Health and Productivity Management

SEKISUI CHEMICAL Group strives to improve its employees’ physical and mental health based on the idea that employees are valuable resources entrusted to the Group by society. To further advance these initiatives, in March 2019 SEKISUI CHEMICAL formulated a philosophy regarding its goals for health and productivity management^* in a Declaration of Health, and established the Basic Policy for Health and Productivity Management. SEKISUI CHEMICAL Group positions health as the well-being that is defined in the WHO Charter, aiming for health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being. In working to achieve the well-being of all employees and to realize a highly vital, exceptional company as laid out in the Group’s Long-term Vision, we have formulated medium- and long-term goals for five initiatives.

We are also aiming to resolve management issues through health management. To solve such issues, we are utilizing a Health and Productivity Management Strategy Map and addressing health management while evaluating the expectations toward and effects of those measures.

Health and Productivity Management Strategy Map
https://www.sekisui.co.jp/csr/pdf/csr_strategy_map.pdf(pdf:805KB)

SEKISUI CHEMICAL Group collaborates with the Sekisui Health Insurance Society to facilitate health and carries out uniform health checkups for all Group companies. From October 2018, we have introduced a common Group-wide health management system. In addition, from 2015, we developed the Sekisui Health Network (SHN), a system that can respond to business sites of less than 50 employees, so we are advancing better health among such small work sites as well.
As a measure to prevent lifestyle diseases, in fiscal 2020 we commenced a program to support the seven health habits advocated by Dr. Lester Breslow. We are advancing activities to achieve 100% for both employees who practice at least four of the health habits and also the awareness of the program itself. In 2017, we also published the work aptitude assessment guidelines for high-risk individuals to properly manage their own health. From fiscal 2018, we have added a category in the safety audit that is related to high-risk individuals to ensure that all Group employees are well aware of the guidelines.

SEKISUI CHEMICAL Group is conducting the following activities as measures to support mental health.

There are a variety of existing factors at workplaces that may hinder health, including chemical substances, working posture, and noise. To counter these factors, we are undertaking activities across the Group through the utilization of an occupational health and safety management system. In addition, we are also striving to enhance a range of internal systems that take into consideration an environment to work in with peace of mind for those with medical conditions as well.

In order to promote health and productivity management in unison as a group, we continue to pursue Group application of the Health and Productivity Management Organization Recognition Program, in the large enterprise category. Based on these endeavors, the number of applicable subsidiary companies increased to 30 in fiscal 2021. This recognition applies to groups where their companies have conducted a pre-assessment, and undertaken activities to increase the level of health.
We took steps to put in place system improvements and initiated information exchange meetings among applicable companies from fiscal 2019. Having established specific health management targets for each company, we are enhancing collaboration between subsidiary companies while sharing information.
In addition, we have appointed people responsible for, and others in charge of health and productivity management at approximately 300 business sites, covering the entire Group. This represents our efforts to build a structure in which steady measures can be put in place to advance health and productivity management. Subsidiary companies are also proactively advancing health promotion efforts, which are being showcased on the websites of local administrative bodies and on the radio.

We will work to raise motivation and productivity by steadily implementing the aforementioned four initiatives.
SEKISUI CHEMICAL measures presenteeism^*1 and absenteeism^*2 as productivity indicators.
Presenteeism was worse than last year, though this may have been a result of the effects of the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.
So that we can constantly work while maintaining high productivity, we are working on industry-academia collaborations to analyze factors that will lead to improved productivity.

Starting in fiscal 2021, we will focus on the following six indicators as primary KPIs among the 21 KPIs.

Launched in fiscal 2020, this program supports the seven health habits advocated by Dr. Lester Breslow, and is intended to extend the healthy life-expectancy of employees and to help them approach work in an invigorated manner. We established standards for appropriate habits under each of the seven items of Eat Breakfast, No Snacks, Regular Exercise, Maintain Weight, Sleep Well, Avoid Smoking, and Less Drinking, and aim for all employees to practice at least six of these items by 2028.
The Health Promotion Office began an e-learning program in fiscal 2019 as support for acquiring information on appropriate health habits and for putting these into practice. In fiscal 2020 we also introduced a health promotion app (hereafter, Seven Crown App).
During fiscal 2021, we held a total of five events, and a total of 2,199 people participated. Distributing the app to all employees in Japan not only maintains and promotes the health of individuals but also serves as an opportunity for communication between employees. In addition, health support using the app within the Group is gradually gaining in popularity, for example in planning health events on a company-by-company basis using the Seven Crown app.

SEKISUI CHEMICAL Group has been conducting e-learning on Women's Health for all employees, including male employees, since fiscal 2019. In fiscal 2021, we invited a doctor who is an obstetrician and a gynecologist as lecturer and held lectures on health issues that women in each age group face and on the strategies for coping with those issues. A total of 521 employees participated in the total of three seminars. They were highly satisfying lectures, after which 99.7% answered that they had understood, and 97.0% answered that they had heard what they had expected to hear (43.1% had learned more than they had expected).
To prevent cancers peculiar to women, we have a system in place by which cancer screening can be performed in combination with and at the same time as regular health examinations. In fiscal 2020, the cervical cancer screening rate was 63.7% (age 20 or older), and the breast cancer screening rate was 85.4% (age 40 or older).
We will continue to promote efforts to address women’s health issues.

Based on the results of the population analyses of stress level tests conducted in fiscal 2021, we are engaging in activities to improve the working environments at each workplace, including reviews of working hours, such as reductions of overtime hours and the taking of leave, and of personnel systems and organizational structures. We are also conducting workplace environment improvements with a focus on workplaces with overall health risk scores of 120 or more. As a measure against lower back pain in production departments, we are working to improve the working posture and working environment based on evaluations of the working posture. With regard to improvements in the workplace culture, we are also promoting activities through industry-academia collaborations and conducting online educational programs and other initiatives.

SEKISUI CHEMICAL Group was recognized for its Company-wide efforts to solve issues relating to the health and productivity of its employees and was certified as a 2022 Health and Productivity Stock. Along with 30 affiliated companies in Japan, the Group was certified as a 2022 Health and Productivity Management Organization in the large enterprise category (White 500) for the sixth year in a row.
With the aim of instilling health management practices, we are also actively communicating with our business partners and others outside the Company.