We pursue initiatives aimed at improving occupational safety and health so employees can feel safe and secure in their work environment.
Based on the principle that “management without safety is not management,” the safety and health of employees forms the foundation of business activities at Canon.
Moreover, in line with the “Health First” principle, we take a proactive stance on the promotion of health management to ensure employees stay healthy in body and mind.
Canon has established the Central Safety and Health Committee as its highest body overseeing safety and health activities. Chaired by the CFO of Canon Inc., the committee establishes its central activity policies and plans for safety and health, while labor and management also work together to promote the elimination of occupational accidents, the maintenance and improvement of health, traffic safety, fire and disaster prevention, and the creation of pleasant workplaces.
In line with labor agreements, management also works with unions to ensure working conditions are safe for employees.
Canon Inc. and Group companies in Japan have established safety and health teams at each operational site, and set targets based on the situation at each site in line with the policies of the Central Safety and Health Committee, to build healthy and safe work environments for all workers, including those of contractors. We also hold health and safety conferences with contractors to maintain and improve health and safety on site.
We are applying an integrated approach across the Group’s overseas production sites, while taking into consideration the specific circumstances of each region and Group company.
Canon strives to create workplaces that are safe and secure. Canon Inc. and Group companies in Japan have worked on the following priority targets and initiatives.
Canon Inc. and Group companies in Japan have declared their commitment to addressing the following priority targets and initiatives through the Central Safety and Health Committee. Health care initiatives carried out in collaboration with the health insurance union include long-term health targets and measures formulated in line with health care plans based on an analysis of medical cost and diagnostic data.
In 2022, in terms of serious occupational accidents requiring time off work, there were no accidents caused by hazardous chemical substances, but there was one accident relating to the use of machinery (getting pinched or caught). We are taking steps to prevent accidents from reoccurring, in terms of both education and equipment, such as investigating the underlying cause of any accident, retraining workplace personnel, and improving the operability of machinery. We conduct a thorough safety inspection and risk assessment to determine if similar risks exist at the site where any accident occurs. In addition, information about accidents is promptly shared with Group companies, particularly production sites, to prevent similar occurrences elsewhere.
We are expanding the Canon Group Occupational Safety and Health Management System in an effort to promote autonomous safety and health activities across countries and regions. System requirements are based on the Occupational Safety and Health Management System of the Japan Industrial Safety and Health Association and reflect Canon Inc.’s standards and rules. We are also working to cultivate best practices across all sites based on reciprocal supervision as well as develop measures to tackle a variety of issues.
Canon sites are currently transitioning from the international OHS management system standard OHSAS 18001 to the new ISO 45001 standard. As of the end of December 2022, approximately 17% of Canon Inc. and Canon Group sites around the world had acquired ISO 45001 certification.
Canon conducts risk assessments for all installed machinery and related operations based on common Group-wide standards. For all operations with high risk of injury, illness, or accident, we take appropriate risk mitigation measures and manage any residual risk. Recognizing the especially serious risks posed by machinery-related accidents, we review existing equipment at least once a year. For new businesses, we also identify and evaluate risks from the R&D stage and implement OHS measures based on risk assessment outcomes.
To ensure common standards are applied to risk assessment across the Canon Group, we provide online learning programs for workplace managers and employees with responsibility for equipment operations to deepen their understanding of assessment methods. In addition, if a specific risk is identified, all relevant workers are notified of the risk and given the requisite training, including steps to confirm understanding and mastery of any new work processes.
Whenever an occupational accident occurs at Canon, we immediately brief all operational sites in Japan and overseas production sites, as well as publish the causes and countermeasures on our intranet to prevent a similar accident from occurring elsewhere.
To help eliminate workplace accidents, we also provide training to managers involved in on-site workplace risk assessment, along with online learning programs to ensure all employees involved with risk assessments have a good understanding of assessment objectives and procedures. A total of 4,724 people received such training up to and including 2022.
In addition, we are also taking steps to foster a workplace culture that is constantly aware of health and safety. For example, at Canon Inc. and Group companies in Japan, we provide health and safety training and use original awareness-raising posters and leaflets to educate employees about checking and enforcing basic safety behaviors in their work.
Canon is working to implement an occupational safety and health management system overseas, mainly at its production sites, on the same level as in Japan. For example, to help employees understand health and safety matters in their native language, we make effective use of work manuals, health and safety training materials, posters, leaflets, and other materials prepared by Canon Inc. in Japanese, English, Chinese, and Vietnamese to suit the situation of each site. For example, at Canon Vietnam, we are making a focused effort to promote activities for early prevention of hazards by raising employees’ health and safety awareness. These include an experiential training facility called the Safety Experience Ring that enables trainees to experience the importance of safety through simulated hazard experiences, as well as risk assessment activities and a program for sharing improvement proposals based on on-site experience.
