducted whenever new equipment is introduced or production lines are changed, with the aim of preventing employee hazards and health problems. We seek to ensure workplace safety by evaluating potential hazards in equipment and operations and implementing measures to reduce the risk level.

In analyzing the incidents of workplace accidents that have occurred, it is apparent that they were caused by a lack of safety precautions as a result of acts that were not expected in ordinary work, and were not identified as potential sources of danger. It is vital to identify hazard sources from various perspectives and increase sensitivity to hazards to recognize potential dangers.

We are focusing on improvement activities since there are many incidents of work-related accidents involving forklift operations that result in serious damage. We've been holding monthly review meetings to assess forklift safety measures since December 2020. We are assessing physical measures such as buzzer loudness and separating traffic lines from pedestrians, in addition to soft measures like safety training, which we have been implementing, in order to create a safer work environment.

Sumitomo Forestry Crest is engaged in TPM* activities. All factory employees, without exception, have a role to play and are involved in the activities through 3 basic activities --"All Member Participation", "Voluntary Conservation", and "Zero Loss". One of our main objectives is to achieve zero occupational injury by implementing safety activities such as "Hiyari-Hatto" prevention (Equiv. near miss) and safety patrols, etc., and we are working toward this goal on a daily basis.

*Abbreviation for Total Productive Maintenance. Production and conservation with all member participation. Management methods for raising productivity in the manufacturing industry

Sumitomo Forestry Crest Co., Ltd. conducts mutual safety audits at each plant. In fiscal 2023 ended December, we held one audit at each plant to confirm observance of rules such as wearing of protective equipment by on-site workers, as well as sufficient ability and training for work and implementation of risk assessment.

Overseas

The Sumitomo Forestry Group's overseas manufacturing companies strive to create and maintain a safe and healthy workplace environment under the basic idea of "Safety First", and are united under the basic policy of "creating manufacturing sites with respect for human life and commitment to safety first". In particular, we are developing activities focusing on risk assessment and risk prediction training (KYT), as well as sharing examples and activities among plants to achieve a safe workplace environment for the entire company.

Safety Objectives

Overseas manufacturing companies have set a safety goal and are promoting safety and health activities with the goal of Elimination of serious work-related accidents (Absence from work for four or more days) as a safety target, among which "Eliminating forklift accidents" and "Eliminating accidents involving rotating objects like knives" are priority initiatives in fiscal 2023.

Occupational Health and Safety Initiatives

The following are the details of the priority initiatives.

(1) Elimination of work-related accidents caused by forklifts
As a physical countermeasure*¹, maintenance safety function of a forklift (traveling speed control, buzzer volume adjustment, and line light irradiation function at the time of backward movement), separation of footsteps and vehicles, restriction of a forklift usable area, and etc. are conducted. As a soft countermeasure*², abandonment of cooperative work at the time of cargo handling and safety education to workers around forklift are performed.

(2) Elimination of work-related accidents caused by rotating objects like blades
As physical countermeasures, installation of a safety cover, a lamp for informing inertia rotation of a cutter after stop of equipment and a brake function to shorten an inertial rotation time, etc., are carried out. Meanwhile, as soft countermeasures, maintenance of safety work standards and safety education are performed.
In addition, we conduct "Risk Assessment" to eliminate sources of danger and "Risk Prediction Training" (KYT 4-round approach) to prevent people from engaging in risky behaviors and share the details of these activities among manufacturing companies.

*1Physical countermeasures: Factory facilities, machinery, equipment, equipment, tools, etc.

*2Soft countermeasure: organization system, talent, technique, consciousness, information, mechanism, and etc.

Initiatives at Construction Sites

Sumitomo Forestry prioritizes occupational health and safety above all else on housing construction sites. Therefore, we raise awareness about occupational health and safety information and important items about safety in employees of the Sumitomo Forestry Group and also every worker involved with Sumitomo Forestry homes, such as on-site construction contractors.

In fiscal 2023, we conducted "Eliminating Occupational Injury Campaign 2023." Purpose of this campaign is to ensure that all employees share a strong commitment to never causing an accident this fiscal year. We asked for safety slogans from the Production Group, building contractors working at our sites under the theme of "Elimination of Five Major Disasters (Falling, Overturning, Tools, Heavy Equipment and Heatstroke)." There were a total of 162 entries, including 45 entries for the Production Group, 59 entries for contractors, and 58 entries for building contractor. 1 entry for first-place award, 3 entries for excellence award, 6 entries for area award, and 1 entry for production group excellence award were selected. Posters and daily calendar featuring these works were produced and distributed to each branch and building contractor in charge. We plan to continue these activities in fiscal 2024.

