Occupational Safety and Health

Occupational Safety and Health

The Olympus Group has stated its policies on occupational safety and health and its basic approach to employee health management and the actions necessary to achieve them in the Olympus Global Code of Conduct.
Under the Code of Conduct, we are developing working environments that ensure safety and health for our employees.

Safe and Healthy Workplace

Occupational health and safety is a major priority. We take proactive steps to prevent accidents and occupational illnesses at work. We want our employees to work in an ergonomic and work-friendly environment. At Olympus, we promote good health and wellness.

What We Do:
  • Use good judgment and act in a manner that is safe for you and others.
  • Report safety concerns and work-related injuries or illnesses.
  • Never joke about violence and report any violent threats or warning signs from others.
  • Comply with applicable health and safety regulations.

Establishing the Environmental Health and Safety Policy to practice the Code of Conduct, we are developing working environments that ensure safety and health for our employees.

Environmental Health and Safety Policy

Promotion Structure and Initiatives

Global Safety and Health Organization

In the Olympus Group, the CEO and the CHRO are appointed as the top executive officers for the occupational safety and health. Also, the Human Resources Head, who manages human resource development and general affairs including matters related to the environment, health and safety (EHS), serves as the top management for occupational safety and health affairs for the entire Group. Based on the Environmental Health and Safety Policy formulated by the Human Resources Head, the EHS division stipulates the policy for EHS efforts each fiscal year and promotes these efforts at each base around the world. With the aim of complying with laws and regulations and reducing occupational safety and health risks, the Olympus Group promotes various initiatives at each global site, such as establishing a health and safety management system, conducting risk assessments, risk reduction activities, employee education and training, internal audits, workplace patrols, risk assessments by outside experts, and so forth.

In FY2023, the Olympus Group promoted health and safety activities with the goals of achieving zero serious accidents and reducing its lost time injuries frequency rate less than previous fiscal year (0.67) at its global bases. As a result of these efforts, the Group achieved zero serious accidents and reduced its lost time injuries frequency rate (0.63) less than the previous fiscal year.

Global Safety and Health Organization

External Certification (Occupational Safety and Health Management Systems)

For the maintenance and continual improvement of our occupational safety and health management systems and to retain the trust of our customers and stakeholders, we are acquiring certification for our occupational safety and health management systems.

Sites Certification Year of Certification
Aizu Olympus JISHA OSHMS Standards*1 2011
Shirakawa Olympus ISO 45001 2020
Aomori Olympus JISHA OSHMS Standards*1 2009
KeyMed (Medical & Industrial Equipment) Ltd. ISO 45001 2020
Olympus Iberia S.A.U. ISO 45001 2021
Olympus Trading (Shanghai) Limited Certified as Safe Production Standardized Company 2015

*1 JISHA OSHMS Standards Certification: Certification bodies certify sites that comply with the JISHA OSHMS Standards certification conducted by the Japan Industrial Safety & Health Association.

Occupational Injuries Data

The scope of the data on occupational injuries is as follows.

Japan: Olympus Corporation and its major Japan subsidiaries

Americas: Olympus Corporation of the Americas (regional headquarters) and its major subsidiaries

Europe: (FY2023 onwards) Olympus Europa SC & Co. KG (regional headquarters) and its major subsidiaries including sales subsidiaries

(Prior to FY2022) Olympus Europa SC & Co. KG (regional headquarters) and its major subsidiaries including sales subsidiaries

Asia/Oceania: (FY2023 onwards) Major manufacturing sites and sales subsidiaries in China

(Prior to FY2022) Major manufacturing sites

Prior to FY2022, data from the scientific solutions business are included.

Number of Lost Time Injuries

FY2019 FY2020 FY2021 FY2022 FY2023
Japan 6 4 2 2 6★
Americas 37 20 4 12 2★
Europe 11 6 16 14 19★
Asia/Oceania 14 8 6 4 5★
Total 68 38 28 32 32★

Indexes certified by external assurance.

Lost Time Injuries (of one day or more) Frequency Rate*2 (LTIFR)

FY2019 FY2020 FY2021 FY2022 FY2023
Japan 0.20 0.13 0.08 0.08 0.29★
Americas 3.27 1.93 0.39 1.13 0.21★
Europe 1.97 1.07 2.04 1.86 1.54★
Asia/Oceania 1.34 0.77 0.62 0.72 0.62★
Overall 1.17 0.66 0.52 0.67 0.63★
All industries (Japan)*3 1.83 1.80 1.95 2.09 2.06
Manufacturing industry (Japan)*3 1.20 1.20 1.21 1.31 1.20

Indexes certified by external assurance.

