Global Corporate Information

As a guideline for directors and employees to using high ethical standards when conducting business, the Olympus Group established the Olympus Group Corporate Conduct Charter and Olympus Group Code of Conduct and worked out CSR-related basic policies.

These provide a framework for compliance promotion initiatives in all areas of corporate activity, including the promotion of fair trade management, product safety, and the environment. Various company rules and standards, group-wide, have also been established to guide the conduct of employees.

In particular, as a corporation that offers products directly related to people's lives in the medical business, Olympus has the responsibility to always maintain the safety, quality, and services of those products at a high level and perform maintenance on rules and standards related to the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law.

Olympus has established the systems concerning to pharmaceutical affairs to further enhance these systems. Messages from the president are sent to all employees every month through the network, and employees can send back e-mails to express their opinions directly to the president, thereby actively establishing a better communication system.

In October 2005, Olympus established the Compliance Department and set up the Help Line to provide a consultation service to employees on issues of legal and ethical compliance. Compliance reference cards are distributed and compliance education through e-learning and lectures is provided to all employees in Japan to further enhance their approach to compliance issues.

We believe that the mission of the Olympus Group is to supply society and our customers with safe, reliable products by ensuring full compliance with all laws and regulations relating to medical services and health. Olympus has established systems based on the Pharmaceuticals Affairs Law and we implement quality assurance and safety management activities as required under that law, especially with regard to our manufacturing and sales operations.

In the area of quality assurance activities, we are continually enhancing the quality management systems for our manufacturing operations, and we provide information about the appropriate use of our products through our sales and service activities. We have strengthened our management and supervisory systems so as to maintain reliable standards of product quality, effectiveness and safety.

Our safety management activities are based on systems and structures designed in such a way as to prevent adverse effects on health, and to support the implementation of effective measures for preventing problems from growing out of proportion in the unlikely event that problems do occur. At the same time, we work closely with government agencies and medical institutions toward maintaining safety in medical workplaces.

Related laws and regulations other than the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law include the Medical Service Law and the Fair Competition Regulations. For example, Olympus helps medical institutions to review their medical safety systems to comply with the amended Medical Service Law. It has also complied with the Fair Competition Regulations by adopting new criteria for attendance at medical worksites.