The Occupational Health and Safety Policy for fiscal 2024 is "Safety First." In addition, we incorporated the slogan "STOP Five Major Accidents!" in Our Values. Based on injury trends and analysis of previous fiscal year, we have established "Priority Management" section to focus on specific activities. In order to ensure thorough compliance and management of safety standards for each process, we are working to eliminate occupational injury by predicting risks before starting work and promoting elimination of risks and safety assurance.

Housing Business Initiatives

The Housing Division is implementing various measures to eliminate occupational injuries.

At beginning of the fiscal year, branch, offices, and cooperative building contractor prepare an "Annual Plan for Safety, Health and Environmental Management". Based on items for to enhance risk assessment, this plan is implemented and managed in a planned manner throughout the year, including occupational health, safety and environmental conferences, regular occupational health and safety conference, special safety patrols, and safety guidance.

In the event of an occupational injury, we are required to make a first notification to all parties concerned within two hours of the occurrence and prepare an accident report by the next day. In addition to injury prevention conferences after collecting related persons within 7 days, hearing and detailed investigation, and effective countermeasures should be planned and executed by using 4М analysis* and risk assessment to prevent similar injury. In addition, after an accident occurs, the headquarters prepares a preliminary report on the accident, which includes measures to prevent recurrence, and disseminates it to the contractors concerned and workers under its jurisdiction at regular safety and health council meetings and on-site safety meetings.

As one of the measures to promote DX at construction sites, "in-out auto (beacon)" was introduced in April 2022 to automate entry/exit records at construction sites. By changing entry and exit records from manual to automatic, we are able to eliminate record omissions and errors and to accumulate more accurate work history. At the same time, the system reduces the burden on workers to record their entry and exit, and distributes useful information to them when they enter, thereby improving work efficiency and ensuring safe operations.

*A method of thinking about things in terms of four elements: people (Man), machinery and equipment (Machine), work, environment and media (Media), and management (Management)

Image of "in-out auto (beacon)" operation

Association of Sumitomo Forestry Safe Building Contractors

Association of Sumitomo Forestry Safe Building Contractors aims to prevent occupational injuries and fires at construction sites, improve work efficiency and the welfare of victims, and enhance quality, while contributing to the development of members' businesses by improving technology and management skills of construction and deepening friendship and exchange among members.

The group is chaired by the Divisional Manager of the Housing Division of Sumitomo Forestry, and its members include Group companies Sumitomo Forestry Home Engineering and Sumitomo Forestry Landscaping, as well as 63 branches (as of June 2023) of construction companies throughout Japan. In addition, safety, health, and environmental conventions are held at each branch during the fiscal year, and lecturers are dispatched from the headquarters to give safety lectures. The content of the lectures is to raise awareness of occupational health and safety by explaining the Sumitomo Forestry Group Occupational Health and Safety Policy and the Housing Division Health and Safety Management Policy, explaining key measures, the Company's roles and responsibilities under laws and regulations, accident statistics, and accident case studies.

Annual Plan for Safety, Health and Environmental Management

At the beginning of each fiscal year, the Housing Division prepares an "Annual Plan for Safety, Health and Environmental Management" for each branch and office. Based on the risk assessment enhancement items, we systematically implement and manage safety, health, and environmental conferences, regular safety and health council meetings, special safety patrols, safety guidance, and other activities throughout the year. We are also examining physical counter measures such as separating traffic line to create a safer work environment.

Safety Training for Construction Contractors

The Housing Division publishes monthly Safety, Environment and Quality Inspection Department Information that includes information and topics about occupational health and safety as well as the environment to help prevent accidents and avoid risks by repeatedly raising awareness at branches and construction contractors.

Sumitomo Forestry conducts safety training throughout Japan by visiting building and demolition contractors throughout Japan. We conduct special education and safety and health education to provide direct guidance to workers at the site, and promote efforts for safety and environment at the site by helping them understand guidance content of "awareness of a safety culture."