*2 Lost time injury frequency rate = number of lost time accidents ÷ (number of employees for that fiscal term × work hours) × 1,000,000

*3 Survey on Industrial Accidents, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare

Occupational Illness Frequency Rate*4 (OIFR)

FY2019 FY2020 FY2021 FY2022 FY2023
Japan 0.07 0 0 0 0

*4 Occupational illness frequency rate = number of cases of occupational illness that result in lost time*5 ÷ (number of employees for that fiscal term × work hours) × 1,000,000

*5 Industrial accidents found in the list of occupational diseases of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (Appended Table 1-2 of the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Labor Standards Act (Ordinance of the Ministry of Health and Welfare No. 23 of August 30, 1947))

Number of Fatalities*6

FY2019 FY2020 FY2021 FY2022 FY2023
Japan 0(1) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0★(0)
Americas 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0★(0)
Europe 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0★(0)
Asia/Oceania 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0★(0)
Total 0(1) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0★(0)

Indexes certified by external assurance.

*6 Numbers in brackets indicate contractors

Employee Training

To raise employee awareness of safety and health, the Olympus Group implements a variety of safety and health training programs, led by the safety and health officers at each site.

Category Subjects Contents
Basic training New employees Basic training on safety and health at time of hiring of new employees (safety and health-related laws and regulations, internal management systems, rules, etc.)
  • Japan: Implemented in April 2022 (52 participants)
  • China: Implemented within 1 week after entering the company
  • Asia: Implemented at manufacturing sites in July 2022 (661 participants)
Subject employees Basic training on safety and health (safety and health-related laws and regulations, risk reduction measures, etc.)
  • Americas: Implemented from July to August 2022 (4,225 participants)
  • Europe: Implemented from October to December 2022 for management
  • Japan: Implemented in March 2023 (3,861 participants in total)
Specialized training Subject employees Hazard experience training through "Anzen Dojo" (Training Center) (Simulated experience of hazards that may occur in the workplace)
  • Japan: Implemented at manufacturing sites
    Educational training using safety comics to reduce work accidents
  • Japan: Implemented at manufacturing sites (4,071 participants)
    Educational training about compliance with the Poisonous and Deleterious Substances Control Act
  • Japan: Implemented for managers of manufacturing-use chemical substances and personnel in managerial positions (1,333 participants)
  • Japan: Implemented for personnel in charge of handling poisonous and deleterious substances and managers of chemical substance sales divisions (66 participants)
Workshop on occupational well-being and safe production in resumed operations after lockdown
  • China: Implemented in June 2022 (about 300 participants)
Safety and health promoters Risk Assessment skill Training
  • Asia: Implemented at manufacturing sites (24 participants)
Internal auditors Health and safety management system training for internal auditors
  • Europe: Implemented at manufacturing sites
  • Japan: Implemented at manufacturing sites

Regional Activities

Activities in Japan

Enhancement of health and safety management system and horizontal deployment of accident-related information

In line with our Occupational Safety and Health Management Rules, we have established a Safety & Health Promotion Committee in Japan. The Committee consists of representatives of the safety & health promotion committees at each business site and plans activities that help to achieve our safety and health activity plan. In addition to the Group’s regular initiatives to improve its current safety and health management system, establish risk management based on risk assessments, and introduce more employee training and education to raise awareness, in the event of a major health and safety accident, the Olympus Group holds ad-hoc committees to implement the horizontal deployment of information across all Olympus Group companies in Japan to prevent the recurrence of similar accidents.

Furthermore, at all bases in Japan with 50 or more employees, industrial physicians and health officers conduct workplace patrols stipulated by law, and if health and safety risks are observed during these patrols, improvements are made as soon as possible at each base.

Elimination of hand-held work with single-edge razors in manufacturing processes (Aizu Olympus, Aomori Olympus)

Safety and Health Management Division and Manufacturing Division collaborated to implement efforts aimed at changing from holding single-edge razors to box knives, etc., and abolishing work holding single-edge razors by means of the preparation of jigs in order to make the use of knives in manufacturing processes safer. As a result, it was possible to abolish 100% of work holding single-edge razors at Aizu Olympus by the end of FY2023, and it has subsequently maintained zero occupational incidents due to single-edge razors.

Educational training using safety comics (Aizu Olympus, Shirakawa Olympus)

To prevent similar accidents and foster a culture in which all employees are involved in health and safety management, safety comics were created based on examples of accidents that occurred at Aizu Olympus and Shirakawa Olympus, and these safety comics were made available to all employees at manufacturing bases in Japan to provide easy-to-understand training.

Traffic safety efforts

We implement various efforts at Olympus to prevent traffic accidents at regional sites where employees mainly commute by car and with company cars used in sales and services divisions.

At Nagano Facility, Shirakawa Facility, and Aomori Olympus, managers check the switch to studless winter tires in winter to make it sure to switch them.

Further, Olympus sites participate in the safety rallies hosted by each prefecture’s Traffic Safety Association each year, which connects to the improvement of awareness of traffic safety.

In sales and services divisions, telematics is installed on their company cars to improve drivers’ observance of traffic rules and driving manners.

Activities in Americas

Implementing environmental health and safety training
(Olympus Corporation of the Americas)

Olympus Corporation of the Americas implements online basic environmental safety and health training for all employees every year. In FY2022, in addition to training on regulatory topics such as the safety of chemical substances and environmental management systems, the company strengthened the program by including content on ergonomics and the safe handling of heavy objects. From FY2022, it expanded the range of trainees from employees in the United States of America alone to employees in all regions of the Americas, and in FY2023, 4,225 employees participated in the program.