Canon conducts a variety of programs to promote comprehensive mental health at Group companies in Japan. These incorporate four types of care: self-care, care from workplace supervisors, care from occupational health staff, and care from external organizations. There are also programs to promote primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention. We are focusing in particular on creating a standard response across Group companies, such as developing support programs for employees with mental health issues, and carrying out training to improve the ability of human resources and health support staff to handle such cases.
The stress check participation rate is high at Canon Inc., reaching 96.5% in 2022. In addition to check-ups with an occupational physician, any employees showing signs of high stress receive individualized health consultations. We distribute a “Health Report” detailing the health status of each division, based on grouped data analysis and organize related worksite meetings. We also provide managers with mental health training to help enhance workplace support capabilities. Employees on overseas assignments are given the same stress checks and follow-up procedures as in Japan, with any mental health measures coordinated with local HR managers.
As part of measures to combat lifestyle diseases, we identify health-related areas requiring attention and rank their priority based on analysis of employee data. For example, a longitudinal study analysis of physical exam data from 2009 showed the effects of shortened sleep, smoking, rapid eating and other factors on the onset of metabolic syndrome, leading us to select these as priority areas. For sleep, besides activities to raise awareness, we also introduced individual guidance using sleep monitors. The result was not only an improvement in sleep, but also in physical exam outcomes and presenteeism (working even while sick). Furthermore, smoking is prohibited inside workplaces at Canon Inc. and all Group companies in Japan, and we provide seminars and online programs to help employees to quit smoking. Since we initiated such measures in 2004, the ratio of active smokers at Canon Inc. has fallen by 17.9 percentage points over 18 years, reaching 14.5% in 2022.
To prevent serious disease, Canon Inc. and Group companies in Japan have adopted unified follow-up standards for employees with abnormal findings from a workplace physical check-up. Based on cooperation with health insurance unions, the provision of health guidance from expert providers has resulted in a decline in the numbers of employees either at high risk of metabolic syndrome or subject to specific health guidance. To prevent and detect cancers, we utilize the cancer screening system of the Canon Health Insurance Union, while ensuring a balance between treatment and work for employees living with cancer.
Canon Inc. is promoting health self-management in various ways: ongoing training tailored to different job levels; campaigns on the themes of sleep, nutrition, and exercise; regular dissemination of information to raise awareness via the intranet; and, management of healthy activity goals and in-house events using ICT tools. Moreover, Canon Inc. and Group companies in Japan conduct an e-learning program every year for employees just turning 30, 40, 50, or 60 years old, in which they can learn about the health issues and self-management points specific to each age bracket, including women’s health issues. In 2022, a total of 5,328 employees completed this program.
In collaboration with the health insurance union, labor union, in-house retail stores, staff cafeterias and other partners, we put the principal focus on Canon’s nutritional campaign for 2022 on exercise. Our annual walking competition, which features the use of ICT tools, had 12,076 participants, a six-year high. In other health initiatives, the Canon Health Call service provided by the health insurance union offered personal health support to Canon Group employees both in Japan and overseas on a 24/7 basis.
Group companies outside Japan also conduct their own initiatives. Canon Prachinburi (Thailand) created video materials to help educate female employees on pregnancy and maternal health issues, as well as COVID-19, while Canon Business Machines Philippines organized mental health seminars by occupational physicians as part of efforts to raise awareness of various health issues.
The response of Canon Inc. to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has centered on infection prevention, consultation access, support for high-risk staff, and information sharing. We have drawn up guidelines and manuals, acquired equipment and materials to prevent infection, and offered health consultations with occupational physicians and nurses as well as via a 24-hour telephone hotline.
Our workplace vaccination program for employees of Canon Inc. and Canon Group companies in Japan, which covers family members and contractors as well, inoculated around 60,000 people in 2022.
As part of its efforts to prevent infectious diseases, Canon Inc. provides training to staff traveling or being assigned overseas related to HIV, malaria, and other infectious diseases, based on information put out by the Quarantine Information Office of Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare. In addition, the company also recommends various vaccinations depending on the destination country or region, based on information from both the Quarantine Information Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and covers the cost of such vaccinations.
With increasing rates of heat stroke occurring in both indoor and outdoor worksites throughout Japan, we provide ongoing training to contract workers on heat stroke prevention. We also take preventative measures in the workplace environment.
Canon Inc. has been selected for four years in a row as a “Health & Productivity Stock” under a scheme administered jointly by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE). In addition, Canon has been certified for six years in a row in the Large Organization category of the “White 500” Health & Productivity scheme jointly administered by METI and Nippon Kenko Kaigi. Canon Inc. was also joined in the “White 500” list in 2022 by 11 Canon Group companies in Japan.
“Health & Productivity Stocks” are selected on the basis they are a TSE-listed company that has taken the strategic initiative to manage employee health from a business perspective. The “White 500” certification is based on commitment to managing the health of employees at the local level, and the adoption of initiatives as recommended by Nippon Kenko Kaigi to improve health.
Canon has adhered to the “Health First” principle since its earliest days. External recognition points to our commitment over many years to ongoing actions that ensure progressive health management.