Branch and offices hold safety and health conferences defined by law every month, and give guidance to improve safety awareness and knowledge of contractors, such as confirmation and improvement guidance of site conditions by occupational health and safety patrol of the site.

Occupational Safety Initiatives in Construction Business

Construction Department, Construction Business Sub-Division, Construction and Real Estate Division, is actively engaged in exchanges related to occupational safety with Kumagai Gumi, with whom we have a business and capital alliance. Safety lectures have been held twice with lecturers from Kumagai Gumi, explaining the company's safety standards and reviewing accident case studies and legal standards.

Lifestyle Services Business Initiatives

The Sumitomo Forestry Group's Lifestyle Services Business is expanding a broad range of lifestyle-related services focusing on elderly care businesses and other downstream businesses that support people's lifestyles. Apart from the elderly care business, the company also operates Insurance and Solutions Business, Lodging and Community Revitalization Business, and a golf course management business.

Initiatives in the Elderly Care Business

In the elderly care business, Sumirin Care Life and Sumirin Fill Care provide private-pay nursing home and elderly care facilities with nursing care services, as well as in-home services such as day care services and home-visit nursing care.

Conference of OHS Committee will be held every month at each site to ensure the safety of both users and employees. In the event of an accident, meetings are held at each site to discuss the details of the accident, causes, analysis, and measures to prevent recurrence, which are then reported to the headquarters of each company for horizontal deployment to all sites. In addition, Sumirin Fill Care's “Manual of Care Operations” explains our values and risk management for caregivers.

Main Risk Reduction Measures for Elderly Care Business

Back Pain Prevention

In addition to distribution of back pain belts to new graduates to prevent back pain, which frequently occurs at nursing care sites, Sumirin Fill Care is working to prevent back pain among employees who are unfamiliar with nursing care.

Sumirin Care Life has installed nursing care bathing lifts and toilet assisting lifts to reduce the risk of back pain for its staff.

Reduction of Fatigue Due to Night Shift Work

Each company adjusts life rhythm and maintains health of staff who works at night, for example, day after night shift is generally set aside as a day off, and time for napping is ensured during the night shift.

Reduction of Risk to Residents

At Sumirin Care Life, we conduct three daily hand-offs regarding changes in residents' physical condition, and we also hold an all-staff conference once during the day to share information. At Sumirin Fill Care, we share information regarding changes in residents' condition through intercom devices and medical records, to establish a system for preventing our staff from overexerting themselves which can lead to accidents. The residents' physical conditions and the status of elimination are also posted in the office to visually grasp the situation.

Initiatives in the Golf Course Management Business

Takinomiya Country Club, a golf course operated by Kawanokita Development, displays "Safety Month Banners" in the clubhouse and other locations twice a year during Safety Month, and all staff members wear “Safety Month” patches to ensure the safety of staff and golf course visitors during this period.

Major Risk Mitigation Measures in the Golf Course Operation Business

At Takinomiya Country Club, the course managers and caddies wear vests with blowers to prevent heat stroke in summer. To prevent heat stroke among customers, we have installed a shading sheet in the starting room that can block 70% of sunlight, and we provide rehydration tea during play.

Initiatives in the Insurance and Solutions Business

Sumirin Enterprises, which operates insurance and solutions business, distributes Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance's information magazine "Tips for Safe Driving" to all employees once a month by e-mail to prevent traffic accidents.

Securing safety with state-of-the-art technologies and labor-saving measures

In the elderly care business, a medication support system is in place to prevent accidents due to medication errors. When staff of facility gives medicines to residents, we use a mobile terminal to check possibility of wrong person, wrong date and time, and double medication, which are highly likely to occur due to human error.

Sumirin Fill Care has introduced an ICT monitoring system that allows us to check the residents' sleeping conditions and changes in their physical condition in real time, especially during the nighttime hours. As a result, the system is able to provide oversight in lieu of regular nighttime patrols, allowing the company to focus on those in need of assistance, thereby reducing the workload during the nighttime hours.

Sumirin Enterprises, which uses vehicles for its insurance and solutions business, uses telematics, an internet-connected vehicle operation proxy system, to ensure safe driving. Sudden acceleration, sudden deceleration, speeding, etc. will be emailed to the supervisor, and the supervisor will instruct the driver if there is a risk of danger. In conjunction with the start of installation of drive recorders, we are working to deter traffic accidents.