Spreading awareness through health and safety newsletter and digital signage
(Olympus Surgical Technologies America)

At Olympus Surgical Technologies America, efforts to spread awareness of cautions regarding matters such as mold prevention measures, pest countermeasures, handling sharp objects, etc., among all employees are carried out through a monthly e-newsletter and digital signage about topics that are essential to achieving health and safety.

Activities in Europe

Holding of Occupational Safety Committee
(Olympus Europa SE & Co. KG)

At Olympus Europa SE & Co. KG, an Occupational Safety Committee is held four times a year by bringing together the safety managers of each workplace. Here, discussions take place about the implementation of risk assessments, the integration of operation management, measures against COVID-19, and remote work.

Confirming risk-reduction activities at local subsidiaries in Europe
(Olympus Europa SE & Co. KG)

Olympus Europa SE & Co. KG endeavors to reduce occupational incidents by collecting information relating to health and safety from local sales subsidiaries spanning across the whole of Europe to check whether risk assessments are carried out and whether major lost time injuries have occurred.

Maintenance of ISO 45001 certification and establishment of new e-learning portal
(KeyMed (Medical & Industrial Equipment) Ltd.)

KeyMed (Medical & Industrial Equipment) Ltd. is engaged in efforts to reduce work accidents and incidents through maintaining the ISO 45001 certification acquired for all sites in January 2021 and operating its management system.

In FY2023, a new online education portal was set up that integrates educational content on the topics of health and safety, well-being, and the environment. By providing educational content that makes use of easy-to-understand videos and illustrations, creative efforts were made so that participants can understand the content intuitively, thereby advancing every employee’s understanding of health and safety, well-being, and the environment.

Furthermore, in addition to the in-house educational training of employees, work-experience training was conducted for local high school students in which they took a tour of the facilities, participated in hazard prediction exercises, and received a general explanation of ISO 45001 in order to learn how well-being and safety are managed in the workplace.

Activities in China

Renewing, auditing, and reporting of certification as a manufacturing safety standardization company
(Olympus Trading (Shanghai) Limited)

Olympus Trading (Shanghai) Limited has developed a safety production management system that includes manufacturing safety, industrial health and workplace environment evaluations in compliance with the basic requirements of corporate safety production standards mandated by the Shanghai Emergency Management Bureau. The company has established a policy and targets for manufacturing safety, set up a committee, assigned detailed responsibilities and produced an emergency response manual, all aimed at putting top priority on safety, prevention and total management. It also organizes annual emergency response drills. The company’s certification as a manufacturing safety standardization company was renewed in FY2023 in association with the relocation of the Service Operation Center. The company analyzes the risks and looks at case studies of manufacturing safety on a regular basis, at the same time working to improve employee awareness of manufacturing safety through a range of training programs.

Risk-reduction efforts and education and emergency drills
(Olympus (Guangzhou) Industrial Co., Ltd.)

Olympus (Guangzhou) Industrial Co., Ltd. strives to minimize the risks of production processes and fire-fighting equipment by implementing production safety audits and fire-fighting safety audits every quarter and taking corrective measures as and when necessary for matters that require addressing. Furthermore, the company adopts a system in which it can promptly and appropriately address emergencies if they occur. This is done by carrying out a variety of emergency response training for relevant personnel, such as training on how to handle ethylene oxide gas (EOG) leaks, training on emergency measures for steam burns in autoclave facilities, and workshops on first aid skills.

In FY2023, activities that consider the well-being and work environment of employees were carried out to reduce the noise generated during the operation of the dust collector by surrounding it with soundproofing materials. Furthermore, to reduce the risk of accidents occurring while commuting to work, local police officers were invited to provide road safety training to increase employees’ awareness of road safety through examples of road traffic accidents introduced by the police officers.

Activities in Asia/Oceania

Occupational health and safety monthly patrols and facility inspections by an external organization
(Olympus Vietnam Co., Ltd.)

Olympus Vietnam Co., Ltd. forms a risk assessment team every month to carry out patrols of the work areas. If risks or non-compliance are discovered during these patrols, corrective measures are taken as soon as possible. Also, in FY2022, May was made Occupational Health and Safety Month, with “Kaizen Contest for Occupational Health and Safety” held and 16 employees awarded for suggesting excellent ideas to improve safety. Furthermore, work environment measurements were taken by an external organization to strive to make the work environment safer and healthier in consideration of the well-being of employees.

Revision of Safe Driving Policy
(Olympus Australia Pty Ltd.)

Olympus Australia Pty Ltd. has formulated company rules on safe driving for field staff. In FY2023, the Safe Driving Policy was revised, stipulating that field staff must carry a satellite phone with them to help mitigate the risks associated with moving out of cellular network coverage while undertaking long-distance road trips and making it mandatory to maintain communication with one’s supervisor through a business trip plan and a checklist before and after business trips.